A selection of rarely screened early Japanese animation, showing some of the very first anime films, will be accompanied by electro-acoustic music on our biggest screen, with Benshi narration.
Very few of the earliest animated films from Japan survive - after being screened alongside live action features, films were often sold on from cinemas to smaller mobile venues where they would be broken down and sold as single frames.
The films that have been preserved in archives offer a fascinating glimpse into the beginnings of a rich history of Japanese animation which continues to this day, soundtracked by the Guildhall School's Electronic and Produced Music Studio.
Executive Producer
Mike Roberts
Director and Music Supervisor
Barbara De Biasi
Sound Projection
Sam Dinley
Performers
Flute 1/Piccolo: Ruth Harrison
Flute 2/Alto Flute: Jack Welch
Oboe: Emily Penn
Clarinet: Andrew Farnden
Bassoon: Ana Docolin
Percussion: Taichi Imanishi
Benshi: Tomoko Komura
Programme
The Pot (1925, Sanae Yamamoto, 17 min)
Ubasuteyama (1925, Sanae Yamamoto, 18 min)
Rhythm (1935, Shigeji Ogino, 2 min)
Diseases Spread (1926, Sanae Yamamoto, 14 min)
The Blossom Man (1928, Yasuji Murata, 5 min)
Two Worlds (1929, Yasuji Murata, 17 min)
Propagate (1935, Shigeji Ogino, 4 min)
A Day after a Hundred Years (1933, Shigeji Ogino, 11 min)