Oscar-Qualifying Animation Festival 'Hiroshima Animation Season 2024' The Competitions Lineup Unveiled

We are pleased to announce the selection of the Competition lineup!
This year, we received 2,634 entries from 97 countries and regions(Application period from December 1, 2023, to April 14, 2024), far exceeding the 2,149 entries received for the previous first edition held from August 17 to 21, 2022. The selection committee consisted of Koji Yamamura, the festival Artistic Director, Shizuka Miyazaki, the festival Co-producer, and Honami Yano, an animation artist, (Nobuaki Doi, the festival Producer participated as an advisor). The total of 78 films (73 short and 5 feature films) were selected and almost 3⁄4 of the filmmakers/producers are going to attend the festival in person.

The comments from Koji Yamamura, the festival Artistic Director:
There were many films we couldn't select although they were excellent. This year, the result of the selection reflects the prominence of films on the theme of war and refugees as well as the maturity and challenge of veteran artists, and the rise of Chinese and Taiwanese films in terms of their uniqueness and technical skills.
On the technical side, the number of AI-based films has increased substantially and the selected films with this technique had unique and conscious approaches to this new way of filmmaking.
We also focused on the artist's standpoint in telling the story. In particular, for films dealing with war, the selection committee members had discussed whether the artist's awareness of the theme was appropriate, whether it was meaningful to use such expressive techniques, and whether they had not become indulged by a sense of beauty.

As the festival's main program, there are four competitions (for films produced between 2022 and 2024), Short Competition consists of four thematic categories: “Contemporary Tale”, “A Slice of Society”, “Fictive World” and “Visual Poetry”, Feature Competition, Pan-Pacific and Asia Youth Competition expected to be a gateway to success for young talented artists in the region, and the newly established the Japanese Commissioned Film Competition. This is a new approach to give a unique recognition to commissioned works in Japan as an exciting scene to be focused.

In addition, a newly established networking program will be held during the festival. “Hiroshima Animation Academy & Meeting (HAM)” (August 15-17, 2024) will be held alongside HAS venue as a place for people from around the world to gather and collaborate with creators beyond borders. By boosting communication among festival participants, the festival aims to deepen knowledge within the industry and build new global friendships (details to be announced later).

★The Competition: films produced from 2022 – 2024
■Short Competition:
Films (30 minutes or less) produced in any country, selected in four categories: “Contemporary Tale”, “A Slice of Society”, “Fictive World” and “Visual Poetry”.
A five-member international jury will select the Grand Prix, in addition to each category award.
(The Grand Prix winner will receive a cash prize of 500,000 yen and be eligible for an Academy Award nomination in the category of Animated Short Films.)

■Feature Competition:
Films (over 30 minutes) from all over the world, no jury and the Grand Prix will be decided by audience vote.

■Pan-Pacific and Asia Youth Competition:
Student films and the first debut film after graduation in this region.
Three international judges will determine the Grand Prix and the Jury Award.

■Japanese Commissioned Film Competition:
Music videos, commercials, TV programs, etc., created by commissions. Three judges will determine the Grand Prix and the Jury Award.

■Short Competition: Category “Contemporary Tale”
It questions “the meaning of telling and watching tales in the contemporary age”.

Children of the Bird(Julia Tudisco/2024/Hungary/11:31)
A Night at the Rest Area(Saki Muramoto/2024/Japan/11:34)
WORLD TO ROAM(Stephen Irwin/2023/United Kingdom/12:21)
Miserable Miracle(Ryo Orikasa/2023/France=Japan=Canada/8:13)
The Role(Paolo Chianta/2023/United Kingdom/5:28)
Wander to Wonder(Nina Gantz/2023/Netherlands=Belgium/13:50)
Ship Down the Well(Chen Xi / Zhou Xiaolin/2023/China/14:28)

■Short Competition: Category “A Slice of Society”
It approaches documentaries and social issues.

