Lo Che Ying

Lo is an experienced anime producer and began independent anime creation in 1977. His works won the first prize at the Hong Kong Independent Short Film Festival for four consecutive times and he was promoted as panel member. In the next year, he joined the Radio Television Hong Kong to work as cartoon producer until 1993. Over recent years, he spent efforts on promotion of the anime industry in Hong Kong and planning of anime exhibitions. Recently, he worked as the curator of the 50 Years of Hong Kong and Taiwanese Animation. He currently worked as Secretary General of the Hong Kong Animation and Culture Association.


The animation film festivals close at hand

08 2019 | Issue 34

What would you do if you like animations? Will you squeeze time to watch animations that you like? Or will you buy fan merchandises such as related books and magazines? Will you chase down the celebrities you love or you prefer going to screenings and seminars to meet the production team? Or, will you start making your own animations and join the animation industry? I know quite a number of friends who have said yes to many of the questions above. I myself am one of them. But apart from the actions mentioned above, one can also participate in international animation festivals to pursue their passion.

In recent years, a number of international animation festivals have appeared. But they are mostly small in scale. If you are looking for a platform to exchange ideas and have a deeper understanding of animations, you should definitely seek for opportunities to visit some famous animation festivals with a long history. If you look it up on the Internet, you will find that there are four major international animation festivals, which are Annecy International Animated Film Festival, Animafest Zagreb, Ottawa International Animation Festival and Hiroshima International Animation Festival. These four film festivals are all organised by the most prestigious animation organisation ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film d’Animation), which ensures quality and professionalism for the film festivals. The Annecy International Animated Film Festival (ANNECY) is probably the most well-known animation exhibition in the world. First held in 1960, ANNECY is the largest animation festival around the world as it attracts the biggest number of participants. Animators from Hong Kong also take part in this film festival very often. This year is no exception. But among the four major international festivals, Hiroshima International Animation Festival is often neglected by many. Hiroshima International Animation Festival is held every two years. Established in 1985, the film festival has been around for over three decades. Last year’s 17th Hiroshima International Animation Festival had been the most popular one in its history. The organising committee received 2,842 animations from 88 regions around the world. The five-day event also attracted over 30,000 visitors.


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Source: Official website of Hiroshima International Animation Festival


The founders of the Hiroshima International Animation Festival chose Hiroshima as the host city because of the historical value that the city provides. The festival’s key theme is love and peace, a message that Hiroshima wants to spread through an international animation festival. The animation festival was initiated by independent animation filmmaker Renzo Kinoshita and Sayoko Kinoshita, who were planning the first international animation festival in Asia 30 years ago. Their initiative was backed by the Hiroshima government and cultural foundation. The first Hiroshima International Animation Festival was scheduled to be held within one year and eventually hit the animation scene at the year-end of 1985.

The first Hiroshima International Animation Festival invited several animation filmmakers in Asia to co-produce an animation for the opening ceremony of the festival. The 6-minute long animation was developed and produced by animation filmmakers from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Indonesia, etc. It took them three months to complete the production. I was lucky to be on the production team and I now see it as a meaningful chapter in my life.

I participated in some of the earliest Hiroshima International Animation Festivals. Besides having the opportunity to appreciate hundreds of animations from different places, I also got the rare chance to meet talented animation filmmakers from all over the world and exchanged ideas with them. I was lucky to be able to meet legendary animation filmmakers like Osamu Tezuka, Kihachirō Kawamoto, John Lasseter, Yuri Norstein, etc. We had dinner together and talked for hours. It was an unforgettable experience.

Apart from that, the film festival also organises a number of saloons, workshops, and seminars on animation production, which are very practical and valuable. Last year, I joined these activities to see an animation director called Michaël Dudok de Wit. His famous work The Red Turtle was released two years ago. I went to Hiroshima International Animation Festival that year to appreciate his exhibition and also met him in person. The trip to Hiroshima had been amazing. I made a few new friends from the animation circle and met the director I wanted to see in person.

Next year we are going to have the 18th Hiroshima International Animation Festival, which is scheduled to be held from August 20th to 24th. The five-day festival hasn’t released an official announcement on the festival theme and invited guests yet. If you are interested, you can keep track of the updates on the festival’s official site. Hiroshima is in fact not very far from Hong Kong and Macao. It is very convenient to travel to. During the exhibition, visitors can also travel around the city and enjoy Japan. Hopefully, I will be seeing some of you in Hiroshima next year.