by It has been announced that Bottle George, a stop-motion short film produced by CHIMNEY TOWN and executive produced by King Kong’s Akihiro Nishino, won the Best Original Score Award and Special Award for Animation at the 19th Sapporo International Short Film Festival. The film will premiere in Japan on October 13, 2024.
Bottle George is a 13-minute stop-motion animated short about addiction and family. It tells the story of George, a strange caterpillar-like creature trapped in a liquor bottle, who meets a little girl and a cat one day.
The film was directed by Daisuke Tsutsumi of Tonko House, who also directed ONI: Oni of the Mountain of the Gods, which won the Annie Awards for Best Limited Series (TV/Media) and Best Production Design (TV/Media). Tsutsumi and Akihiro Nishino co-wrote the screenplay. The film was produced by Matsumoto Noriko of Dwarf, who has worked on many stop-motion animations, including “Domo-kun” and the Netflix “Rilakkuma” series.
The film has been nominated for numerous film festivals in Japan and abroad. It will be screened for the first time in Japan at 2:30 p.m. on October 13 as a Japan premiere at the 19th Sapporo International Short Film Festival, an international short film festival held every autumn in Sapporo, Hokkaido. It has been running since 2006 as one of Japan’s most prominent international film festivals.
In addition to the film screening, a talk show with Matsumoto and Nishino titled “Bottle George and the Possibilities of Short Films” will be held on October 14 at the festival. For more information, please visit the festival’s website. 19th Sapporo International Short Film Festival Date: Friday, October 11 to Monday, October 14, 2024 (National Holiday) [Bottle George Screening Information] Date and time: Sunday, October 13, 2024, 14:30-16:00 Location: Satugeki (Tanukikoji 5-chrome, 6-1 Minami 2-jo Nishi 5-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido) In addition to the screening of the film, there will also be a talk show with Matsumoto Noriko and Nishino Akihiro titled “Bottle George and the Possibilities of Short Films” Date and time: Monday, October 14, 2024 (National Holiday) 17:00-18:30 Location: Event Space EDiT (B1F, Minami 2 Nishi 6 Building, 13-1 Minami 2-jo Nishi 6-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido) Stop-motion short film “Bottle George” [Staff] Director: Tsutsumi Daisuke Original story: Nishino Akihiro Screenplay: Tsutsumi Daisuke / Nishino Akihiro Producer: Matsumoto Noriko Production: dwarf / Tonko House Production: CHIMNEY TOWN Executive producer: Akihiro Nishino
