Exhibition of work by Kihachiro Kawamoto, student of puppetry master Jiří Trnka  

2015 marked the ninetieth anniversary of the birth of late puppet animation artist Kihachiro Kawamoto. In the 1960s Kawamoto traveled on his own to Czechoslovakia to study with puppet master Jiří Trnka. As Trnka’s birthplace, Pilsen is home to numerous festivals and puppet museums memorializing him that are rooted in the life of the town. To mark its turn as European Capital of Culture, Pilsen 2015 organized a major Trnka retrospective, part of which was a screening of works by Trnka’s disciple Kawamoto. To prepare this part of the program Jakub Hora, director of the Alfa puppet theater, visited Japan for consultations with Kawamoto Productions and 百米フィルム. Fukuyoshi Fukusako and cinema scholar Masao Yokota arrived from Japan for the screening and were joined there by many prominent figures in Czech animation who had worked with Trnka and Kawamoto. The screening was followed by an enthusiastic Q&A period. This screening of original films was a valuable opportunity for young people who aspire to work in animation, and indeed much of the audience for this part of the program comprised young people.

Date:

1 May 2015

Venue:

Beseda Cinema

Artist:

Kihachiro Kawamoto

Screening works:

“House of Flame” (1979) “Trip” (1973) “Dodoji Temple” (1976) “Sleeping Beauty” (1990)

Cooperation:

Kawamoto Production