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Column by Scott Green
Excellent news for fans of innovative and unconventional animation. New Zeitgeist/KimStim will be releasing a DVD collection of major works by Koji Yamamura, one of Japan's foremost independent animators, with Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor and other Fantastic Films by Koji Yamamura scheduled to be released on 12/7/10. SYNOPSIS Koji Yamamura is considered one of the greatest independent Japanese animators of this generation. Born in Japan in 1964, he has been crafting animation since age twelve by combining traditional drawings with mixed media such as modeling clay, still photography and painting. Yamamura has fashioned entirely distinctive, stunningly imaginative worlds with free-spirited creativity: trees grow out of heads, birds dream of fruit, and children are swallowed by whales. Koji Yamamura first garnered major international attention in 2003—when his universally acclaimed Mt. Head received an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Film. Yamamura is the only Japanese animator (besides the legendary Hayao Miyazaki) to ever receive such an honor. KimStim is proud to present a collection of Yamaura’s most remarkable works for the first time in the U.S., including his latest masterpiece Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor—a nightmarish, virtuoso drawing-on-paper rendering of the famed short story and winner of seven Grand Prizes at major animation festivals worldwide. FILMS INCLUDE Franz Kafka‘s A Country Doctor (2007, 21 mins) Child's Metaphysics (Kodomo no keijijogaku, 2007, 5 mins) The Old Crocodile (Toshi wo Totta Wani, 2005, 13 mins, In English) Pieces (Omake, 2003, 2 mins, No dialogue) Mt. Head (Atama-yama, 2002, 10 mins) Your Choice! (Docchi ni Suru, 1999, 10 mins, In English) Bavel’s Book (Bavel no Hon, 1996, 5 mins) Kid’s Castle (1995, 5 mins, No dialogue) Kipling Jr. (1995, 15 mins) From the Karo & Piyobupt series (1993, 3 films 4 mins each, No dialogue): A House (Ouchi); The Sandwiches (Sandoicchi); Imagination (Ame no Hi) Perspektivenbox (Enkinhou no Hako, 1989, 4 mins, No dialogue) Japanese-English Pictionary (Hyakka Zukan, 1989, 12 mins, No dialogue) Aquatic (Suisei, 1987, 5 mins, No dialogue) EXTRAS Essay: The Animated Genius of Koji Yamamura. For some perspective on the work, check out Time Asia on Koji Yamamura AniPages Daily on A Country Doctor Destroy All Podcasts DX A Country Doctor Midnight Eye on Mt Head
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