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Makoto Shinkai's Neko no Shūkai to Compete at Annecy (Updated)
posted on by Mikhail Koulikov
Neko no Shūkai, the most recent work of independent animator Makoto Shinkai (Voices of a Distant Star, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, 5 Centimeters Per Second), will be one of 43 films chosen to compete in the short film category at this year's Annecy International Festival and Film Market. It premiered in Japan as part of NHK's Ani-Kuri 15 collection in December. Two other Japanese animated shorts, Shinji Kimura's Attack of Higashi 2-chome and Kumio Kato's Tsumiki no Ie are also competing, along with entries from the United States, France, Russia, Iran, and other countries.
Annecy has not yet announced the official selections for its main Feature Films competition. However, in the TV Series category, the first episode of Kimoshi Chioka's Hataba Kitaro, Frederic Soumagnas' CG-animated Tokyo Punch, and three episodes from Satoshi Tomioka's Usavich will represent Japan. In addition, Production I.G's "Asience: Hairy Tale" short will be screened in the Advertising Films category, and Kazumasa Otsuki's Contrast will be in the competition for the Educational, Scientific, or Industrial Films category.
Annecy, which will be held in the French town of the same name from June 9 to June 14, is considered the world's leading competitive festival for commercial animated film. It has frequently featured anime movies, TV episodes, and shorts in the program. Last year, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was one of the feature film official selections, and it received a special distinction award.
Update: Corrected Annecy's country. Thanks, anime_Layer.
