July 31, 2013

The omnibus film Anime Mirai was awarded with the Grand Prize in the Feature Films Competition category of the 17th Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival (SICAF 2013), held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from July 24 to 28, 2013. This year the festival selected 152 works among 1225 entries from 53 countries.

The jury, composed by South Korean director Seong-Yun Oh, Canadian animator Sheldon Cohen and USA animator Mike Nguyen, motivated the award as follows:

"The Highly impressive quality of animation and graphic excellence combined with down-to-earth thoughtful storytelling made this feature rise to the top. It expresses contemporary life as seen through eyes of a child engaging viewers to consider the vulnerabilities of childhood, and how personal growth can prevail. It's a rich, entertaining body of work that deserves to be recognized."

Anime Mirai ("the future of animation") is a collective project from four leading Japanese production studios selected by the Japan Animation Creators Association (JAniCA) under the patronage of the Agency for Cultural Affairs for the purpose of training young animators on-the-job. All key animators have been selected among staff with less than five years of experience.
The four episodes are, Juju the Weightless Dugong (directed by Hiroshi Kawamata), Pretending Not to See (directed by Shinpei Miyashita), Li'l Spider Girl (directed by Toshihisa Kaiya) and Buta (directed by Kazuhide Tomonaga). Production I.G produced Li'l Spider Girl, directed by Toshihisa Kaiya.

Supported by its broad and intense international network, SICAF aims at one of Asia's biggest international animated film festivals, presenting new technology and new trends of animated films. SICAF is an ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film d'Animation) recognized film festival that attracts more than 100,000 visitors and participants every year.

Screening schedule:

Date: July 24, 2013 (Wed)
Time: 17:10
Place: Seoul Ani-Cinema

Date: July 25, 2013 (Thu)
Time: 12:40
Place: CGV Myung Dong Yeok 4

Date: July 27, 2013 (Sat)
Time: 24:00~
Place: CGV Myung Dong Yeok 4

SICAF 2013 Official Website:
http://new.sicaf.org/xe/INDEX_eng

© 2012 Production I.G