The selection committee consisted of festival artistic director Koji Yamamura, festival co-producer Shizuka Miyazaki, and animation artist Honami Yano. The festival producer Nobuaki Doi participated as an advisor. Selections include 78 films (73 short and five feature films); many of the film’s filmmakers/producers are planning to attend in person.
The main program includes four competitions (films produced between 2022 and 2024). The short film competition consists of four thematic categories: Contemporary Tale, A Slice of Society, Fictive World, and Visual Poetry.
The feature competition, Pan-Pacific, and Asia youth competition are a gateway for the region’s young artists, and the Japanese Commissioned Film competition is a new approach to recognizing commissioned works in Japan.
In addition, a new networking program, Hiroshima Animation Academy & Meeting (HAM), will run August 15-17. The event runs alongside HAS, providing a place for people from around the world to gather and collaborate with creators beyond borders.
The event is designed to boost communication among participants and aims to deepen industry connections and build new global friendships.
Short Competition: Category “Contemporary Tale:”
- Children of the Bird (Julia Tudisco/2024/Hungary/11:31)
- A Night at the Rest Area (Saki Muramoto/2024/Japan/11:34)
- World To Roam (Stephen Irwin/2023/United Kingdom/12:21)
- Miserable Miracle (Ryo Orikasa/2023/France, Japan, Canada/8:13)
- The Role (Paolo Chianta/2023/United Kingdom/5:28)
- Wander to Wonder (Nina Gantz/2023/Netherlands, Belgium/13:50)
- Ship Down the Well (Chen Xi / Zhou Xiaolin/2023/China/14:28)
Short Competition: Category “A Slice of Society:”
- There Are People in the Forest (Szymon Ruczynski/2023/Poland/9:53)
- Butterfly (Florence Miailhe/2024/France/15:00)
- Menagerie (Jack Gray/2022/United States/4:26)
- All my Scars Vanish in the Wind (Angélica Restrepo / Carlos Velandia/2022/Colombia/14:18)
- Mee and Burd (Greg McLeod/2023/United Kingdom/7:48)
- From Our Side (Simone Massi/2022/5:00)
- Dear Humans (Joo Peter/2023/Indonesia/5:00)
- Beautiful Men (Nicolas Keppens/2023/Belgium, France/18:53)
Short Competition: Category “Visual Poetry:”
- Two One Two (Shira Avni/2023/Canada/4:12)
- From One Painting… to Another (Georges Schwizgebel/2023/France, Switzerland/3:10)
- The Hour Coat (Amy Kravitz/2022/United States/12:39)
- Gina Kamentskyʼs Pinocchio in 70mm (Gina Kamentsky/2024/United States/3:12)
- O/S (Max Hattler/2023/Hong Kong, Germany/5:00)
- The Eastern Rain (Milly Yencken/2023/Estonia/9:07)
- Sing, David, Sing (David Ehrlich/2023/United States/2:19)
- The Butterfly Dream (Fumio Ohi/2024/Japan/6:44)
- Burning (Liu Yi/2024/China/4:30)
- Croak Show (Suresh Eriyat/2024/India/4:12)
- Me (Don Hertzfeldt/2024/United States/22:00)
Feature Competition:
- Eternal Spring (Jason Loftus/2022/Canada/85:38)
- When Adam Changes (Joël Vaudreuil/2023/Canada/93:30)
- Sirocco And the Kingdom of The Winds (Benoit Chieux/2023/France, Belgium/80:00)
- WHITE PLASTIC SKY (Tibor Bánóczki / Sarolta Szabó/2023/Hungary, Slovenia/111:00)
- The Glassworker (Usman Riaz/2024/Pakistan/90:00)
Pan-Pacific and Asia Youth Competition 1: Unique three-dimensional works and strange visual experiments from China, Japan, the United States, Ecuador, and Colombia.