Selection:
There Are People in the Forest(Szymon Ruczynski/2023/Poland/9:53)
Butterfly(Florence Miailhe/2024/France/15:00)
Menagerie(Jack Gray/2022/United States/4:26)
All my Scars Vanish in the Wind(Angélica Restrepo / Carlos Velandia/2022/Colombia/14:18)
Mee and Burd(Greg McLeod/2023/United Kingdom/7:48)
From Our Side(Simone Massi/2022/5:00)
Dear Humans(Joo Peter/2023/Indonesia/5:00)
Beautiful Men(Nicolas Keppens/2023/Belgium=France/18:53)

■Short Competition: Category “Fictive World”
It focuses on the unique worldview that only animation can offer.

Selection:
I Would Eat It If I Could(Bence Hlavay/2023/Hungary/10:01)
Compound Eyes of Tropical(Zhang Xu zhan/2022/Taiwan/17:05)
Ruthless Blade(Zhang Bo/2023/China/12:17)
Whatever Moves Is Alive(Noémie Marsily /2022/Belgium/11:05)
La Voix des Sirènes(Gianluigi Toccafondo/2024/France=Italy/19:42)

■Short Competition: Category “Visual Poetry”
It pursues visual poetic expression.

Selection:
Two One Two(Shira Avni/2023/Canada/4:12)
From One Painting... to Another(Georges Schwizgebel/2023/France=Switzerland/3:10)
The Hour Coat(Amy Kravitz/2022/United States/12:39)
Gina Kamentskyʼs Pinocchio in 70mm(Gina Kamentsky/2024/United States/3:12)
O/S(Max Hattler/2023/Hong Kong=Germany/5:00)
The Eastern Rain(Milly Yencken/2023/Estonia/9:07)
Sing, David, Sing(David Ehrlich/2023/United States/2:19)
The Butterfly Dream(Fumio Ohi/2024/Japan/6:44)
Burning(Liu Yi/2024/China/4:30)
Croak Show(Suresh Eriyat/2024/India/4:12)
ME(Don Hertzfeldt/2024/United States/22:00)

■Feature Competition

Selection:
ETERNAL SPRING(Jason Loftus/2022/Canada/85:38)
When Adam Changes(Joël Vaudreuil/2023/Canada/93:30)
SIROCCO AND THE KINGDOM OF THE WINDS(Benoit Chieux/2023/France=Belgium/80:00)
WHITE PLASTIC SKY(Tibor Bánóczki / Sarolta Szabó/2023/Hungary=Slovenia/111:00)
The Glassworker(Usman Riaz/2024/Pakistan/90:00)

■ Pan-Pacific and Asia Youth Competition

Pan-Pacific and Asia Youth Competition 1, Selection:
Unique three-dimensional works and strange visual experiments from China, Japan, the United States, Ecuador, and Colombia.
BODY OF A SHADOW(Anderea Munoz Alvarez/2024/Columbia/11:59)
Sewing Love(Xu Yuan/2023/Japan/8:36)
Bonem9(Li Jian-Hua/2023/Taiwan/6:15)
Return(Chen Lindong/2023/Japan/2:50)
Wind Whisperer(Fernanda Caicedo/2022/Germany=Ecuador/6:30)
I Am a Horse(Chaerin Im/2022/Korea,Republic of=Denmark/7:58)
me,me,me,me,(Ito Rina/2024/Japan/7:44)
Blood Machine(Xiao Wenbo/2023/China/8:27)
SKINNY WORLD(Yang Huaxu/2023/China/3:14)
Cut &(Di Liang/2023/United States=China/1:47)
Lost Letters(Kyhynngy Oyuur/2024/Sakha,Republic of(Russia)=Netherlands/12:00)

