Project Summary

　The objectives of this project are to develop local talent by dispatching experts in the fields of cinema and animation, areas in which Japan excels, to notably developing ASEAN countries and holding practical workshops for local young people to strengthen Japan’s presence in terms of cultural transmission and promote international cultural exchange.

　While society as a whole is rapidly and increasingly becoming dependent on technology, it is culture that provides the soil from which well-nourished minds grow, and only human beings can cultivate the fertile sources of culture. Although it has become easier to exchange cultural“ knowledge” through the Internet, the“ experience” of being at the same place and feeling what is in the air together with other people, all acknowledging one another’s physical presence eye to eye and sharing an intense experience at a more profound level, is irreplaceable. We aimed to facilitate cultural experiences at this profound level, which we hope will help build a solid foundation in the lives of young people who participated in this project.

　To meet these goals, we came up with a program for“ cultural understanding through the experience of creating together.” Even though Japanese pop culture is widely accepted in the ASEAN countries, few have genuinely“ experiential” knowledge about how this pop culture is created, and by whom it is created. At the same time, the“ experience of creating together” helps to build relationships of mutual respect where participants listen to what others want to accomplish, and teach each other how to accomplish their objectives. Participants have eye-opening experiences of collaborative processes, which enable outcomes that exceed what individuals can achieve on their own. With these ideas in mind, we executed cultural exchange programs in the fields of cinema and animation with a focus on practical production experience. Specifically, we dispatched top-notch film and animation creators with many years of experience to Malaysia and Thailand and held handson workshops. Through these workshops, we aimed to cultivate human resources in each country’s corresponding fields, as well as to share with local young people the advanced skill levels of Japan’s top film and animation creators and the profundity of their underlying philosophies.

Overall Project Structure

　We held this year’s workshops in Malaysia and Thailand, the same as last year.

　In Malaysia, the government has been actively promoting the motion picture industry. The Digital Cinema Cinematography, Lighting and Editing Workshop in Malaysia was held at the Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios (PIMS) in the state of Johor, which is adjacent to Singapore. The workshop was led by four professionals at the forefront of their respective fields of cinematography and lighting, production design, and editing. While last year’s cinema workshop hosted students from Malaysia and Singapore, this year we used the CILECT (International Association of Film and Television Schools) network to recruit students from film and media educational institutions throughout the ASEAN region. As a result, the home countries of applicants this year expanded beyond Malaysia and Singapore to include the Philippines, Myanmar, Indonesia and Vietnam. The workshop had a distinct international flair with 18 participants from 7 countries, including students from Tokyo University of the Arts who participated as assistants. The workshop is discussed in detail in Chapter 2.

　In Thailand, the program consisted of Animation Boot Camp 2017 ASEAN, which is an international version of the workshop executed as an Agency for Cultural Affairs project from 2012 by directors Koji Takeuchi and Taruto Fuyama. The program teaches the fundamentals of expression through animation with top class animators from Japan’s animation industry serving as instructors. The workshop was held at Silpakorn University’s Wang Thapra Campus in Bangkok. Twenty-five students from four universities in Thailand tackled animation production together with 6 students dispatched from Tokyo University of the Arts. We held the workshop for the third consecutive year in fiscal 2017, and the continuity has yielded positive outcomes including the participation of prior-year participants as support staff. Also, we held a session to exchange opinions with university faculty and animation professionals in Thailand as part of a new effort and were able to have discussions on the future of the animation industry and education. The animation field is reported in Chapter 3.