Screening of “Millenial Actress”
By Satoshi Kon

Studio Gin'ei commissioned filmmaker Gen'ya Tachibana to make a documentary on the enigmatic Chiyoko Fujiwara, who was the studio's leading lady from the 1930s until the 1960s. As Chiyoko reminisced about her life, Tachibana and his cameraman suddenly found themselves on a rich and dazzling journey through time.

28 Nov (Fri) • 7.30pm • SAM Auditorium • Free
Registration has closed due to overwhelming response.

Screening of “Mind Game”
By Masaaki Yuasa

Based on Japan's cult underground comic "Mind Game" by Robin Nishi. The film follows Nishi, a loser who has a crush on his childhood girlfriend. After an encounter with the Japanese mafia, the film follows Nishi as he journeys to heaven and back, and ends up trapped in an even more unlikely place.

28 Nov (Fri) • 9.15pm • SAM Auditorium • Free
Registration has closed due to overwhelming response.

Screening of “Winter Days”
By Kawamoto Kihachiro

Winter Days is based on a renga (colllaborative poem effort) by 17th century Japanese poet Basho where visuals for the 36 stanzas were created by leading animators from Japan and beyond who gave their own interpretation of this classic poem. 

5 Dec (Fri) • 7.30pm • SAM Auditorium • Free
Please email nhb_sam_programs@nhb.gov.sg or call 6332 3220 to register by 2nd December.

Screening of “Princess Monoke”
By Hayao Miyazaki

Princess Mononoke is a jidaigeki (period drama) set in the late Muromachi period of Japan and centres on the between the supernatural guardians of a forest and the humans who consume its resources, as seen by the outsider, Ashitaka.

5 Dec (Fri) • 9.30pm • SAM Auditorium • Free
Parental guidance is strongly recommended as some scenes may be inappropriate for children under 13.
Registration has closed due to overwhelming response.

Screening of “Summer Days with Coo” by Keiichi Hara

Koichi Uehara is a fourth grade student living in Tokyo. One day, he discovers a fossil of a baby "Kappa" (a Japanese mythical water creature) and names it "Coo". Koichi and Coo become good friends and Coo starts living with his family. However, Coo starts to miss the simple life he once had with his family and both pals embark on an adventurous road trip to find his peers. Directed by one of the top animators of the generation, Keiichi Hara, who had created numbers of box office hit feature films in Japan.

12 Dec (Fri) • 7.30pm • SAM Auditorium • Free
Parental guidance is strongly recommended as some scenes may be inappropriate for children under 13.
Registration has closed due to overwhelming response.

Symposium: New Digital Technologies & Art
In conjunction with SIGGRAPH Asia 2008

How do new digital technologies and art shape and influence each other? Discover how developments in technology have shaped art making and its practices in this relaxed dialogue with well known speakers.

About the Panel:

Moderator: Ms Tomoe Moriyama
Media Art Curator, SIGGRAPH Asia 2008 Art Gallery & Emerging Technologies Chair

Tomoe Moriyama is a Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo MOT). She has organised over 30 exhibitions on media art and pre-cinema history as a curator at the Tokyo Metropolitan museum of Photography. Currently she teaches media arts as a Project Associate Professor of The University of Tokyo. She is a jury member of Japan Media Arts Festival and a councilor of the Virtual Reality Society, Japan. She was an invited researcher at ZKM (Zentrum fur Kunst und Medientechnology, Karlsruhe) and MIT Media-Lab., Boston in 2003 and has given several media art lectures at Bauhaus University in Weimar, Pratt Institute NY, UCLA in Los Angels in 2002-2006 and was a visiting scholar at J. P. Getty Research Institute in 2007.

She has written several books of media art, “Re-Imagination” in 2002, “Inter-media” in 2003, “The Universe of Storyboards” in 2004, “Meta-Visual (French Edition)” in 2005, “Re-Imagination/Post-Digi-graphy” in 2006 and “Haptic Literature” in 2007-2008. In 2007, she also organised an original plan for the 10th anniversary commemorative exhibition, “The Power of Expression, Japan”, at The National Art Center, Tokyo. She is also a jury of Prix Ars Electronica 2008 (interactive art), Digital Art Chair of ASIAGRAPH 2008 in Shanghai and Art Gallery/Emerging Technology Chair of SIGGRAPH Asia 2008 in Singapore.

Ms Jinny H.J. Choo
Programming Director, Illustration & Animation Artist SIGGRAPH ASIA 2008
Computer Animation Festival Chair
K'ARTS Digital Media Motion Graphics Lab Collaborative Researcher

Jinny majored in Illustration and Animation and joined the Puchon International Student Animation Festival (PISAF) from 2000 to 2002. She has worked for the Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival (SICAF) since 2003. In addition, she was involved in several national film festivals including Pusan International Kids Film Festival in Korea. She has curated the Korean animation specials for several international animated film festivals such as the Stuttgart International Animated Film Festival, Paris- Cinema and Bradford Animation Festival. At present, she is working at the Movie Company 'Old Face' as programming director and is the Computer Animation Festival Chair of SIGGRAPH Asia 2008.

Mr. Mark Chavez
Educators Programme Chair, SIGGRAPH Asia 2008

Mark’s professional work experience spans 25 years with stints at the Tokyo Broadcasting System (Japan), Dreamworks Feature Animation and feature visual effects at Rhythm and Hues Studios, LA. His proficiency in creating stylised animation and photorealistic visual effects has led to many Academy Award nominations for his projects. Highlights of his career include an early professional work executed in ani-mated laser light and projected on the Playboy Building in Hollywood, California in 1980. 

Mr. Hidenori Watanave
Supervisor of Photon,Inc. and Associate professor of Tokyo Metropolitan University

Hidenori Watanave research interests lie in the collaborative work in the realms of Architecture and Environmental Design in tele-existence in the 3D-internet.
He was involved in the 'Archidemo'project’ (2007-2008) which established the method of spatial designing of the 3D-internet. 'Archidemo'project was selected to be part of FILE 2008 and SIGGRAPH 2008 in Los Angels. The experiment of ‘Translating 3Di space into the real- space' by using GPS and GIS has advanced since its development by Hidenori in 'NetAIBO' project (2004-2005) which received the honorary mention of Prix ArsElectronica). His recent 'ObaMcCain' project (2008) of 3Di-chatterbots-space was exhibited in 'Mission Accomplished' in Location One gallery, New York.

12 Dec (Fri) • 4pm – 6pm • SAM Auditorium • Free
Please email nhb_sam_programs@nhb.gov.sg or call 6332 3220 to register by 10th December.