Animation Nation is here again, this year descending amongst the uber trendy surroundings of the swanky National Museum, where most screenings are held.
This underrated festival of mostly independent animated short and feature films has gone from strength to strength since its inauguration 4 years ago. Having helped sponsor it since 2005, I feel a special affinity for the festival, although the hard work of organising and running it is done by a passionate group of volunteers from the Singapore Film Society.
This year’s line-up is the best yet, with Asian works making up the majority of the feature screenings while an impressive compilation of international shorts fill up the rest of the schedule.
I attended Friday’s opening screening of TekkonKinkreet – a story of brotherhood and kinship set in a kaleidoscopic world of yakuza, alien assassins and gravity-defying boys. While a little slow to get going after a frantic opening bus chase, the film, which is heartbreaking at times, cumulates to a rousing crescendo before a quiescent resolution of optimism. Amazing stuff.
Saturday night’s screening was Freedom, a 6-part direct-to-video sci-fi anime series sponsored by Nissin. The first 3 episode were screened.
Such is the vibrancy of Japan’s consumerism and appetite for anime that a cup noodle company will happily commission an anime series to promote its product. Needless to say, the familiar white cup appears generously throughout the show. I’ve never seen a more blatant example of product placement – and it’s hilarious!
It’s also nice to see good old fashion junk food surviving 300 years into the future. With the amount of chemicals they put in those stuff, it’s gotta.
