0
HOME / Latest / Japanese cult director Minoru Kawasaki will receive the Honorary Grand Prize at the Asian Summer Film Festival 2024
Share

04-07-2024

Japanese cult director Minoru Kawasaki will receive the Honorary Grand Prize at the Asian Summer Film Festival 2024

The Asian Summer Film Festival has held a press conference at the CCVIC Joan Triadú, where this year's Honorary Grand Prize was presented, as well as the official spot, and all the details of the 21st edition. The exhibition Found in Translation, which will remain open until July 31 at the same civic center, was also inaugurated. The conference was attended by the Councilor of Culture of the City of Vic, Bet Piella, who stressed the value of the festival as a promotional engine of the city and agent of integration; the festival director, Quim Crusellas, who also claimed the social value of commercial cinema that is projected in the event; the director of the spot, Judit Altimir, and the collector Jordi Batet, owner of the posters on display. In addition, Cristina Jordà, coordinator of the CCVIC Joan Triadú, explained some of the activities of the program Més Nits!

Fotos: Ingrid Ferrer

The 21st edition of the festival has a program that includes 45 films —36 feature films and 9 shorts—, divided into 6 sections and two main venues: L'Atlàntida and Bassa dels Hermanos in Vic. Among the films, three will have their world premiere at the festival, eight will be international premieres and five European premieres. In addition to the film program, the festival will offer, as every year, exhibitions at the Bassa, children's workshops and the family show El conillet que volia pa de pessic, by Cacauet Teatre, awarded at the Fira de Titelles de Lleida, as well as a karaoke session and a musical bingo with themes from Asian series and films. In addition to this, there will be dinners of various gastronomies and the classic pastry, a dessert dedicated to the festival prepared by the World Chocolate Master Lluc Crusellas.

Honorary Grand Prize Winner 2024, Minoru Kawasaki

Born in Tokyo in 1958, Kawasaki is an extravagant and brilliant director (and occasional actor); he uses genre elements to transport the audience to a parallel dimension where there are office worker koalas, soccer crabs or champion wrestling squids. He is the definitive incarnation of the Japanese cult filmmaker and his incomparable cinema has earned him recognition at the Venice Film Festival. In addition to being a beloved, recognized and award-winning film director, he also stands out for a singular fact: he is considered the world's foremost expert on Ultraman. He has written numerous books and directed episodes of the official series of this superhero. Among the a hundred or so titles in his filmography, several have been programmed at the Nits Festival, such as Raccoon Dog Gentleman (2023), Super Legend God Hikoza (2023), UFO Intruder (2023) or Planet Prince 2021 (2021), and this year there is a triple program of his presented by him. On the one hand, with the tribute session for the 10th anniversary of his most celebrated film, The Calamari Wrestler (2014), and on the other with the international and world premiere, respectively, of his latest films, Den Ace Chaos and The Game of Shark. Minoru Kawasaki will attend the 2024 Asian Summer Film Fest and on the opening night will receive the Honorary Grand Prize 2024.

The official spot of the 2024 Asian Summer Film Fest

 

The press conference also presented this year's spot, inspired by the Chinese Year of the Dragon and the neon night image of this edition. Judit Altimir, VFX artist, has worked on projects such as Bird Box Barcelona or Bajo cero, for Netflix, or The Knights of the Zodiac, for Sony Pictures. Since this 2024 is the Chinese Year of the Dragon, Altimir has used the epic parades of Chinese dragons as a base reference for the atmosphere of the video, which is an abstract proposal with floral elements where each color has its particular symbolism, always according to Chinese tradition. The creation of the complex textures has been done entirely with Houdini, using various techniques such as modeling, animation, instanced geometry, VEX programming, texturing, lighting and rendering.

Share
«
»