2016 Anime Film Festival

2016+Anime+Film+Festival

Aesthetically pleasing film, buttery popcorn and subtitles? From Nov. 26 to Nov. 27, 2016, Sacramento’s Crest Theatre held their first Anime Film Festival. They showed “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind”, “Metropolis”, “Paprika”, “Steamboy” and “Castle in the Sky”. Many titles were either shown in their English dubbed — a voiceover with English voice actors — or with subtitles. Just as unique, “Castle in the Sky” was shown in special 35 mm film.

“There is an enormous variance within the Anime genre in terms of style, tone and subject matter,” said Joel Goulet, the head projector who set up the film festival. “From Victorian romance, to futuristic robot battles, from cute animal stories, to modern romantic comedies, and many subjects in between, there is really something for everybody as long as you like animation.”

Vista del Lago’s Art club planned a trip to see several movies playing at the festival, and both students and teachers looked forward to the event.

“I was introduced to Anime with Robotech. It was amazing. Then Voltron, wow,” said Pablo Castellanos, the art and animation teacher at Vista. “There is a depth and breadth in Japanese animation that we in the U.S are not used to.” Castellanos went on to say that Anime is a form of art which he found as a kid, and as he grew he watched the industry of Anime grow as well.

Several members of the club couldn’t make it, as well as Gayle Martin, a fellow art teacher at Vista, who was very upset as she would be out of town at the time of the show.

“I am hoping we [Martin’s Family] might be back soon enough to catch “Castle in the Sky” on Sunday,” said Martin. “My daughter is into Cosplay and we went with her to Fanime in San Jose.  Our first one was about 5 years ago, and it just blew me away with the creativity and inclusiveness”

Those who did go enjoyed the show and plan on going back to the Crest to view more shows in the future, whether it be another Anime showing or one of the many other festivals they often hold.

“I saw “Castle in the Sky” because it’s a movie me and my family have watched since I was young,” said Vista sophomore Alison Frame. “The Crest is always showing really good films, and it’s nice to see a different genre that doesn’t get much attention.”

For those looking to start watching anime, visit the Crest theater for one of their anime screenings.  The next one is the “Cowboy Bebop Movie” on Jan. 8, 2017.