The 15th International Animation Festival Hiroshima has begun with Hungarian participants

Published: 22 August 2014

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The International Animation Festival, five-day-long animation biennial looking back on a history of thirty years this year, has opened its doors in Japan on Thursday, this year with Hungary as the guest of honour. As early as on the first evening of the competitive screening, one day after the opening ceremony with hundreds of invitees, a Hungarian film, Réka Bucsi’s work titled Symphony No. 42., has already been shown. From Friday onwards, Festival visitors can also see an exhibition presenting Hungarian animation.

The Hungarian delegation to the International Animation Festival Hiroshima, assembled with the coordination of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH), had participated in a meeting with the Deputy Mayor of Hiroshima prior to the opening ceremony of the Festival. The head of the delegation and President of NMHH, Monika Karas (pictured) expressed her admiration for the perseverance of the local people, as Hiroshima is the city that had suffered the most severe destruction in World War II. At the meeting, Monika Karas emphasized that it is a great pleasure for the Hungarian animation film art to be the guest of honour of the deservedly renowned International Animation Festival Hiroshima, especially this year, when Hungarian animation is celebrating its first one hundred years in existence. The 100th anniversary is an important event for us Hungarians, as animation film art possesses a rich tradition in Hungary and as such has become an integral part of our culture. These cartoons represent ties between generations. 

After the meeting the members of the delegation had the opportunity to visit the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Museum and then Monika Karas placed a wreath at Peace Memorial Park to commemorate the dead. On the occasion of the visit, the President of NMHH emphasized that not only are they paying their respects to the victims, but also to commemorate those who had given new life to the city after this terrible catastrophe and built a dynamic and lively community on top of the ruins.

The competitive screening program of the Hiroshima Festival began on Thursday evening with the presentation of 15 films, including Réka Bucsi’s surreal short film titled Symphony No. 42. Prior to the screening, the organizers held a grandiose opening ceremony with hundreds of invitees.

On Friday, the first full day of the Festival an exhibition presenting Hungary and a selection of the works of a renowned Hungarian animation artist, Dóra Keresztes was opened by a short Hungarian party, organized by the colleagues of the Hungarian Embassy in Tokyo and the volunteers of the Hungary-Japan Friendship Society, founded in Hiroshima.

At the opening of the exhibition, Monika Karas thanked Kinoshita Sayoko, the Director of the Festival, for the invitation, and emphasized that she had great hopes that the screenings would appeal to every participant just as they had appealed to the members of the Hungarian delegation, and she trusted that the films would leave just as deep of a cultural imprint as they leave on the Hungarian society.

Madam Kinoshita thanked NMHH for its outstanding support that enabled many Hungarian artists to participate at the Festival, and emphasized that based on early personal feedback she had received, the Hungarian films were enjoying great popularity among the audience of the Festival.