Kihachiro Kawamoto is right up there with the Quay Brothers as one of the world's great stop motion animators. I've seen a few of his projects and while they don't get my blood pumping they're undeniably beautiful and technically exquisite. Jasper Sharp over at Midnight Eye has organized a massive, touring retrospective of his work that will crawl all over the United Kingdom from March 15 - May 15 of this year, starting off at the Watershed Media Center in Bristol. If you're American, you have to wait until April when Kino is releasing a collection of his shorts (recommended) and his feature BOOK OF THE DEAD (which isn't my thing, really. A bit too stately.)

If you've never seen anything by Kawamoto give him a try. There's a massive, English-language interview up with him on Midnight Eye, and there's his very own Japanese language website if you're interested.

(Complete info on the touring retrospective) 

(Thanks to logboy for sending this in)