Pan-Pacific and Asia Youth Competition 2, Selection:
From technological experiments and familiar events to social issues, this program echoes the diverse voices of artists living in the present.
Hitori(ajisa/2023/Japan/11:18)
Lying Ant(Tay Jing Sy/2023/Singapore/3:46)
Vision(Çağıl Harmandar/2023/Japan=Turkey/7:18)
Friday-Fair(Luiza Alberti/2023/Australia/3:49)
Shape of the Elephant(Sam Kuwa/2023/Japan/8:11)
The tree(Guillermo Arias/2022/Longotoma, La ligua. Chile./4:48)
The Posthuman Hospital(Junha Kim/2023/Korea,Republic of=United States/6:54)
Mold(Shi Shengxue/2023/Japan=China/2:42)
This Is a Story Without a Plan(Cassie Shao/2023/United States/7:35)
Shallow dream(Marina Suzuki/2024/Japan/2:29)
I See Myself a Monster(AA Cheng/2023/China=United States/3:42)
Dear Daughter(Hsu Pan Naing/2023/Myanmar=Germany/12:29)

■ Japanese Commissioned Film Competition

Selection:
With Mother: Team of Trashes Goes Job Hunting(Mio Ueta/2023/Japan/7:54)
NHK MINNANO UTA: WAKUSEI (Artist: Sexy Zone)(Sawako Kageyama/2022/Japan/2:25)
DUSTCELL: INSIDE(Ryoji Yamada/2022/Japan/3:06)
WI-COCOON - ART TREAT SPA(Makiko Sukikara/Kohei Matsumura/2022/Japan/5:28)
Tiny Tales: Haru-tsuge Fish and Fu-rai Boy(Takeshi Yashiro/2023/Japan/5:00)
HOSHIMIYA TOTO+TEMPLIME: Mind Replacer(Tarafu Otani/2024/Japan/1:52)
KITARO EXPO: SPECTER FROM THE ABYSSAL ZONE!(Mirai Mizue/2023/Japan/2:15)
Pass49e: White Devil(Saya Endo/2023/Japan/3:41)
Pass49e: Music Video(Sawako Kabuki/2023/Japan/1:07)
synapusyu: Shinada one day(Haruka Hiramatsu/2023/Japan/7:50)
synapusyu: Babythoven Babbling Concerto(Yui Suzuki /2023/Japan/1:30)
Sciense SARU×MBS Original Short Anime Daisakusen!: Okuninushi and Sukunabikona(Akitoshi
Yokoyama/2024/Japan/1:30)
Knivesrain: Be Gone(Sijia Luo/2022/China=Japan/3:56)
Garden of Remembrance(Naoko Yamada/2022/Japan/17:44)
Art Tunes!: Grande Odalisque vs Mosquite(Ryo Inoue/2023/Japan/1:35)
TIME TIDES(Hideki Inaba/2023/Japan=France/1:40)
YORUSHIKA: Moonbath(Yūtarō Kubo/2023/Japan/4:12)
Shuwawan!: Episode1 Saikou no Dakko(Kuniyoshi Mizuki/2023/Japan/5:00)
0655/2355: TA.TSU.KO.TA.TSU (Dragging Dragon)(Mio Ueta / Tomoko
Kaizuka/2024/Japan/2:23)

Hiroshima Animation Season 2024

Name of Event: Hiroshima Animation Season 2024
Dates: Wednesday, August 14 - Sunday, August 18, 2024
Venue: JMS Aster Plaza, Hiroshima City
Main program: Competition: Short film, Feature film, Pan-Pacific and Asia Youth film, and Japanese Commissioned Film
Special Screenings, Workshop, Talk sessions, Lectures Hiroshima Animation Academy & Meeting(HAM)
Festival Producer: Nobuaki Doi (President and CEO, New Deer, Inc.)
Festival Co-producer: Shizuka Miyazaki (Animation Artist and Associate Professor at the Hijiyama Junior College)
Artistic Director: Koji Yamamura (Animation Artist, Professor at the Graduate School of Film and New Media, Tokyo University of the Arts, Department of Animation)

Hiroshima Festival: https://hiroshimafest.org
Hiroshima Animation Season 2024: https://animation.hiroshimafest.org