This Friday, December 9 was the launch party of the Carrefour du cinema de l’animation for its 19e editing. For a week, the Forum des images hosts this event to celebrate this major art that is animation cinema. On the occasion of its opening night, a vernissage retracing the process of making the film Unicorn Wars by Alberto Vhassquez was presented, followed by the preview screening of Misaki no Mayoiga.
Unicorn Wars – Opening of the Alberto Vásquez exhibition
On the occasion of the release of his brand new animated feature film Unicorn Wars, Alberto Vasquez lent himself to the game of the exhibition by proposing to the Forum des images a journey retracing his preparatory work for the work. Coming from the world of comics and illustration, he quickly fell in love with the world of animation, which he describes as “poetic material” for telling stories.
The exhibition at the Forum des images immerses us in the genesis of the project through the story board, the chara design or the artistic concept. Unicorn Wars is a real visual work that required more than 6 years of intensive work and 250 animation professionals on the project. V’s workhassquez features whimsical anthropomorphic characters and tackles existential themes of society in a world filled with color. The origin ofUnicorn Wars is taken from one of his short films Sangre de unicornio featuring in particular a childish aesthetic worked in watercolor on pastel and monochrome tones, giving life to a real ontological work.
Alberto expresses his art through decorations and surprising colors, the study of color is for him an important means of narration that he highlights in particular in Unicorn Wars. This palette work is particularly visible on the storyboards of the exhibition which highlight an assertive style of narration and allow us to visualize the artistic rhythm engaged by the artist. The preview is to be found this Sunday at 9 p.m. at the Forum des Images. If you miss the opportunity to see it during the Carrefour du cinema d’animation, the national release of the film will be on December 28, 2022.
Misaki no Mayoiga – Shinya Kawatsura
Director Shinya Kawatsura’s work takes us to the battered small town of Kitsunezaki shortly after the onset of a Tsunami. As the residents try to forget the disaster that struck them, Hiyori and Yui try to rebuild despite the loss of their loved ones. Guided by magical beings from Japanese folklore, they will learn to face their doubts and fears and embark on an adventure filled with mysteries.
Based on the novel by Kashiwaba Sachiko, the film is part of a list of three anime from a project to support the victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Misaki no Mayoiga shows the resilience of the human spirit and reminds viewers no matter the circumstances, you have to “give time to time”. The demons that Yui and Hiyori face feed on these negative emotions that inevitably settle in us. The guilt of being alive alone, the loneliness in a world where we no longer find our place, the impression that the event we experienced is gradually forgotten before disappearing, leaving us alone to face our anxieties.
Through sublime landscapes, Misaki no Mayoiga uses the ordinary and the supernatural to create a story that is both touching and encouraging. Ten years after the disaster, the film reminds us of the importance of community support to rebuild. As long as they are together, they can rebuild their homes and their lives and then help others. This idea is represented in the Misaki no Mayoiga by the importance of the family ties that are created between Yui, Hiyori and Hiwa-san, the grandmother who takes them in, but is also represented by the idea of home. In Japanese culture, the proper name Mayoiga refers to the mythical abandoned houses in rural areas. Also nicknamed “House of the Lost”, these buildings provided for the needs of their occupants. In Shinya Kawatsura’s work, the house almost becomes a 4th character. Located on an isolated Kitsunezaki cliff, this Mayoiga becomes a landmark and a comfort for the two young girls in their many journeys.
Misaki no Mayoiga reminds the public that the lessons of the past remain relevant today and that sometimes all it takes is one step forward to open up tiny possibilities. A film that should delight all animation enthusiasts with its sublime settings and moving stories.
