Exclusive: Hiroshima City Unveils Plans For New Animation Festival; Koji Yamamura Among Directors
Last fall, we reported that the Hiroshima International Animation Festival (HIAF), which the Japanese city had held in partnership with ASIFA for over 35 years, was ending in its current form. The local authorities had decided to replace it with a broader cultural festival which would include an animation section. The aim, they told us, would be “to contribute not only to promoting animation art, but also to revitalizing the economy, to promoting tourism, and more.”
We can now exclusively reveal more details about the new event. The Hiroshima Festival, which will hold its first edition in August 2022, will consist of a “music” and a “media geijutsu” section, the latter encompassing media arts, video games, manga, and animation. The animation strand will be known as Hiroshima Animation Season and will take place on August 17–21.