Selected for “Baby Universe”, award-winning films from all over the world invite parents and children to the world of fantasy
Adapted from best-selling novel, “Okko's Inn” tells the story of a young girl’s amazing relationships with spirits as she grows up
Adapted from award-winning picture book, author and director of “Jonas and the Sea” will come to meet the audience in Taiwan
Today the TIAF announce the films selected for “Baby Universe”, the most popular category last year, in which all tickets were sold out. We invite parents and children to come to the cinema to see Okko’s Inn by Kitaro Kosaka, who participated in the production of Spirited Away and The Boy and the Beast, In the Forest of Huckybucky, which is winner of Best Feature at the Montreal International Children’s Film Festival and Tall Tales - From the Magical Garden of Antoon Krings presented by the creators of Little Prince.
Okko's Inn, which was in competition at the 2018 Annecy International Animated Film Festival, is the work of Kitaro Kosaka, the first Japanese director whose animation was selected for the Cannes Film Festival. Kosaka not only took part in many productions of Studio Ghibli and Mamoru Hosoda but also won a nomination for Outstanding Achievement for Character Design for The Wind Rises at the Annie Awards (equivalent of Academy Awards in the animation industry). Adapted from the popular novel with the same title, Okko's Inn tells the moving story of Okko, a young girl who comes to live with her grandma after having lost her parents. Determined to help the family-run hot spring hotel, Okko receives help from the spirits and grow mature with them. In addition to the portrayal of Okko's parents, who are not mentioned in the novel, the voice actors who were cast in the TV version, including Seiran Kobayashi and Nana Mizuk, voiced the characters in the film. Undoubtedly, Okko's Inn is a perfect choice for those who have read the book as well as family audiences.
Stop-motion animation In the Forest of Huckybucky is an adaption of a well-known children's book. It took the director three years to complete this cheerful musical as he invited a famous Norwegian girls band to re-write the songs. When carnivores and herbivores share the same forest, how could they live in harmony? The film was selected for the Annecy International Animated Film Festival and won Best Feature at the Montréal International Children's Film Festival. Let's wait and see how the director uses the refined and enchanting stop-motion animation to make an upbeat fairytale musical.
Amongst the films invited this year, a number of the directors are also the authors of the original picture books. Tall Tales - From the Magical Garden of Antoon Krings is an adaptation of the picture book of the same title and directed by the author Antoon Krings, a renowned French illustrator. It tells the story about a singing cricket, who stumbles on the coronation of queen bee and accidentally gets dragged into an evil plot. Krings collaborated with the production team of Little Prince to create a lively world of bugs.
Jonas and the Sea is a short film that describes how Jonas, who lives by the sea, dreams of swimming happily with the fish deep in the water but is confronted with so many difficulties in his life. The film won Best Animated Short at the Toronto International Film Festival. Director Marlies Van Der Wel will bring her picture book as well as the film to Taichung to share with the audiences. Everyone, adults and children alike, is welcome to meet her. In total, 21 films are shown in this category and others include Slant the Sapling (winner of Taiwan Award at the Taiwan International Children's Film Festival), The House (winner of Jury Award for Best Short Movie at the Barcelona Children's Film Festival) and Water Path for a Fish (winner of International Division Top Prize at the Hsin-Yi Children's Animation Award).
The 2018 TIAF is held between October 11th (Thursday) and 16th (Tuesday) at Taichung Showtime Cinemas S2 and Kbro Cinemas in Taichung. The tickets will go on sale at 12.00 pm on September 21st (Friday) on ibon machines nationwide and seats can be reserved online; the full price is NT$ 160 per ticket and a special offer of NT$ 80 is on each advance ticket. For more information on the program and events, please visit the TIAF official website (twtiaf.com) and Facebook fan page (facebook.com/tiaf.taichung).
