Author: fohpph

Makiko Futaki

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Jordan Scott remembers Studio Ghibli artist Makiko Futaki, who passed away last month at 57 years old.
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View animation at sakuga.yshi.org 

A few weeks ago I learnt belatedly, and from the surprising source of a relative’s Twitter feed, of the extremely sad news of the death of animator and illustrator FUTAKI Makiko (二木真希子), which was announced on the 16th of May.

An independent, amateur filmmaker in her own right before being recruited by Telecom Animation Film (where she first worked with TAKAHATA Isao, MIYAZAKI Hayao and such other future Ghibli regulars as TANAKA Atsuko), her subsequent freelance career has encompassed such films as Sugii’s Night on the Galactic Railroad, Oshii’s Angel’s Egg and Ōtomo’s AKIRA but I’m sure will be forever defined by her work on Studio Ghibli’s productions – and them by it.

She became their go-to person for sequences in which the human characters take a back seat to foliage, birds, minibeasts, water and wind – and the impact of that last one on all the previous, the studio’s only feature-length theatrical releases without her distinctive rendering of these (Grave of the Fireflies, The Cat Returns, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya) being from when she was particularly heavily involved in a simultaneously-produced Miyazaki project (My Neighbour Totoro, Mei and the Kitten Bus, The Wind Rises).

Extremely sad that there will be no further sequences from the mind and hands that wrought some of the most iconic (most of all probably being a draw between inside the camphor tree and the tree-growing in Totoro) and some personal favourites (my top single moment being the wild geese catching a gust of wind in Kiki) of the last 30 plus years of cinema. Very heartening news, considering those outside the industry have to glean what they can from mentions in books and production blogs to identify animators’ work, that this is being reported on beyond the rarified confines of animator-reverence.

Sources and further reading and viewing

Proposed Constitution Changes

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Our Annual General Meeting in May 2014 agreed, without any objections, a new Constitution. That meeting also agreed that the Friends of the Hyde Park Picture House should start the formal process of registering as a charity.

The previous Constitution which dated from 1997 was no longer appropriate. Our present Constitution closely follows a Charity Commission model constitution.

Our present Objects (which also feature in our accounts) are

1. To promote, support and participate in the cultural landscape of Hyde Park, Leeds and Yorkshire, particularly through an appreciation and understanding of the art of cinema
2. To celebrate the heritage of the Hyde Park Picture House and ensure its preservation and continued use for cinema and related arts by and for all sections of the community.

The Charity Commission advised us that to comply with the current Charities Act, the wording should be:

To advance the arts, in particular film and associated arts for the benefit of the public, in particular but not exclusively by supporting the Hyde Park Picture House as part of the Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House Ltd by such means as the trustees think fit including by:

– promoting, supporting and participating in the cultural landscape of Hyde Park, Leeds and Yorkshire, particularly through an appreciation and understanding of the art of cinema

– celebrating the heritage of the Hyde Park Picture House and ensuring its preservation and continued use for cinema and related arts.

The Committee accepts this advice from the Charity Commission. The Committee’s plan is that, when we have confirmation that the Charity Commission is happy with the whole of the Constitution, we will take this new draft to the next Members’ meeting for approval and then with your agreement formally register as a Charity.

To find out more about these changes please come along to our AGM on Sunday 22nd May from 1pm where members can also enjoy a free buffet and screening of Our Man In Havana.

Philosophy and Film: Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

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Tuesday 26th April 6:15pm

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

The second session of the Philosophy and Film series at the Hyde Park Picture House will show Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), directed by Michel Gondry, with a screenplay by Charlie Kaufman.  Eternal Sunshine is about an unhappy estranged couple, Clementine (Kate Winslet) and Joel (Jim Carrey), who separately decide to have their tormented memories of their failed affair deleted by a professional service, Lacuna Inc. Then they accidentally meet again, not knowing who they are.

Here’s one idea. We’ve all had bad experiences, and bad memories of those experiences. They can make us feel defeated, depressed, even paralyzed. Wouldn’t we be better off without them? Here’s another idea. Our memories naturally decay. By and large, we don’t think this is a tragedy. It protects us against being entombed in the past, and leaves us free to live in the present, and to plan for the future. But if this forgetting doesn’t ruin us, and may even benefit us, then why would it be a bad idea, if we could, to take deliberate steps to erase these memories? And, if it turns out that it would be a bad idea to deliberately erase our memories, then should we try to fight against the natural processes of decay? The film obliquely explores ideas like these in a variety of ways, and from a variety of angles. Dr. Gerald Lang (University of Leeds) will be talking about them after the screening of the film.