Genius Party

"Genius Party" is an anthology of short-animated films featuring a generous helping of "world-class geniuses of animation." Japan's theatrical release will show off Part 1 of the anthology with 7 impacts by 7 directors on the 7th month of 2007. The number seven never looked so good. Here are the fourteen films slated thus far (the first seven represent the line-up for Part 1):

Genius Party (Opening) // Atsuko Fukushima
Space-Time Wars // Shoji Kawamori
Deathtic 4 // Shinji Kimura
Doorbell //Yoji Fukuyama
Limit Cycle // Hideki Futamura
Dream Machine // Massaki Yuasa
Baby Blue // Shinichiro Watanabe
Tojin Kin // Tatsuyuki Tanaka
Untitled // Hiro Yamagata
Nicolas de Crécy // Le manchot melamane
Gala // Mahiro Maeda
"Wanwa" the Puppy // Shinya Ohira
Moondrive // Kazuto Nakazawa
Dimension Bomb // Koji Morimoto

Three trailers are available on the official site, www.genius-party.jp, Trailer One // Trailer Two // Trailer Three [Source: Catsuka]. Trailer 3 is worth checking out. "Baby Blue" looks to be my top contender so far. But choosing is hard to do with this party of geniuses, to say the least. Four trailers are available on iTunes to download for free.

The news most definitely does not stop there. The world premiere screening of "Genius Party" will take in place in February 2008 at the John F. Kennedy Center in DC!! This international premiere will be part of the Center's two week event (February 5-17, 2008), "Japan!Culture & HyperCulture" [Source: Washington Post].

You might remember about two or three years ago, the John F. Kennedy Center held an event called "Anime Explosion." Voice Actor Chris Patton and Gainax Co-Founder Hiroaki Inoue were among those present. A special screening of "The Old Crocodile" by Koji Yamamura was shown as well. It looks like "Anime Explosion" may mark the beginning of a growing and continuing trend in the US.