Introduction
Screenings: Amedama, Wander to Wonder, Bestia, Souvenir Souvenir, Ice Merchants
ASIFA-Hollywood is an influential non-profit organization at the center of the American animation industry, known for presenting the Annie Awards and for its contributions to artistic promotion and talent development. As the world of animation undergoes significant change, ANIAFF aims to spark a new wave by fostering cross-border collaboration with ASIFA-Hollywood. Please look forward to the short film screenings and talk sessions.
Speaker
Speaker：Aubry Mintz
Aubry Mintz has worked as a feature animator (ILM, Square USA) and directed projects for Smirnoff, McDonalds, MuchMusic and General Mills and the Canadian rock band Rush. His short-animated film “Nothing to Say” narrated by celebrity Danny Aiello screened at 41 festivals around the globe and won awards at Australia Independent Film Festival, Arctic Film Festival (a United Nations SDG Initiative), Palm Springs International Animation Festival, Anchorage Film Festival, NFMLA, and Canada Shorts. Mintz is also a co-author for the book “Ideas for the Animated Short 2nd Edition” and writer for Cartoon Brew, Animation Magazine, AnimationScoop.com and IndieWire.com. Mintz presented at Disney Feature Animation, Blue Sky Animation Studios and DreamWorks Animation, San Diego Comic Con, SIGGRAPH , Lightbox Expo, and Wondercon. Aubry was also guest host on TV's Turner Classic Movies (TCM) for a 4-hour program on the animated short films from the National Film Board of Canada and he was featured in the documentary “Autism Goes to College” Mintz is Professor of Animation at California State University Long Beach and the Executive Director of ASIFA-Hollywood.
Speaker：Daisuke Nishio
Born in 1959 in Hiroshima Prefecture.
Joined Toei Doga (now Toei Animation) in 1981, making his directorial debut on the TV anime “Dr. Slump.” He has served as series director for numerous works, including “Dragon Ball Z,” “GeGeGe no Kitarō (4th series),” and “The Kindaichi Case Files.” In 2004, he launched the original series “Futari wa Pretty Cure,” which has continued for over 20 years as a long-running franchise. Beyond action, he has directed a wide range of genres, with other notable works including “Air Master” and “Interstella 5555.”
Speaker：Takashi Washio
Born in 1965 in Akita Prefecture. Graduated from the Faculty of Law at Keio University. After working for an educational publishing company and as a news reporter for a TV station, he joined Toei Animation in 1998. He made his debut as a producer with “Kinnikuman Nisei.” (“Ultimate Muscle 2”) In 2004, he launched “Futari wa Pretty Cure” together with Director Nishio, and the series has continued for over 20 years to this day. He has also produced titles such as “Butt Detective,” “Kaidan Restaurant,” “Fushigi Dagashiya Zenitendō,” and “Toriko.”
Speaker：Kazuhiro Nishikawa
Born in 1975 in Hyogo Prefecture.
After building his career at Toei Animation as a CG animator and CG director, he founded DandeLion Animation Studio in 2007 with the aim of planning and producing works centered on CG animation.
In recent years, the projects he produced include the film “THE FIRST SLAM DUNK” (2022), which became the 14th highest-grossing film of all time in Japan, and the short film “Magic Candies” (2024), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in the United States.
Special Feature
46004 Screening with Talk Session
Guest: Aubry Mintz、Daisuke Nishio、Takashi Washio、Kazuhiro Nishikawa