2018 TIAF announce this year's programs and the theme “Fantasy and Reality”
Voiced by Lee Hanee, Kim Seul-gi and Kwon Yul, “Lost in the Moonlight” leads us on an oriental fantastical adventure
“Dear Basketball”, which tells the life story of Kobe Bryant, won Best Short Film (animated) at the 2018 Academy Awards
Scheduled to open in October, the 2018 TIAF announce the first batch of films in this year’s program. Echoing with the theme, “Fantasy and Reality” , the Festival design three categories, including “Oriental Fantasy”, “Latin Fantasy” and “Animated Documentary” to lead the audiences into the world of animation, where the boundary between fantasy and reality is blurred.
The films selected for the fantasy categories include Lost in the Moonlight voiced by Lee Hanee, Kim Seul-gi and Kwon Yul and Tito and the Birds, which tells a story of a Brazilian boy looking for his father; the latter was in competition at the 2018 Annecy International Animated Film Festival. In “Animated Documentary”, we invite Chris the Swiss, which was selected for the International Critics’ Weeks at the Cannes Film Festival and Film Adventurer Karel Zeman, a film about Karel Zeman who has profound influence on renowned filmmakers such as Tim Burton and Koji Yamamura. In addition, Dear Basketball, the winner of Best Short Film (animated) at the 2018 Academy Awards and narrated by Kobe himself, will have its Taiwanese premiere at the TIAF. As a result, the audience will be able to see such a wide range of animated films in one go in October.
Led by “Lost in the Moonlight”, “Oriental Fantasy” shows the audience a wide range of Asian fantasy animation
The “Oriental Fantasy” category opens with Lost in the Moonlight, an animation feature that tells the adventure young girl Hyunjuli goes on with the 12 animals of the Chinese horoscope as they travel through different times and spaces; a combination of the Korean folklore with landscape painting, the film is voiced by popular stars, including Lee Hanee (Heart Blackened), Kwon Yul (Champion) and Kim Seul-gi (Oh My Ghost). Lost in the Moonlight is regarded as another Asian fantastic animated epic after the Japanese film Spirited Away and the Chinese production Big Fish & Begonia.
Apart from the features, the short films in this category prove to be the most impressive selection in recent years; they include The Hunter and the Skeleton, which is an adaptation of Tibetan folklore, Tsunami that combines the disaster and fairytale, The Psychedelic Rope and Just Walking, both of which were screened at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival and Dragon's Delusion – Departure, which leads the audience through the present and the past lives of the Chinese poet Qu Yuan.
Mysterious “Latin Fantasy” lures the audience into the magic world of South America
On the other side of the world in South America lies a realm of magic, which not only is full of legends of animals and spirits but also the boundary between fantasy and reality is blurred. The films in “Latin Fantasy” guide the audience into a surreal and exciting world of cinema. Selected for the competition at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, Tito and the Birds describes how Tito, a young boy, embarks on a journey in order to find the cure for a strange illness and his father, but soon he discovers that both the mysterious disease and his father’s whereabouts are related to the enigmatic world of birds.
Other short films selected for "Latin Fantasy" include Tyger (winner of Jury's Special Mention at the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival), The Blackberry and the Firebeetle (an adaptation of Venezuelan folklore), The Feather Pillow (based on a thriller book), Lucia (a Chilean animated horror movie), Shave it (a fable centering around a monkey) and The Master Voice: Caveirão (a live-action animated film).
Academy award-winning film – “Dear Basketball”
Animated documentary – an eye-opening experience for the audience
On top of fantasy films, the TIAF invite many animated documentaries this year. NBA legend Kobe Bryant wrote “Dear Basketball” in 2015 as he announced his retirement; two years later, director Glen Keane adapted it into an animated film with the same title. Not only Kobe served as narrator but also the Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning composer John Williams composed the score for the film. The film made Kobe the first NBA player to win Best Short Film (animated) at the Academy Awards. Other documentaries include His Mother’s Voice, which depicts the pain of losing one’s son, Survivors, in which we hear the accounts of domestic violence victims, Mend and Make Do, which looks back a woman’s life and Set off a Firecracker with Yao Shuai, which centers on the children left in the countryside in China by their parents.
The feature-length animated documentaries include Film Adventurer Karel Zeman and Chris the Swiss. The former shows how Czech animation master Karel Zeman used props and scene design to create several masterpieces in a time before digital special effects technology was available; Zeman has strong influence on the next generation of filmmakers, including Tim Burton and Koji Yamamura; we hear so many celebrated animators talking about Zeman that the film feels like a chapter in the history of stop-motion animation.
Chris the Swiss triggered hot debates in the International Critics’ Week at the Cannes and the Annecy International Animated Film Festivals this year. After Chris, a Swiss journalist who went to report on the Yugoslav Wars and was found dead in a mercenary’s uniform, his cousin, director Anja Kofmel, decides to pick up the camera and to launch an investigation; starting with Chris’ diary, Kofmel tries to reveal and re-construct the truth about her cousin’s untimely death through interviews, newsreel footage and animation.
The 2018 TIAF is held between October 11th (Thursday) and 16th (Tuesday) at Taichung Showtime Cinemas S2 and Kbro Cinemas. For more information on the films and the festival events, please visit the TIAF official website (twtiaf.com) and Facebook fan page (facebook.com/tiaf.taichung).
