MEGA-GOOD ANIMATION CAKE TRT: 61 min.
Leave the banality of live-action stories behind and jump into the world of experimental and narrative animation! Each piece brings forth an amazing palette of animation techniques with unique storytelling devices to match. Dig in, take a slice, and fill up your minds with animated glory.
– Rochelle Lozada

DATE: SATURDAY, MAY 1
TIME: 3:00 PM
VENUE: DGA 3
BUY TICKETS

UP THE RABBIT HOLE (United States, 2008) Dir.: Asa Mori A surreal, Super 8 dream sequence unravels as a creature finds herself trapped in a capsule with a dead rabbit and a bloody hole. With her trusty rabbit ears, she taps her way through bizarre TV scenes: Japanese men on carousels, people in monster suits with balloons, and disturbing garbage bags in bathtubs. Video, 5 min., black & white, experimental

THE OBLIVION & THE BLIND (Canada, 2007) Dir.: Cindy Mochizuki Inspired by the Japanese folk story, “Miminashi Hoichi” and Hokusai’s woodblock print, “Blind Men With Elephant”, this experimental animation piece explores the process of listening and writing. Watch how a single thread can unfold a series of tangled memories and stories, creating its own language without words. Featuring music by mimi’s ami. Video, 2 min., color, animation

SEARCHING (United States, 2009) Dir.: Hyun Joo Cho While desperately searching for his beloved pet, a young boy recalls his memories. Video, 6 min., color, animation

SEEN/UNSEEN United States, 2009) Dir.: Sara Suleman A hand drawn animation that evokes the unconscious through the use of symbolism and metaphor. It explores the state of being in two places at one time. Video, 2 min., color, animation

MU –EMPTINESS– (United States, 2009) Dir.: Ria Ama A monk lovingly paints a Phoenix in a mural. The Phoenix, now trapped in the mural, wills herself into the world and transforms into a woman. Upon her journey, she learns lessons about the fragility of life, the certainty of death, and the suffering of unquenchable desire. Video, 16 min., color, narrative

DEAR FATTY (United States, 2008) Dir.: Hsin-I Tseng A little girl is writing a letter to “Fatty”, a pet hamster that meets lots of animals and learns about the outside world during her travels. In this short cutout animation, stop motion characters are combined with collage backgrounds and cut outs of a real hamster to create this wonderful fantasy story. Video, 7 min., color, animation

THE CAP (TOPI) (United States, 2009) Dir.: Arjun Rihan Inspired by a true story during the partition of the Indian Empire into India and Pakistan in 1947, this piece follows Bir, a Hindu boy waiting to board a train from Pakistan to India with his mother. When a violent turn of events separates them, and he gets lost in the middle of a communal riot, Bir must find his mother before it’s too late. Film, 7 min., color, animation, in Punjabi w/E.S.

FATHER AND SISTER (United States/South Korea, 2010) Dir.: Soyeon Kim A chance occurrence leads to a workplace temptation. Video, 5 min., color, animation

JUNKO’S SHAMISEN (Canada, 2009) Dir.: Solomon Friedman Set in the rural backwoods of feudal Japan, a young peasant girl named Junko returns home to discover her blind grandfather brutally murdered. Devastated and filled with despair, Junko, accompanied by a mystical fox spirit, abandons her old life and sets off for the village in search of better fortune and poetic justice. Film, 11 min., color, animation, in Japanese w/E.S.