Oblivion Island wins Special Jury Prize at SICAF 2010
Tokyo, July 28, 2010
Shinsuke Satō's animated feature film Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror won the Special Jury Prize in the Feature Films Category at the 14th Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival, held in Seoul, Republic of Korea from July 21 to 25, 2010.
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.
Production I.G's first 3DCGI feature film, Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror has received several recognitions so far, such as Animation of the Year at the Japan Academy Prizes, the Nippon Cinema Award at the Nippon Connection Film Festival (Germany), Jury Recommended Work in the Animation Division of the 13th Japan Media Arts Festival (2009), and Visual Technology Award for the animation section of the 9th annual Video Technology Awards, sponsored by the Motion Picture and Television Engineering Society of Japan. After its international premiere in competition at Sitges 09, the movie had its North American premiere at the New York International Children Film Festival 2010.
STORY Haruka is an ordinary teenager. Her mother passed away when she was a kid, and her father looked after her ever since. But now that she' s 16, communication with her ever-absent workaholic father is not at its best, and “home” has become synonymous of solitude. One day, in a shrine yard, Haruka spots a strange creature resembling a fox, carrying a toy plane. But as she goes after the funny animal, she finds herself on... Oblivion Island! This is a strange world made of memorabilia. And here, Haruka will encounter the memories of her childhood. But humans are not supposed to be on Oblivion Island, and the Baron, who rules that world, has put his eye on that unexpected intruder... And from here, the story bends dramatically into an unpredictable direction at increasing and uncontrolled speed... Will Haruka find her long lost memories and finally make it up with them?
ABOUT PRODUCTION I.G Established by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa in 1987, Production I.G is one of the world's leading animation studios. With its cutting-Edge Works, such as "Ghost in the Shell" (1995), "Jin-Roh" (2000), "Blood: The Last Vampire" (2000), "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" (animation segment, 2003), "Innocence" (2004) and "The Sky Crawlers" (2008), I.G has gained high reputation around the globe, inspiring Hollywood creators such as James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino and the Wachowski brothers.
Official Website: http://www.production-ig.com
