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TIFF 2007 Hosts "Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor" Panel
posted on by Evan Miller
Internationally recognized anime director Koji Yamamura paid a visit to the "animecsTIFF" part of the 20th Tokyo International Film Festival to promote the short "art animation" film "Kafka - Inaka Isha" ("Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor") on October 20. The director attended a premiere screening of the film, which was also used as the opening animation for the conference, and held a panel before the screening to discuss the film and his career.
The film is based on the surrealist Franz Kafka story "Ein Landarzt" ("A Country Doctor"), originally written in the 1910s. Yamamura's adaptation has already earned international acclaim, appearing at film festivals in Russia and Spain as well as Japan. Last month, the film earned the "Grand Prize for Best Independent Short Animation" award at the 2007 Ottawa International Animation Festival.
Yamamura confessed that his work isn't that familiar to fans of regular broadcast anime series, but stressed that Japan's "art animation" and art animation directors continue to impress audiences at film festivals around the world.
Aside from "A Country Doctor," Yamamura's other films "Mt. Head," "The Old Crocodile," and "Children's Metaphysics" were screened along with "Man & Whale," a commercial that Yamamura did for Greenpeace Japan.
Source: animeanime.jp
Image © Koji Yamamura
