Animaster

Yamamura Kōji visits Estonia!

Japanese independent animation – Yamamura Kōji

07.09. lecture at the Estonian Academy of Arts

08.09. retrospective at the cinema theatre Sõprus

Yamamura Kōji  (b 1964) is one of the most well-known  animation directors in Japan who founded his own animation studio Yamamura Animation Inc. in 1993. Since 2008 he works as a professor at the department of animation of the graduate school of film and new media of the  Tōkyō University of the Arts. Yamamura is the first Japanese animation director who has won grand prix in all major international animation film festivals – Mt. Head (2002) was nominated for an Oscar in 2003 and was awarded all together 6 Grand Prixs in Annecy (2003), Zagreb (2004) and Hiroshima (2004), Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor (07) was awarded the Grand Prix at Ottawa.

Yamamura films are influenced by several famous Russian, Canadian and Estonian animators such as Ishu Patel, Yury Norshtein and Priit Pärn.

Yamamura Kōji’s retrospective program at the cinema theatre Sõprus offers the opportunity to meet the author vis-à-vis and listen to the comments on his most well-known animation films such as Mt. Head (2002, 35mm, 10’), Fig (2006, 35mm, 4’20’’), The Old Crocodile (2005, 35mm, 12’53’’), Franz Kafka A Country Doctor (2007, 35mm, 21’) and A Child’s Metaphysics (2007, 35mm, 5’08” ).

Events are organized by the Embassy of Japan in co-operation with Animated Dreams, Estonian Academy of Arts and Japan Foundation.