27th Tokyo International Film Festival to Take You to “The World of Hideaki Anno”

The 27th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced the line-up of "The World of Hideaki Anno" which will be featuring works by Hideaki ANNO, one of Japan's most prominent filmmakers. This will be the first-ever major screening occasion to showcase his works.

Line-up: http://2014.tiff-jp.net/news/en/?p=6821

When Anno was in his early twenties, he impressed Hayao Miyazaki, who subsequently hired him as an animator on his film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Since then, Anno has created a string of hits, including NADIA THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER (1990), the first television series he directed, and the EVANGELION series, which has become a global phenomenon.

Toshio Suzuki, the producer of Studio Ghibli, who collaborated with Anno for a number of works, described "Anno as the only man Hayao Miyazaki would ever acknowledge as his apprentice".

At the press conference held on August 26, TIFF screened a promotional short video, a collage of excerpts from Anno's works. "I am quite excited to show most of my previous films at this year's TIFF. By looking back at my past work, I find that my creation style has not been changed since I started my career," Anno said when he came up on the stage. "Even some of the films from my amateur ages constructed a part of my career, so I am thrilled to show my films from all genres. Come to think of it, everything is challenge, all of my works are unforgettable and good memories as a director don't remain but hard experiences led to build my creativity."

After the press conference, TIFF held a standing interview with Anno and Suzuki, who had helped the festival to present "The World of Hideaki Anno."

"When I was asked for an advice by the festival about launching Animation program, I came up with an idea of spotlighting on individual Animation filmmaker and I thought Anno might be the one after Hayao Miyazaki had announced his retirement," Suzuki said. "I truly believe that Anno will be the successor in the Japanese animated film industry and animation can only be run by few talented people, and Anno is the one. You have to value the talented people like him. ANNO is going to lead the animation industry for the next at least 10 years in Japan."

The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) started in 1985 as Japan's first major film festival and the only Japanese film festival accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF). Since then, TIFF has grown to become one of the leading film festivals in Asia.