Moving Pictures: Comics and Animation Picks from the NZIFF

Above: A scene from the film, My Friend Dahmer.

The New Zealand International Film Festival has just launched its film line-up for 2017, and there's plenty of gems in there if you're a fan of comics and animation!

Leading the pack is My Friend Dahmer, based on the graphic novel memoir by John 'Derf' Backderf. Directed and adapted for the screen by Marc Meyers, My Friend Dahmer focuses on Dahmer's High School years as witnessed by his friend John Backderf, and the events that lead up to Dahmer's eventual serial killing spree of 17 young men and boys. The film stars Ross Lynch as Dahmer, Anne Heche and Alex Wolff. For more information on My Friend Dahmer, check out the NZIFF page HERE.

Above: A scene from the film, Blade of the Immortal.

Next up is Blade of the Immortal, an adaptation of the classic manga series by Samura Hiroaki. Directed by Miike Takashi, Blade of the Immortal stars Kimura Takuya as Manji, whose sister is viciously killed by bounty hunters. After dispatching the killers, a mysterious nun uses blood worms to heal his wounds, granting him the ability to regenerate. Years later he is hired as a bodyguard for Rin (Sugisaki Hana), whose kendo-master father and pupils were slaughtered by the swordsmen of Itto-ryu. Together Manji and Rin set out to avenge the death of her family. For more information on Blade of the Immortal, check out the NZIFF page HERE.

Above: A scene from Ethel & Ernest.

Ethel & Ernest is an adaptation of Raymond Briggs’ award-winning graphic memoir of his parents’ lives, gorgeous rendered in hand-drawn animation that perfectly captures Briggs’ art style. Adapted and directed by Roger Mainwood, The story is a progression through the lives of Briggs' parents, from their courtship in the late 1920s to their deaths a few months apart in 1971. A lifelong milkman with few complaints, Ernest keeps a close eye on world events – the rise of Hitler, the arrival of the fridge, the phone and the television, and the actions of successive governments. While Ethel, a former lady’s maid, would rather sleep than watch the moon landing on TV and bristles at any suggestion that their little household in Wimbledon might be considered working class. Jim Broadbent and Brenda Blethyn provide the lead voices, with a soundtrack marking out the periods of time featuring original contributions from Carl Davis and Paul McCartney. For more information on Ethel & Ernest, check out the NZIFF page HERE.

Above: A scene from Ancien and the Magic Tablet.

Steampunk dreams intersect with corporate reality in this imaginative anime set just days before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. High school senior Morikawa Kokone can fall asleep anytime, anywhere. In a series of strange dreams while napping, she travels to Heartland and becomes Ancien – a brave princess with a magic computer tablet, a feisty sidekick and an appetite for adventure. Her waking life is equally full of daring escapades. Her mechanic father Momotaro, a man of very few words, finds himself in unexpected trouble, and it’s up to Kokone to come to his rescue. When events in Heartland begin to parallel her waking world, Kokone realises that unravelling the mystery of her dreams may reveal the key to her challenges in the real world. Directed by Kamiyama Kenji (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex), Ancien and the Magic Tablet features the voices of 
Takahata Mitsuki, Mitsushima Shinnosuke and Maeno Tomoya. The film is in Japanese with English subtitles. For more information on Ancien and the Magic Tablet, check out the NZIFF page HERE.

Above: A scene from My Life As a Courgette.

My Life As a Courgette is an Oscar nominated stop-motion animated film by Swiss director Claude Barras. Based on the YA novel by Gilles Paris, the film follows a nine year old orphan who prefers to be called Courgette, who's sent to a group home after the accidental death of his alcoholic mother. Courgette befriends a local cop named Raymond, and a new girl at the orphanage, Camille, who, like Courgette, was orphaned by violent circumstances. Despite the very adult situations that have burdened the lives of Courgette and his friends as the orphanage, My Life As a Courgette illustrates the resilience of children, and the ability to build new relationships and create a life out of the chaos that surrounds them. The film will be available in both a subtitled and dubbed version. For more information on My Life As a Courgette, check out the NZIFF page HERE.

Above: A scene from the short film, Red Riding Hood Redux by Danijel Žeželj.

As always, there is a health amount of animation short films featured in the Animation Now! section of the festival. A new addition this year is the Animation Now! Black and White screening. Of note to comic fans should be the 12 minute short from this screening, Red Riding Hood Redux. The film is directed by Croatian cartoonist Danijel Žeželj, the atmospheric artist from Luna Park, Hellblazer, Loveless and many more. For more information on the Animation Now! showcases, visit the NZIFF page HERE.

For more information on the films and screenings coming to a city near you, visit the New Zealand International Film Festival website HERE.

- AK!