This Thursday marks the final day of the Niigata International Animation Film Festival (NIAFF), which kicked off March 15 in Niigata City. The event, now in its third year, opened with a screening of “Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence,” both in celebration of the film’s 20th anniversary and as a kind of tribute to its director, Mamoru Oshii, who served as the festival’s inaugural jury president.
“During the first festival, I said that it would be a big deal if the festival made it three years,” Oshii told the audience via a pre-recorded video message. “Now it’s up to the quality of the films to sustain it.”
The choice of “Innocence” as opening film represented an ongoing challenge for the nascent festival: Though its ostensible mission is to introduce foreign animation to Japanese audiences, the packed showing was further proof that domestic anime remains the major draw in Japan.
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