June 23, 2017

The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) announced The World of Keiichi Hara, a special showcase dedicated to the work of award-winning director Keiichi Hara in this year's Animation Focus section of the festival. TIFF 2017 will be held in Tokyo from October 25 through November 3.

2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Japanese animation, as well as TIFF's first 30 years. To celebrate both milestones, TIFF has decided to pay homage to Keiichi Hara for his outstanding achievments in filmmaking, and whose increasing international acclaim has confirmed his prominent role in both current and future anime culture.

Animation Focus highlights innovative directors who have contributed to the phenomenal success of the industry. Previous editions have been dedicated to Hideaki Anno and Mamoru Hosoda. The World of Keiichi Hara will be the first-ever major retrospective of Hara's work, encompassing his career through TV productions, feature films and commercial films. Screening will be followed by panel sessions with special guests. More details will be announced at the TIFF line-up press conference slated for late September.

Born in 1959, Hara worked extensively on popular family TV shows, such as Doraemon and especially Crayon Shin-chan, that he directed from 1996 to 2004. He also scripted ten Crayon Shin-chan movies, directing six. Hara then shifted to independent filmmaking, pursuing more personal projects. International recognition came with Japan Academy Prize-winning Summer Days with Coo (2007) and especially with Colorful (2010), greeted with the Jury's Special Distinction and the Audience Award at Annecy 2011. Hara admires classic Japanese filmmakers such as Yasujiro Ozu and Keisuke Kinoshita. To the latter, he dedicated his first live-action movie in 2013, Dawn of a Filmmaker: The Keisuke Kinoshita Story. His latest animated film, Miss Hokusai (2015) won prestigious international awards at Annecy, Fantasia, Sitges and the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, and was described by French newspaper Le Monde as "a lesson of elegance".

Established in 1985, the Tokyo International Film Festival is the only Japanese film festival accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF). One of Asia premiere film festivals, TIFF seeks out excellent films from around the world and brings them to Tokyo, where filmmakers and film fans can enjoy them, meet young filmmakers, and be inspired.

TIFF 2017 official website (English): http://2017.tiff-jp.net/en/

© 2014-2015 Hinako Sugiura•MS.HS / Sarusuberi Film Partners