Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival in Aberystwyth Details 2018

Date: 2018 September 06 19:55

Posted by Joe

Anime fans in Aberystwyth will be pleased to hear about the local leg of the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival. It's been running since 2010 and is set to return to the Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Saturday October 20th 2018. Attendees are in for a treat, they've got screenings of some truly delightful films, including Fireworks, Lu Over the Wall and Mirai.

We highly recommend Lu Over the Wall a quirky tail from Masaaki Yuasa (you can read our review here), along with Mirai from popular anime director Mamoru Hosoda, the screening is a week after it's run at the BFI London Film Festival, but also before it get a national screening. So you'll be able to see it before most people!

They'll also be showing Studio Ghibli's When Marnie Was There, something that you should really catch on a big screen. Other titles include Psychic School Wars and Attack on Titan: Roar of Awakening.

As always with events like this we suggest booking early to avoid disappointment, tickets aren't on sale yet for Aberystwyth, but will be soon, so please keep a look out!

Also don't forget you can catch some other great films at the Cardiff leg of the festival too.

Full Story

Press release as follows:

Kotatsu Japanese Animation Film Festival 2018

Cardiff
Chapter 28th - 30th September

Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth Arts Centre 20th - 21st October

Aberystwyth Press Release, September, 2018

On Friday, September 28, the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival launches for another series of film screenings in Wales. Things kick off in Cardiff with a huge variety of feature films and guests from Japan before the festival moves to Aberystwyth for its run at the end of October.

The festival launches at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Saturday, October 20th at 10:00, with a screening of the Studio Ghibli When Marnie Was There, making that the third film directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi at the festival. This will be followed by the family film Lu Over the Wall, a tale of a kid from Tokyo moving to a small coastal city and discovering that his "boring" new home has magical mermaids, good friends, and great music. This film screens at 12:30 before the cinematic delights finish with a 15:00 screening of Psychic School Wars, a beautifully animated adaptation of a well-known Japanese sci-fi tale of a mysterious exchange student with dangerous powers that is sure to delight a wide audience.

The Kotatsu raffle will be held throughout Saturday with goods from Japan on offer to people who take part.

Sunday, October 21st opens with Mamoru Hosoda's latest eagerly-anticipated title, Mirai, which is a magical tale of the time-travelling antics. Mirai, which is a magical tale of the time-travelling antics.

The story takes place in Yokohama and follows Kun, a young boy who was the centre of attention until his baby sister, Mirai, was born. Feeling resentment he finds himself able to cope with the changes when visited by various members of his family, including a grown-up version of Mirai who travels from the future. Hosoda was inspired by his own experiences of being a father in a family where a newborn took the attention of the parents away from the elder sibling. The film got its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and will be screened at the BFI London Film Festival and Kotatsu is proud to be bringing it to Wales when it screens in Aberystwyth at 13:45.

The next film to follow is the emotionally powerful drama, Fireworks at 15:35, where audiences will be taken into an intense relationship between teenagers during a memorable summer. With characters voiced by the hottest talent in live-action Japanese cinema and with a script based on the work of Shunji Iwai (The Murder Case of Hana & Alice) this will prove to be an emotional show-stopper.

The final day of Kotatsu 2018 closes with a screening of the immensely popular Attack on Titan: The Roar of Awakening, which takes audiences back into the thrilling and gruelling fight for humanity's survival in a world full of man-eating giants.

About Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival

Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival has been running since November 2010 at the Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff, where it has brought Japanese anime and culture to a growing audience. In 2014 we expanded into a new venue, the Aberystwyth Arts Centre, where audiences deeper in Wales could watch some of the same great films that were seen in Cardiff. 2018 sees the festival include more for visitors such as animation workshops and master classes with leading animators from Japan as well as our continuing commitment to screening a variety of films.

Find us on Facebook | Twitter | Website

Venues:

Chapter - September 28th - 30th, 2018
Chapter, Market Road, Canton, Cardiff, Wales UK CF5 1QE

Box Office: +44 (0)29 2030 4400

About Chapter Arts

Chapter is regarded as one of the first arts centres in the UK that brought together different art forms under one roof. For over 40 years Chapter has been the heartbeat of creativity in Cardiff and through its unique venue it presents, produces and promotes international art, live performance and film alongside a dynamic social space with over 800,000 visitors welcomed every year.

www.chapter.org

Aberystwyth Arts Centre - October 20th - 21st, 2018

Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberystwyth University, Penglais Campus, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3DE
Box Office: 01970 62 32 32

About Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Aberystwyth Arts Centre is an award winning organisation that has a wide-ranging artistic programme which includes drama, dance, music, visual arts, applied arts, film, new media, and community arts. Aberystwyth Arts Centre is a department of Aberystwyth University and sits at the heart of the university's campus, with stunning views over the town of Aberystwyth and along the coastline of Cardigan Bay.

http://www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk