Anime Vanguard / Japan Society

  • Sunday September 02, 2018 2:00 PM

Anime Vanguard / Japan Society (2017)
R, 73 minutes

This exciting selection of experimental animated works from Japan, selected and compiled by the Japan Society for Japan Cuts 2016, represents a broad range of contemporary avant-garde practice. The titles range from 3 to 14 minutes, adopting the full breadth of styles in new animation, from visual music to raunchy music videos, digital processes to analogue filmmaking, and minimalist atmospheric shorts to narratively rich miniature epics. All evoke completely unique worlds.

The Modern is grateful to the Japan Society for their assistance in making this screening possible.

FILMS

Mono No Aware, (2016) 8 minutes
Various works from the participants of Mono No Aware's Hand-Drawn Animation Workshop held at Japan Society on June 18.

Age of Obscure, (2015) 4 minutes
A grand collision of Mizue's signature visual music forms and Onohana's mesmerizing impressionistic illustrations, featuring music by Twoth.

Ouch, Chou Chou, (2016) 12 minutes
Onohana's expansive imagination and visual style here recounts the touching saga of a cabbage and a pea's friendship across bullying and interdimentional travel.

Land, (2013) 4 minutes
Shape shifting animal and geometric forms stun in this piece with music and sound by Aimar Molero.

Master Blaster, (2014) 4 minutes
Coital psychedelia featuring the music of Shinsuke Sugahara, a wild imaginary of physical intimacy.

The Great Rabbit, (2012) 7 minutes
"If you believe in the Rabbit, it means that you'll believe anything. If you don't believe in the Rabbit, it means that you wouldn't believe anything."

lost summer vacation, (2015) 3 minutes
The mystical happenings of a tropical island are pictured in an animated scroll.

Don't tell Mom, (2015) 4 minutes
A naughty musical sex-ed film for siblings.

Holiday, (2011) 14 minutes
A delirious, deeply romantic tale of love and loss featuing a girl, a golden nude and an akahara imori newt in a gondola resort.

Tensai Banpaku, (2015) 4 minutes
The mutating forms of Tensai Banpaku, or "Genius Expo" create a stunning abstract orchestra.

Zdravstvuite!, (2015) 6 minutes
"On a summer day a strange man who teaches Russian at the beach took me to a town."

such a good place to die, (2011) 14 minutes
Forms shift like a landscape of memory in this enchanting work featuing music by Tatsuki Tsushima.

___________________________________________________________

Inspired by the exhibition TAKASHI MURAKAMI: THE OCTOPUS EATS ITS OWN LEG, the Modern presents one classic and five recent critically acclaimed anime feature films and a selection of short films chosen by the Japan Society of New York. Join us as we celebrate the Japanese anime genre with films all visually stunning, richly imaginative, and poetic in their storytelling.

Screenings will be held in the Modern’s auditorium. Tickets are $10, $9 for Modern members, $7 for Modern Reel People members, and $5 for children under 12. Tickets are available beginning at 10 am, Tuesday, August 7, at www.themodern.org/films or by visiting the Modern’s admission desk during operating hours.

Tickets Here

The Modern is deeply grateful to Dr. Marc Hairston for his counsel in the selection of the films for this series. Dr. Hairston will introduce and discuss the films at every screening.

A scientist who researches space weather using the Coupled Ion Neutral Dynamic Investigation (CINDI), a satellite that studies how neutral gas motions and charged particle motions are related, Dr. Hairston is also interested in the scholarly study of anime and manga and is on the board of editors of Mechademia, the first English-language academic journal addressing these topics. He and Dr. Pamela Gossin at the University of Texas at Dallas regularly teach courses examining the themes of science fiction and fantasy in anime and manga, specifically focusing on individual anime creators such as Miyazaki, Shinkai, Hosoda, and Takahata.