Trash Studio has joined Maison Hanko, the Japanese talent house curated by Nexus Studios to provide unique opportunities for international commissioners to collaborate with outstanding Japan-based directors and illustrators for development, production and co-production of entertainment and branded content. Trash Studio is made up of animators and creators whose extensive credits are listed in many of the most notable Studio Ghibli films. The collective was founded by producer Yoichiro Kugimiya who was joined by renowned director Yoshiharu Sato later in 2004 and they have since brought the anime tradition to a range of projects for commercial commissioners. Sato’s career flourished at Studio Ghibli as animation director for My Neighbour Totoro followed by the features Kiki’s Delivery Service, Porco Rosso and The Secret Life Of Arrietty as a key animator, alongside many other anime classics. The pair regularly collaborate with many of Japan’s leading creatives on branded content, including Akihiko Yamashita, animator and character designer for numerous Ghibli films including Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Tales from Earthsea, The Secret World of Arrietty, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea and The Wind Rises. More recently, Yamashita directed Modest Heroes–Invisible, which saw him pick up the “Best Emerging Animation Director” title at the Japan Media Arts Festival….
Full Lineup Set For AFI Fest; Official Selections Span 44 Countries, Include 9 Best International Feature Oscar Submissions
The American Film Institute (AFI) has unveiled the full lineup for this year’s AFI Fest, taking place in Los Angeles from October 23-27. Rounding out the slate of already announced titles are such highlights as September 5 directed by Tim Fehlbaum, All We Imagine As Light directed by Payal Kapadia, The Luckiest Man in America directed by Samir Oliveros (AFI Class of 2019), Zurawski v. Texas from executive producers Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and Jennifer Lawrence and directors Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault, and Oh, Canada directed by Paul Schrader (AFI Class of 1969). A total of 158 films are set to screen at the 38th edition of AFI Fest.
Of the official selections, 48% are directed by women and non-binary filmmakers and 26% are directed by BIPOC filmmakers.
Additional festival highlights include documentaries Architecton directed by Victor Kossakovsky; Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie directed by David Bushell; Devo directed by Chris Smith about the legendary new wave provocateurs; Gaucho Gaucho directed by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw; Group Therapy directed by Neil Berkeley with Emmy® winner Neil Patrick Harris and Tig Notaro; No Other Land directed by a Palestinian-Israeli team comprised of Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor and Hamdan Ballal; Pavements directed by Alex Ross Perry; and Separated directed by Errol Morris. Notable narrative titles include Black Dog (Gou Zen) directed by Guan Hu; Bonjour Tristesse directed by Durga Chew-Bose with Academy Award® nominee Chloë Sevigny; Caught By The Tides directed by Jia Zhangke; Hard Truths directed by Mike Leigh with... Read More