State of the Art: Swancon 2008 is extremely proud to announce a programme of animated film screenings to be presented as a part of the convention.

Thu 20 Mar, 8:00pm.
AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE COLON MOVIE FILM FOR THEATRES
Directed by Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis. 86 minutes.
Rated MA15+ (Strong crude humour, sexual references.)
Australian Premiere!

Meatwad, Frylock, and Master Shake team up for their biggest adventure yet in this animated feature that finds the popular Adult Swim trio pursued by an immortal piece of exercise equipment that poses a severe threat to the balance of galactic peace. Despite their best efforts to elude the malevolent body-shaper, the super-sized friends are soon horrified to discover that the Plutonians have joined forces with the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past to take control of the renegade device in a bid to rule the universe!

Screening courtesy of REEL DVD.

Fri 21 Mar, 8:00pm.
GHOST IN THE SHELL: STAND ALONE COMPLEX - THE LAUGHING MAN
Rated M (Moderate animated violence, coarse language.)

"I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes."

The year is 2030 and six years have passed since a criminal known only as The Laughing Man swept through top medical nanotechnology firms committing acts of cyber-terrorism, kidnapping, extortion, and corporate espionage leaving no known suspects. New information is revealed to Japan's top homeland security force, drawing Major Kusanagi and Section 9 into the hunt for a suspect capable of hacking the eyes of every operative, obscuring all details of his appearance and leaving behind a trail of copycats and hacked cyborg citizens. The Laughing Man tells the story of the entire first season of Stand Alone Complex as a 2-hour film.

Screening courtesy of Madman Entertainment.

Sat 22 Mar, 8:00pm.
GHOST IN THE SHELL: STAND ALONE COMPLEX - INDIVIDUAL ELEVEN
Rated M (Moderate animated violence.)
Australian premiere!

Who are the Individual 11?

The year is 2030, and an influx of refugees has shored up Japan's labour force, yet unrest is growing. A terrorist organization known as the "Individual Eleven" arises with a sadistic intent of mass destruction. As Section 9 becomes manipulated by Cabinet Intelligence, led by the mysterious Gohda, can Motoko and the team diffuse the growing threat of catastrophic civil war?

Individual Eleven tells the story of the Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig season as a feature length special, completing a new Ghost in the Shell film trilogy alongside LAUGHING MAN and SOLID STATE SOCIETY!

Sun 23 Mar, 8:00pm.
GHOST IN THE SHELL: STAND ALONE COMPLEX - SOLID STATE SOCIETY
Directed by Kenji Kamiyama. 108 minutes.
Rated M (Moderate animated violence.)

The year is 2034 and the face of terrorism has changed. No longer restricted to the limits of the physical world, the war on terror has exploded onto the net. In an attempt to confront this new threat, an elite counter-terrorism and anti-crime unit was formed: Public Security Section 9.

Two years have since passed when the team's commander: Major Motoko Kusanagi, resigned from her post. After a rash of mysterious suicides Section 9 is forced to confront the Puppeteer,' a dangerous hacker with unsurpassed skills. As their investigation of this terrorist threat takes them deeper into the bowels of a potential government conspiracy, Section 9 once again crosses paths with the Major, but is her sudden reappearance more than a coincidence, or is she somehow connected to the Puppeteer?

No one is above suspicion in this action-packed continuation of the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex saga!

Screening courtesy of Madman Entertainment.