"The 3rd Niigata International Animation Film Festival" Jury and Producer Noriko Matsumoto The fun of film festivals is meeting people [CINEMORE ACADEMY vol.38]

The Niigata International Animation Film Festival will be held for the third time this year. It will be held for six days from Saturday, March 15, 2025, and this year, producer Noriko Matsumoto of Studio Dwarf, which has produced stop-motion works such as "Domo-kun" and "Komaneko", will serve as a judge for the feature film competition section. In addition to the competition, the six days will be filled with special screenings, including a Satoshi Kon retrospective, and talk events, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in animation.

We conducted an online interview with producer Noriko Matsumoto, who is currently in LA proposing a new film, and asked her about her thoughts on film festivals and animation.

Index

• The fun of film festivals is meeting new people
• The category of "anime" breaks out of its shell
• Animation is an amplifier of expression
• The producer's job is to create work.

The fun of film festivals is meeting new people

Q: How do you feel about being a judge?

Matsumoto: I accepted the offer, wondering if I was really the right person for the job. I have been to Niigata since the first festival and I had the impression that it was a fun and good film festival. I am very happy to be able to participate as a judge this time. I am looking forward to spending a long time together and interacting with the guests and the judges.

Niigata is a film festival that focuses on feature films, so it has a good balance between art and entertainment. It doesn't lean too much towards art, and it also shows entertainment works well. On the other hand, it seems like the judging process is very difficult (laughs).

Q: Are there any programs you are interested in?

Matsumoto: They all look interesting, so it's hard to narrow it down. I've seen many of Kon Satoshi's works before, but I'd like to see them again, and the "Current State of Rotoscoping," which focuses on technical aspects, seems modern and interesting. Dwarf has also put together a special feature on them, so I'm looking forward to meeting and talking with various people there.

"Komaneko's Travels" ©dwarf・Komaneko Film Partners ©dwarf

Q: What do you think is the best way to enjoy this film festival?

Matsumoto: Some film festivals have a lot of artistic or experimental content, which makes them unique, but this one has so much variety that it makes you wonder, "What is Niigata-like?" In that sense, I think there's something fun about "watching something you've never seen before." If you watch something different from what you usually watch, you can discover something new. I think that's one way to enjoy Niigata.

And the best thing about film festivals is meeting people. Filmmakers can talk to the general audience, and filmmakers can also interact with each other. In fact, I'm now working with someone from overseas that I met here. Filmmakers have a Being There to see people watching their work up close, and they can talk with those people. That's another fun thing about film festivals.

The category of "anime" breaks out of its shell