First of all, what is ga-nime? Ga like painting, Nime like animation, which is a new trend created by Toei in 2006. The idea is to renew animated films. And how so, you ask? Basically, just stills or paintings with a voice-over narration to let you experience a story. The result is contemplative and slow (aka artistic).
Here’s an example, it’s the trailer of La Grenadiere:
More trailers can be watched on the official japanese site, although videos are really small. But judging from these trailers, it doesn’t really seem like it’s bringing animation to another level. It feels like we’re back in the ’60s. You don’t believe me? Check this;
This is the trailer for Nagisa Oshima’s Band of Ninja, directed in 1967 (thanks to Mr. Eigagogo). So it’s not really new! Knowing in 1962, Chris Marker directed La Jetée using the same method (and it’s one of his many experimental masterpiece).
The point here is that, Ga-nime seems to be a limited artistic concept, ignoring something as simple & essential as motion (in Cinema). A sort-of motion(less)-comic.
What future for Ga-nime?
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From anipages:
http://www.pelleas.net/aniTOP/index.php?title=town_of_cats&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
“The other films in the series have explored the concept in various ways, from puppets to drawings to photographs to engravings (in this case), with varying degrees of success. The results have been hit and miss. Elegy in Red was one of the rare hits. But it’s Cat Town that provided what I’d been wanting to see all along but hadn’t seen in any of the other films in the series.”
The Lyon Asian Film Festival (its last edition was last year) showcased several in 2008 & 2009. They also published an interview (in french) with the president of French Toei Animation: http://www.asiexpo.com/club/articles_show.php?no=198&categorie=tous
Some have also been screened on 2006 (you should remember). Asiexpo was the first to showcase some ganime