The Niigata International Animation Film Festival announced the winners of the Kōji Fukiya and Hiroshi Ōkawa awards on February 16. These awards recognize technical achievements in animation.
The Kōji Fukiya award went to three individuals: Kazuki Higashiji (film art director), Takeshi Honda (animation director), and Miho Maruo (film scriptwriter) for their work on the animated film Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Kōjō (maboroshi).
The Hiroshi Ōkawa award was given to the animation studio CLAP for their work on the animated film Pompo: The Cinéphile.
The festival will take place from March 15-20. Two films, Kurayukaba and maboroshi, are competing in this year's festival.
The first Niigata International Animation Film Festival was held in March 2023 and featured Mamoru Oshii as the judging committee chairman. The festival screened unrealized live-action film adaptations of Katsuhiro Ōtomo's Domu manga and Shinichiro Watanabe's animated short film "A Girl Meets a Boy and a Robot."
The festival also screened Shuhei Morita's animated short film "Roots" (Tsuru no Mai).
The festival aims to be the largest festival of feature-length anime in Asia and is held annually.
Niigata is known for hosting the Niigata Anime and Manga Festival and Niigata Manga Awards. The city is also home to some anime studios.
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