We spent the majority of today with the New York Anime Festival, promoting the NYTFGP2008 Festival Part One with the T.M.Revolution panel and booth. If you’re around this weekend, make sure to stop by and say hello and pick up tickets to tonight’s showing of Corazon de Melon.

In anticipation of the opening of tomorrow’s screening, we’re featuring an interview we conducted with Takanori Nishikawa, the main actor of the film who broke into the silver screen with this debut. Tomorrow’s screening starts at 6:00pm (doors open at 5:00pm), at the NYU Cantor Film Center. For the interview, follow the jump!

I love video games. I also love any and all animation done by Studio Ghibli. So the news that Studio Ghibli is teaming up with the folks over at Level 5 for the upcoming Nintendo DS game Ninokuni: THE ANOTHER WORLD means that either someone is playing a cruel, cruel joke or there will soon be concentrated awesome in playable game form. Thankfully, though, it seems that the latter is true as Studio Ghibli will be handling the animation. The game proper is said to center around the protagonist’s use of a magic book (which players get a real copy of with the game!) to ward off evil spirits. Level 5 has a fairly strong track record when it comes to making solid games and, well, Studio Ghibli’s record speaks for itself. This could end up being something pretty special here.

Studio Ghibli Making Game With Level 5 (via Kotaku)

By Stewart Smith

Starting today, you can purchase your tickets for the NYTFGP2008 Festival. To refresh your memory, Part One showcases 9 superb Japanese films that haven’t yet touched America and is bringing creative directors to the venues to answer questions and introduce their films. This is not your average film festival!

The first screening starts Sept. 28th, at NYU’s Cantor Film Center, and then spreads out into a packed two week celebration at NYC’s Tribeca Cinemas and Anthology Film Archives.

For scheduling, locations, and ticketing information, hit the jump, or you could always look at the festival page!

With a career in film as long and prolific as Hiroshi Kashiwabara’s, it’s not hard to believe that has a lot to say about how things are done in the world of directing. And now with the New York - Tokyo Film Grand Prix 2008 Festival approaching soon, we’d like to show an insight into what’s beein going on in the past 30 years of filmmaking in Japan.

Follow the jump below for a mind-blowing didactic and exclusive lecture.

New York-Tokyo presents its annual Film Festival, following the NYTFGP (New York - Tokyo Film Grand Prix) 2008 which was held this past July and August !

With a diverse selection of Japanese films released this year, NYTFGP2008 FESTIVAL is a premiere screening series representing the full spectrum of Japan’s cultural vibe. it is comprised of most popular top ten films selected by the NYTFGP audience votes and a further selection of New York-Tokyo staff-chosen films.

NYTFGP2008 FESTIVAL PART ONE will kick off on September 28th, 2008 at NYU’s Cantor Film Center, with a steady stream of screenings in the following weeks in October, and at other key venues including Anthology Archive and Tribeca Cinemas around the city of New York.

Please stay tuned to this page for specific screening information. For now, check out the selected films below. See you at the theater!

New York - Tokyo Film Grand Prix 2008 Festival

After receiving 150 entry titles, we asked you, our readers, to vote on which films you’d like to see. We are proud to anounce that from July 15th through August 15th, we received a resounding number of responses. We’ve calculated and recounted the votes, and listened to you. The following ten films were chosen as the top ranking films across the New York - Tokyo Film Grand Prix 2008!

77Boadrum
Asyl: Park and Love Hotel
Bloody Snake under the Sun
Corazon de Melon
Death of Domomata
Grave of Fireflies
GS Wonderland
Kamachop
Nightmare Detective 2
Yah-Chaika

The NYTFGP FESTIVAL will also include special premiere screenings of NYT highlighted films, in addition to the audience-voted winners. Please check back often to see interviews with the directors of these films and the
screening and event information for the New York - Tokyo Film Grand Prix 2008 Festival!

By NYT