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Hoshi o Ou Kodomo, Tatsumi Nominated for APS Awards
posted on by Egan Loo
On Monday, the Asia Pacific Screen Academy announced the nominees for this year's Asia Pacific Screen Awards, including those for Best Animated Feature Film. Japan's Hoshi o Ou Kodomo (Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below) and Singapore's Tatsumi will compete with three other films in this category: South Korea's Madangeul naon amtak (Leafie), the Phillippines' RPG Metanoia, and the Russian Federation's Gadkiy Utyonok (The Ugly Duckling).
Hoshi o Ou Kodomo is the latest work from director Makoto Shinkai. The film centers on Asuna, a girl who spends her solitary days listening to the mysterious music emanating from the crystal radio she received from her father as a memento. However, she embarks on a journey of adventure to find a mysterious boy she just met, and thus comes to know the cruelty and beauty of the world, as well as loss. Shinkai's other works include She and Her Cat, Voices of a Distant Star, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, and 5 Centimeters Per Second.
In Tatsumi, director Eric Khoo adapts Yoshihiro Tatsumi's sprawling autobiographical manga A Drifting Life. The Eisner Award-winning manga follows Tatsumi's struggle to make a living as an artist after World War II. Tatsumi and others began challenging the standards of manga drawing by pioneering a nontraditional gekiga style of storytelling and art design. The Canadian comic book publisher Drawn & Quarterly released the manga in 2009.
The awards will be presented in a November 24 ceremony on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, and the academy plans to stream the ceremony live. Previous award winners have include Shinkai's own 5 Centimeters Per Second.
Image © Makoto Shinkai/CMMMY
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