Rotterdam Turns to Japan

by Iain Harvey

I have to confess that I'm an addict.

The wolves of Okiura Hiroyuki's Jin-Roh. Courtesy of International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Working in film allows me the excuse to attend film festivals. Even now, after over 10 years of addiction, I still retain an air of expectation -- that magic moment when the lights go down and a beam of light strikes the screen. The fact that it can re-occur three or four times a day helps shield one from the inevitable disappointments, but even then you can allow yourself a little game: why did the filmmakers do this? There is not always an obvious answer.

The best animation festivals are nearly always an enjoyable occasion whatever the quality of films screened -- though the boost a festival gets from a surprise success adds greatly to the excitement. I can still recall the buzz surrounding The Hill Farm (director Mark Baker) after its screenings and win at Annecy in 1989. As commercial pressures thrust Annecy onwards, some of the smaller, more intimate festivals devoted to animation reward one more easily with friendships new and renewed. Amongst the major festivals I count Espinho and Hiroshima as two of the most enjoyable, and I also hear great things about Ottawa.

Going the Extra Mile
Most film festivals, of course, are devoted to live-action and it is rare for animation to have more than a token presence; features are rarely screened except perhaps in market screenings and shorts are usually screened without any thought to the (live-action) feature that follows. The contrasts can sometimes be ludicrous. Nevertheless I can recommend warmly Berlin, which conveniently screens all shorts in a massive programme at the start of the festival and also has a dedicated Children's Festival which frequently features interesting animation --though always with pedagogical influence.

Oshii Mamoru's Patlabor: The Movie. Courtesy of International Film Festival Rotterdam.

The first major European festival of the new millennium, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, attracted me because, apart from its reputation for informality and friendliness, highlighted a Japanese animation programme. It is all too rare for major festivals to give animation any profile. Rotterdam promised not only this but demonstrated careful consideration of how it could be integrated into the other themes selected by the Festival, in this case the "Bridging the Gap" and "Exploding Cinema" programmes. For once animation was not treated as a minority interest, or purely of interest to specialists, but was thoughtfully included in the body of the Festival.

Oshii Mamoru's Patlabor: The Movie. Courtesy of International Film Festival Rotterdam.

This, on the whole, was a success certainly judging by the attendance and indeed audience reactions (though the screening I attended of Patlabor: The Movie was ruined by the fact that the fourth reel was back to front!). Besides films being screened, the "Exploding Cinema" theme explored by the Festival had a complete venue devoted to Japanese video and digital technology. This was extremely well presented, with plenty of space and suitable areas for relaxing in while absorbing a multitude of images and even good Japanese food -- though I draw the line at mayonnaise in my sushi (even though I was assured it was good Japanese mayonnaise!). The Belgians have a lot to answer for!

A Wide Selection
Some of the simplest exhibits pleased the most: two large spotlit circles, facing each other at one entrance and containing on their surface a cascade of protruding cones, tempted, indeed encouraged, one to touch. The consequence was an animated image "let loose" by your choice of cone. It could be a cartoon ghost, a flock of birds, a running man or a shoal of fish -- and not necessarily on the circle you faced. A curiously hypnotic effect.