30th Tokyo International Film Festival to Shine a Spotlight on Animated Films: The World of Keiichi Hara

The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) is pleased to announce that we will be highlighting the work of Keiichi HARA (who won awards at Annecy International Animated Film Festival with his recent works, Colorful and Miss Hokusai) in this year’s Animation Focus section at the 30th edition of TIFF.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Japanese animation, as well as TIFF’s 30th anniversary edition. To celebrate both milestones, Hara has been chosen in honor of his exceptional body of work. He is renowned for his ability to combine a strong auteurist approach with commercial appeal, and his increased international recognition has given him a prominent role in both current and future anime culture.

Hara’s early credits include big hit series aimed at family viewing, such as Doraemon and Crayon Shin-chan. He then shifted to focusing on feature filmmaking, pursuing more personal projects. International recognition came with Summer Days with Coo (07) and Annecy winning Colorful (10/Jury’s Special Distinction and the Audience Award at Annecy 2011), which were both awarded at the Japan Academy Prizes as well. His latest directorial effort, Miss Hokusai(15), received the Jury Award at Annecy 2015 and garnered 12 awards worldwide.

Following the TIFF screenings of his work, panel sessions with special guests will also be held each day. We will be showcasing his past animation, as well as discussing future production. The World of Keiichi Hara will be the first-ever major retrospective of his work (outside of Japanese mini-theater screenings) and will include TV and theatrical animation, commercial film and live-action film. Titles and more details on The World of Keiichi Hara will be announced at the TIFF line-up press conference scheduled to be held in late September.

The 30th TIFF will take place from October 25 – November 3, 2017 at Roppongi Hills and other venues in Tokyo.