GKIDS Animation is Film Festival Oct 20-22

The Animation is Film Festival, presented by GKIDS, continues this weekend in Los Angeles, presenting a wide variety of feature animated movies from around the world. This festival was created from a desire to expand the appeal of the medium beyond its "electric babysitter" ghetto.

This movie festival features the US theatrical premier of Mary and the Witch's Flower, the debut movie from Studio Ponoc and latest feature from Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the director of The Secret World of Arrietty and When Marnie Was There. The Sunday event has already sold out.

Other anime films from Japan include three from Masaaki Yuasa: Mind Game, Night is Short, Walk On Girl and Lu Over the Wall. This is a very welcome sight and will hopefully lead to wider recognition of this most visually inventive of anime directors.

On the Western side, the selection of animated features runs from mainstream blockbusters (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Incredibles, The LEGO Batman Movie, to a variety of independent movies, including the highly anticipated film from Nora Twomey (co-creator of The Secret of Kells), The Breadwinner, and the user-stylish French thriller, Zombillenium, a graphic novel adaptation where zombies, vampires and witches hide in plain sight by working at a horror-themed amusement park.

This festival is an excellent idea, and should be shown in more US cities. Hopefully a successful run in Los Angeles will inspire GKIDS and their sponsors to do just that. I am already saving my money for the inevitable GKIDS Blu-Ray releases.