Takashi Nakamura

A beautiful and imaginative fantasy film that takes a surprisingly dark turn. The premise sounds a lot like Pinocchio and there are some jolly sidekicks accompanying Palme on his quest, but this is more fantasy Akira than it is Japanese Disney. It's a film that requires some effort, but the payoff is fully worth it.

A fine selection of shorts. There are one or two flukes here, but the rest is so unique and special that they're easy to forget. It's one of those animation anthologies that gives you a wide variety of styles, moods and stories in a very short span of time, exactly why I love these types of films. Robot Carnival is a classic, deservedly so.

Michael Arias made a name for himself when he joined Studio 4°C to direct Tekkonkinkreet, one of the landmark animtion features of the 00s.