Miyazaki Talks Animation, Culture and Natural Disasters at Zellerbach Hall
By Rajesh Srinivasan July 25, 2009 | 10:04 pm
Posted in: Events, Film
Celebrated Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki spoke this evening about the process of creating his films and the themes within those works at Zellerbach Hall, hours after officially accepting the 2009 Berkeley Japan Prize from the Center for Japanese Studies. Among the topics touched in in the hour-plus conversation with “Japanamerica” author Roland Kelts were the female protagonists in Miyazaki’s creations, his choice to rely on hand-drawn animation rather than computer-generated images, and the idea of “apocalypse” and natural disasters in his stories. In addition, a fair amount of time was devoted to a discussion of his latest work, “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.”
As expected, Miyazaki’s answers were colorful and often hilarious, as he noted how his family no longer takes him seriously when he comments that he doesn’t want to go through the filmmaking process again and compared hand-drawn animation against computer graphics to steering “a bark among high-speed boats.”
Of course, there was a wealth of information in the talk, so look to Thursday’s arts section in The Daily Californian for a detailed recap of the events of the past two days, which included a screening of “Ponyo,” a panel discussion of his works, the Berkeley Japan Prize ceremony and the Zellerbach discussion. In the meantime, you can read about Miyazaki’s films and influence in our preview of the event, which came out last Thursday.
Image Source: cyworld.com
Tags: berkeley japan prize, Center for Japanese Studies, hayao miyazaki, ponyo, Zellerbach Hall
