The 11th annual Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema will screen a dozen feature films from Thursday to Sunday in the Chrysalids Theatre. More than 2,000 fans are expected for the annual celebration of animated feature films based at the cinema at 137 Ontario St. N. (formerly the Gig Theatre).
In a nod to the festival’s roots in Japanese anime, the opening night feature is Full Metal Alchemist: the Sacred Story of Milos. That will be only the second screening of the movie, by the acclaimed animation artist Murata Kazuya.
“It is more traditional animation, if you want to call it that,” said Joseph Chen, the festival’s founder and director. “The reason we wanted it for the opening night slot is we wanted to pay tribute to our anime roots,” Chen said. The Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema was founded so fans of anime, many connected with the University of Waterloo, could see this art form on the big screen.
“I was a student there and I helped run the anime club,” Chen said of the festival’s origins. Students from Hong Kong and Japan and co-op students returning from California brought Japanese anime into this region. A small, growing and dedicated base of fans was created in and around the campus.
When the festival started 10 years ago, Japanese anime was not well-known, but it has won over hundreds of new fans. “This is the first time since 2002 that we have featured a Japanese film on opening night,” Chen said.
Released earlier this year in Japan, Korea, Argentina, the Czech Republic, Denmark and the United States, many of the features are being screened for only the second time in the world. The producers are aware of the Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema and want their features played here.
There are lots of film festivals in the country, but possibly only three dedicated to animated cinema — this local festival, the Toronto International Student Animation Festival and the Ottawa International Animation Festival. “The niche we have carved out here is really paying off as we go forward,” Chen said.
About 225 people attended the first Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema that screened three features in a single day in 2001 at the Galaxy Cinemas in Conestoga Mall. Steadily increasing in popularity from those humble beginnings, this year’s festival will feature a Friday night after-party where people are encouraged to dress up. The feature that night is called El Sol and is about life in Buenos Aires about 20 years after a nuclear war.
“We are offering a special discount for that screening for people who dress up as zombies or what you imagine people will dress in 20 years after a nuclear holocaust,” Chen said.
“Right after the screening we will be offering a free concert. We think that is going to be an excellent mix and a spectacular Friday night.”The creative minds behind one of the most popular films last year, Summer Wars, and the closing night feature in 2006, called The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, have another feature at this year’s festival called Recollections of a Certain Pilot.
“This might be the second time it has ever been played in the world,” Chen said. “A beautiful, magnificent film.” This year’s festival includes the world premier for Children Who Chase Lost Voices From Deep Below.
“We will also be featuring a beautiful French film called Chico and Rita, which was actually developed in Spain,” Chen said. “It is a deeply romantic story done in the European style.”You can buy tickets online at wfac.ca or at the door. Passes are $60 (students $50); single tickets, $12 (students $10). If you buy a pass early you get a commemorative T-shirt.