Retrospective 2009: Manga Impact

The Manga Impact project is the result of a synergy created between the Locarno Film Festival and the Turin National Film Museum. It is based on a quite specific objective: to show Japanese animation’s impact on Europe (in France, Italy and Spain in particular) in the mid 70s, which then broadened to map this fantastical universe. Not so much a retrospective then, but a unique project that will begin in Locarno and conclude in January 2010 in the Mole Antonelliana in Turin. The project comprises a series of events, each in its own way autonomous. Some of these events will take place during the 62nd Locarno Festival, others will be the object of a presentation in Locarno and then developed in more depth in Turin from September 16.

Within the 62nd Locarno Festival, the Manga Impact project offers the following programme.

A meaty retrospective offers around thirty feature films representative of the various modes and strands of Japanese animation starting with The Legend of the White Snake, 1958, the country’s first animated feature to the recent The Sky Crawlers (2008). Thus we will see some of the epoch-making cornerstones of the science-fiction; features based on successful TV series; works by the great masters of historical importance; recent feature films that have proved internationally successful; but also a selection of little-seen work that runs counter to the conventions of the rest of Japanese production.
There is also a round-up of twenty TV series selected for their popularity, their quality and their influence on Japanese animation production, starting with the first Japanese animated TV series (Astro Boy). The first two episodes of each of these series will be shown in original versions with subtitles.
The retrospective includes various programmes of animated short films and a set of thematic and tribute programmes.

Three encounters with the public will take place at the Forum (Spazio Cinema):
- a round table on Manga Impact with its curator, directors, producers and experts in Japanese animation;
- a conversation between the Japanese maestro Isao Takahata (co-founder of Studio Ghibli) and French director Michel Ocelot;
- a masterclass by Yoshiyuki Tomino (one of the major exponents of Japanese anime who revolutionised the representation of robots). 

In the SPAI school premises (near the FEVI Auditorium), a foretaste of the enormous Manga Impact exhibition, organised with the National Film Museum in Turin, at the Mole Antonelliana September 16 – January 10, 2010. As a preview for the Locarno public, a selection of posters, preparatory drawings, cels and merchandising from the Japanese studios will be shown.

Going beyond the Manga Impact project, this year the 62nd Festival gives ample space to contemporary Japanese animation, with films in the various sections.

The Manga Impact line-up (PDF) is available for download.
The screening dates will be announced soon on this website.