FESTIVAL NATIONAL CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL ANIME MARATHON* Saturday, April 2, 11 am|Freer, Meyer Auditorium   The Freer's ninth annual anime marathon is hosted by anime expert Roland Kelts, author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the US. It features a Miyazaki kids' classic, a cosplay contest, a Makoto Shinkai feature and sneak preview, and a tribute to the late Satoshi Kon, who visited the marathon in 2007.    This event is cosponsored by Otakorp, Inc., and copresented with the DC Anime Club.

I'm unclear on when an Israeli-Australian film became anime, but, hey, it's free and you can ask her yourself.

FILMS     MEET THE FILMMAKER: TATIA ROSENTHAL $9.99  APRIL 6. 7 PM . MEYER Israeli filmmaker Tatia Rosenthal introduces and discusses her ribald animated comedy featuring the voice of actor Geoffrey Rush as a grumpy. (Israel/ Australia/2008/78 min./ English)   This event is cosponsored by the Embassy of Israel.

The Post Magazine is reporting that Tatia Rosenthal who made the animated movie $9.99 will be at the Freer Gallery at 7 pm for a screening of the stop-action movie.

Celebrate the National Cherry Blossom Festival at the Freer and Sackler Galleries, Saturday, April 3 Eighth Annual National Cherry Blossom Festival Anime Marathon Meyer Auditorium, 11 AM - 7 PM Chocolate Underground, 11 AM The 2010 National Cherry Blossom Festival Anime Marathon Cosplay Contest, 1:30 PM Sword of the Stranger, 4 PM Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, 7 PM The Art of the Kimono: Trunk Show and Sale Freer Gallery Shop, 10 PM - 5:30 PM Traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony Sackler Gallery, Sublevel 2, 1 & 3 PM "Ideals of Beauty" Text-Message Scavenger Hunt Freer Gallery, 1 - 3 PM Curator-Led Tour of "Cornucopia: Ceramics from Southern Japan" Freer, 1 PM Curbside Cupcakes Delicious cherry-blossom inspired cupcakes will be available for purchase, Freer Courtyard, 1 - 4 PM SAVE THE DATE! Islamic Art for Christian Patrons: The Painted Ceilings of the Cappella Palatina (Palermo, Sicily), circa 1140 Tuesday, April 13, Meyer Auditorium, 7 PM Click here to take our survey! We appreciate your interest in the Freer and Sackler Galleries and hope that you enjoy the exhibitions and programs that we offer. Please take less than five minutes to share more about yourself with us.  find us on flickr                        become a fan                      follow @ FreerSackler

Tezuka Family Weekend  Friday, Dec. 4 - Sunday, Dec. 6 (click image for details) Kamishibai Performances and Workshops by Yassan Kamishibai ("paper dramas") are a form of performance popularized in Japan in the early twentieth century by traveling performers who bicycled from town to town, dazzling children and adults alike with exciting tales illustrated with colorful pictures. Today Yassan, one of its foremost practitioners, comes to the Freer to celebrate the work and legacy of Osamu Tezuka with a series of performances and workshops. Performances Friday, Dec. 4, 12 & 2 pm Saturday, Dec. 5, 11 am & 1 pm Sunday, Dec. 6, 11 am & 3 pm Films The Fantastic Adventures of Unico Saturday, Dec. 5, 3:45 pm Tezuka on Television Princess Knight Marvellous Melmo The Three-Eyed One Sunday, Dec. 6, 1 pm Family Tours  Friday, Dec. 4, 12:30, 2:30 & 3:30 pm Saturday, Dec. 5, 11:30 am, 1:30 & 2:30 pm Sunday, Dec. 6, 11:30 am, 3:30 & 4:30 pm

Ed Sizemore was at the Freer's Tezuka weekend festival even though I couldn't make it (although a friend from work picked up Fred Schodt's book and had it signed for me).

For the forthcoming set of programs, the Onion talked to Schodt the premier Anglo-speaking manga expert on Tezuka, the 'Walt Disney' of Japan. See The "God of Manga," humanized: Osamu Tezuka scholar Frederik Schodt explains the anime pioneer, by Chelsea Bauch, Onion AV Club November 11, 2009.

A Retrospective of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga, Father of Anime    Begins this weekend on 11/13 (click image for details) Films: Introducing Astro Boy, Marine Express, Prime Rose, Tezuka's Short Films, and The Film is Alive: Osamu Tezuka Filmography   Plus, a panel discussion with authors Frederik Schodt, Helen McCarthy, and Natsu Onoda Power!

1050 Independence Ave. SW 202.633.1000 Metro: Smithsonian www.asia.si.edu publicaffairsAsia@si.edu films | performances | talks | ImaginAsia | membership | shops

This sounds like animation to me, albeit a fine art sort. I'd be interested in a report if anyone sees it before I do.

Moving Perspectives: Shahzia Sikander/ Sun Xun Video Art at the Sackler Gallery July 18 - November 8 Trained in Pakistan and in the United States, Shahzia Sikander (b. 1969, Lahore, Pakistan) deftly reinterprets miniature painting by isolating and abstracting formal compositional elements often found in this densely layered and intricate art form. The dynamism of her paintings is set in motion in her video works, where the repetition of abstract forms becomes a buzzing hive, calligraphy whirls in and out of view, and imaginary curves morph into vivid landscapes. Similarly, Sun Xun (b. 1980, Fuxin, China) creates hundreds of paintings and drawings by using old newspapers or entire blank walls. Filming his hand-drawn images, he transforms clocks, magicians, words, and insects into animated symbols that flicker across the screen in dark allegories on the nature of historical consciousness and the passage of time. Visit www.asia.si.edu for information on all our events, exhibitions, and public programs. Image Credit: Shock of time, 2006. video stills by Sun Xun.

1050 Independence Ave. SW 202.633.1000 Metro: Smithsonian www.asia.si.edu publicaffairsAsia@si.edu films | performances | talks | ImaginAsia | membership | shops