Godzilla & Friends IV, May 1-2 in Topeka, Kansas

[RyanClark]

The fourth Godzilla & Friends event is coming up next month in Topeka, Kansas. All G-fans in the area should attend! The event is free, with screenings of several movies, and guest speakers Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski.

Here is the official press release:

GODZILLA ROARS AGAIN AT WU
GODZILLA & FRIENDS IV

Once again the world is in peril and giant monsters are invading our major cities….Washington, New York, San Francisco, Tokyo and……. Topeka, Kansas? Yes, they’re striking at Washburn University again! For the past three years, Godzilla (that mythic monster from the depths of the ocean off the coast of Japan) has risen up and stomped through the Henderson building on campus. In the past, he has been accompanied by a variety of other South Korean, British, Japanese and American creatures including Gamera, the fantastic, flying turtle!

The Godzilla & Friends Festival celebrates the cultural history behind these giant creatures in all of its bizarre diversity. This new edition of the Festival will be presented on Friday evening, May 1st from 7 to 10 pm and Saturday – May 2nd from 10am to 10 pm (approximately) with breaks for lunch and dinner between films. The event will be presented in Room 112 of the Henderson building on the Washburn University campus and it’s a free event.

Author and KU professor William Tsutsui will return for the Festival’s fourth year to introduce more of the films. His excellent book - GODZILLA ON MY MIND – discusses the impact of Godzilla and his prolonged effect on Japanese culture. Friday night - May 1st, we’ll host the Midwest premiere of GAMERA THE BRAVE, the newest film to feature the giant flying tortoise. Gamera has always been Godzilla's main competition (created by a rival studio). This 2006 film was only released in Japan (but is dubbed in English here). Previews of other Gamera films will be featured and several items relating to the big turtle will be given away to the audience.

Then on Saturday morning, one of the most famous Godzilla films will be shown along with a variety of previews for newly available Godzilla videos. The film to be shown is KING KONG VS. GODZILLA (1963), which features the titanic battle between America’s biggest (and most lovable) giant gorilla and Japan’s biggest (and no less loved) giant prehistoric monster. In case you couldn’t guess from the title, this is the third entry in the Godzilla (GOJIRA) series and it’s also the most financially successful film in the entire Godzilla franchise. Critics and fans point out that it’s also the film that introduced considerable humor and goofiness to the series.

Saturday afternoon offers a unique and special treat – Godzilla authorities Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski will do a presentation on Godzilla (and his kin).
Featuring highlights from their recent documentary film project, BRINGING GODZILLA DOWN TO SIZE, Steve and Ed have both participated in the commentary tracks for many of the recent Godzilla Special Edition DVDs. These DVDs include GOJIRA (the original Godzilla film for which Ryfle also contributed the text for the souvenir DVD booklet), GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN and GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA. The full documentary appears in the recently released RODAN / WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS DVD set. Ryfle is the author of the book, Japan’s Favorite Mon-Star and Godziszewski edits the excellent fanzine, Japanese Giants. Copies of both items will be on sale at the event. The duo is currently co-writing a biography of Japanese director Ishiro Honda (the director of the vast majority of Japan’s Science-Fiction / Godzilla films). In the afternoon, we’ll also take time for our annual Godzilla roar contest and offer the Godzilla coloring and drawing contest for young fans.

Then Washburn History Professor Mark Peterson will present the Japanese Science Fiction gem, ATRAGON (1965) which reveals a long missing super submarine (scraped after World War II) that flies and contains a drill nose cone. It’s also our only hope when the earth is invaded by aliens from the Mu Empire who intend to control the world from their undersea domain. We’ll also be looking at a selection of Japanese and American previews for other great monster flicks.

Finally, Professor Bob Beatty, Bill Tsutsui and our guests (Steve and Ed) will host a panel discussion and field questions from the audience about all things Godzilla followed by our surprise feature presentation. It will be a slam-bang finish for our fourth Godzilla & Friends Festival. As with previous years, there will be prize drawings throughout the event.

To top all of this off, KTWU (your public television station and our media sponsor) will be showing their own giant monster movie late Saturday evening - YONGARY, MONSTER FROM THE DEEP – starting at 10:30pm on Saturday night – May 2nd, 2009 to climax the Godzilla Festival. This oddball offering is a ‘Godzilla’ knock-off from South Korea, made at the end of the giant monster craze in the 1960’s. Various experiments have caused serious tremors that awaken a giant horned monster with laser breath, who then lays waste to Seoul, Korea (or a miniature Seoul, Korea). Don’t miss this rare gem Saturday night on KTWU.

This program is free and open to the public. Seating may be limited so come early. The program is subject to change so please bear with us. This free Godzilla & Friends Festival is co-sponsored by the Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs (WU), the Center for Diversity Studies (WU) and the Center for East Asian Studies (KU).

[mbozzo]

i'm sad to post that I've miss it, since I live in New York City.

[RyanClark]

I've been meaning to post on how it went, but I held off because I wrote up an article for G-FAN; I'm hoping J.D. Lees has a bit of space to squeeze it in the next issue.

But it went exactly as planned in the press release; People loved Gamera the Brave, and many prizes were given out (I and my dad were fortunate to each win one, I got a framed pic of Godzilla (2000) and he got a giant replica of a King Kong vs. Godzilla poster). Idonated approx. 27 issues of G-FAN which were also given away in lots (I recently aquired them in a lot off Ebay, they were spares I didn't need).