Jun 012012
 

We in Seattle are so lucky!
The NW Film Forum is having a Svankmajer series June 15-21, and SIFF Cinema is hosting a Miyazaki series June 22-July 5. Here is the info:

Still from Alice, 1989

JAN SVANKMAJER: THE SURREAL PUPPET POET

“If Hieronymous Bosch had mounted puppet shows, he would have created something like the macabre dream world of Jan Svankmajer, one of the most dazzling film artists of our time whose fans include Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton. Born in 1934 in Prague, Svankmajer received a puppet theater as a Christmas gift when he was eight, launching his lifelong obsession. Using painstaking stop-motion animation, he has created dozens of shorts and six unsettling feature films.”

Of all the films screening I would recommend the one program of shorts (these are unlisted, but my guess is they include Dimensions of Dialogue) and the Alice feature – this is his take on Alice in Wonderland and will bow your mind!

 

Still from My Neighbor Totoro, 1988

Castles in the Sky: Miyazaki, Takahata and The Masters Of Studio Ghibli

“Studio Ghibli, founded in Tokyo in 1985 by animation directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, is one of the most successful and well-respected animation studios in the world. Cultivating a creative force of talented directors, animators and storytellers under the revered brilliance of Miyazaki and Takahata, Studio Ghibli’s films have been praised for their originality, dazzling animation and epic storytelling.

SIFF Cinema Uptown is thrilled to present a comprehensive retrospective of Studio Ghibli’s films, featuring new 35mm prints, rarely seen treasures that have never been released in North America, and most films presented in both their original Japanese language with English subtitles and the celebrated English language versions as supervised by Studio Ghibli. Don’t miss your chance to see some of the greatest animated films of all time back on the giant screen”

A total of 14 features are screening! I will try to catch some I haven’t seen, but my favorites are by far Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro.

Other screenings:

Still from Hugo the Hippo, 1975

Also check out this psychedelic animated feature screening at the NWFF this weekend: Hugo the Hippo.

And there is one last animated feature playing at SIFF called Alois Nebel, playing Tuesday and Thursday next week.

And finally, there is an alternative shorts package playing at SIFF this weekend called ‘ALT Short Masters: Bruce Conner and Abigail Child‘. These are experimental and influential shorts from the 60s and 70s, all shown on 16mm.

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