- Body Of a Shadow (Anderea Munoz Alvarez/2024/Columbia/11:59)
- Sewing Love (Xu Yuan/2023/Japan/8:36)
- Bonem9 (Li Jian-Hua/2023/Taiwan/6:15)
- Return (Chen Lindong/2023/Japan/2:50)
- Wind Whisperer (Fernanda Caicedo/2022/Germany, Ecuador/6:30)
- I Am a Horse (Chaerin Im/2022/Republic of Korea, Denmark/7:58)
- me, me, me, me, (Ito Rina/2024/Japan/7:44)
- Blood Machine (Xiao Wenbo/2023/China/8:27)
- Skinny World (Yang Huaxu/2023/China/3:14)
- Cut & (Di Liang/2023/United States=China/1:47)
- Lost Letters (Kyhynngy Oyuur/2024/Sakha, Republic of Russia, Netherlands/12:00)
Pan-Pacific and Asia Youth Competition 2, Selection: From technological experiments and familiar events to social issues, this program echoes the diverse voices of artists living in the present.
- Hitori (ajisa/2023/Japan/11:18) Lying Ant (Tay Jing Sy/2023/Singapore/3:46)
- Vision (Çağıl Harmandar/2023/Japan, Turkey/7:18)
- Friday-Fair (Luiza Alberti/2023/Australia/3:49)
- Shape of the Elephant (Sam Kuwa/2023/Japan/8:11)
- The Tree (Guillermo Arias/2022/Longotoma, La ligua. Chile./4:48)
- The Posthuman Hospital (Junha Kim/2023/Republic of Korea, United States/6:54)
- Mold (Shi Shengxue/2023/Japan, China/2:42)
- This Is a Story Without a Plan (Cassie Shao/2023/United States/7:35)
- Shallow Dream (Marina Suzuki/2024/Japan/2:29)
- I See Myself a Monster (AA Cheng/2023/China, United States/3:42)
- Dear Daughter (Hsu Pan Naing/2023/Myanmar, Germany/12:29)
Japanese Commissioned Film Competition:
- With Mother: Team of Trashes Goes Job Hunting (Mio Ueta/2023/Japan/7:54)
- Nhk Minnano Uta: Wakusei (Artist: Sexy Zone) (Sawako Kageyama/2022/Japan/2:25)
- Dustcell: Inside (Ryoji Yamada/2022/Japan/3:06)
- Wi-Cocoon – Art Treat Spa (Makiko Sukikara/Kohei Matsumura/2022/Japan/5:28)
- Tiny Tales: Haru-tsuge Fish and Fu-rai Boy (Takeshi Yashiro/2023/Japan/5:00)
- Hoshimiya Toto+Templime: Mind Replacer (Tarafu Otani/2024/Japan/1:52)
- Kitaro Expo: Specter From the Abyssal Zone! Mirai Mizue/2023/Japan/2:15)
- Pass49e: White Devil (Saya Endo/2023/Japan/3:41)
- Pass49e: Music Video (Sawako Kabuki/2023/Japan/1:07)
- Synapusyu: Shinada One Day (Haruka Hiramatsu/2023/Japan/7:50)
- synapusyu: Babythoven Babbling Concerto (Yui Suzuki /2023/Japan/1:30)
- Sciense SARU×MBS Original Short Anime Daisakusen!: Okuninushi and Sukunabikona (Akitoshi Yokoyama/2024/Japan/1:30)
- Knivesrain: Be Gone (Sijia Luo/2022/China=Japan/3:56)
- Garden of Remembrance (Naoko Yamada/2022/Japan/17:44)
- Art Tunes!: Grande Odalisque vs Mosquite (Ryo Inoue/2023/Japan/1:35)
- Time Tides (Hideki Inaba/2023/Japan, France/1:40)
- Yorushika: Moonbath (Yutaro Kubo/2023/Japan/4:12)
- Shuwawan!: Episode1 Saikou no Dakko (Kuniyoshi Mizuki/2023/Japan/5:00)
- 0655/2355: TA.TSU.KO.TA.TSU (Dragging Dragon)(Mio Ueta / Tomoko Kaizuka /2024/Japan/2:23)
Source: Hiroshima Animation Season 2024
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
