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SYNOPSIS
Nitobe and Sakamoto are friends from childhood who now work at the front desk of a capsule hotel. Nitobe has a particular fondness for philosophy and crustaceans. Sakamoto, meanwhile, is fixated on suicide. The capsule hotel draws a variety of guests, including a Finnish mother who has lost her child, a fugitive woman, and a researcher studying Daphnia. None of their lives ever intersect. Nor do any of the lives out of it for that matter. They exist, but never cross, like cells in a capsule hotel. With crustaceans as leitmotif, the themes of life and death are explored through a fragmentary view of the characters’lives.
SYNOPSIS
Nitobe and Sakamoto are friends from childhood who now work at the front desk of a capsule hotel. Nitobe has a particular fondness for philosophy and crustaceans. Sakamoto, meanwhile, is fixated on suicide. The capsule hotel draws a variety of guests, including a Finnish mother who has lost her child, a fugitive woman, and a researcher studying Daphnia. None of their lives ever intersect. Nor do any of the lives out of it for that matter. They exist, but never cross, like cells in a capsule hotel. With crustaceans as leitmotif, the themes of life and death are explored through a fragmentary view of the characters’lives.
Isamu Hirabayashi was born in 1972 in Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture. He was born into a family of precious metal craftsmen of three generations as the second of three sons.
Isamu Hirabayashi was born in 1972 in Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture. He was born into a family of precious metal craftsmen of three generations as the second of three sons.
Isamu Hirabayashi was born in 1972 in Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture. He was born into a family of precious metal craftsmen of three generations as the second of three sons.
Isamu Hirabayashi was born in 1972 in Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture. He was born into a family of precious metal craftsmen of three generations as the second of three sons.
Isamu Hirabayashi was born in 1972 in Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture. He was born into a family of precious metal craftsmen of three generations as the second of three sons.
663114
2011 / 8 min
SYNOPSIS
Once in 66 years, there is a chrysalis emerges above ground and becomes a cicada. In order to shed his chrysalis, he is intently ascending with his eye on reaching the top. The land he lives in appears to be a place that is beautiful, safe and easy to live in. He finishes his ascent and while in the middle of emerging from his chrysalis, he encounters an enor-mous earthquake. Then, he is also caught up in the massive tsunami that follows. However, he is just barely able to escape with his life intact. As he is struggling to somehow live, nearby there is a huge explosion. A terror that cannot be seen silently creeps up on him.
Director's Statement
Eastern Japan was struck by an enormous earthquake on March 11, 2011. A tsunami then hit the Pacific Coast of the country, followed by four explosions at a nuclear power plant. Together with the great amount of damage that was inflicted, Japan was also engulfed by a wave of distrust with the feeling that the authorities and system that Japanese people had been convinced was correct in the 66 years since the war was actually unreliable and insincere. I think that the lesson from this unfortunate event is that there is major burden on the Japanese people of our generation; Can we transform into the future into one that is positive? Do we continue as ever to turn a blind eye to the principle of peace at any price? How will the increasing speed of decline turn out?
Staff
Director : Isamu Hirabayashi
Composer : Takashi Watanabe
Sound Design : Keitaro Iijima
Art Director : Ken Murakami
Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival Generation 14plus (Germany)
Award / Special Mention
Environmental Film Festival at YALE (USA)
Award / Best Short FIlm
Kinder Film Fest KYOTO (Japan)
Award / Best Short Film
Mainichi Film Award (Japan)
Award / Ofuji Noburo Award
Fantouche International Animation Festival Baden (Swiss)
Award / Best Sound Award
Kyoto International Indies Cinema & Award (Japan)
Award / Special Mention
Venice International Film Festival Orizzonti (Italy)
Sundance Film Festival (USA)
Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (France)
Ann Arbor Film Festival (USA)
SXSW (SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST) (USA)
Aspen Shortsfest (USA)
San Francisco International Film Festival (USA)
Palm Springs International Short Film Festival (USA)
Los Angeles Film Festival (USA)
Nashville Film Festival (USA)
Encounters Bristol International Film Festival (UK)
Vancouver International Film Festival (Canada)
Athens International Film + Video Festival (USA)
International Festival of Documentary and Short Film of BILBAO (Spain)
Tampere Film Festival (Finland)
Glasgow Short Film Festival (UK)
Dallas International Film Festival (USA)
International Short Film Festival Winterthur (Swiss)
Sarajevo Film Festival (Bosnia Hercegovina)
California independent film Festival (USA)
Santa Catalina Film Festival (USA)
Nevada City Film Festival (USA)
Bradford International Film Festival (UK)
Green Film Festival (Korea)
Nippon Connection (Germany)
Short Shorts Film Festival Focus on Asia (Japan)
CALF Short Film Festival (Japan)
Sapporo International Short Film Festival (Japan)
Image Forum Festival (Japan)
Sukagawa International Short Film Festival (Japan)
Rencontre cinematographique de Pezenas (France)
Sequence Shortfilm Festival (France)
Provincetown International Film Festival (USA)
International Film Festival of Asian Pacific Countries in Vladivostok (Russian)
Istanbul International Children's Film Festival (Turky)
Cine Ambiente (Itary)
Filmanbiente (Brazil)
KloosterKino (Netherlands)
Rooftop Cinema (USA)
Stuttgart International Animation Film Festival (Germany)
Zagreb International Animation Film Festival (Croatia)
Hiroshima International Animation Film Festival (Japan)
Animated Dreams (Estonia)
Holland Animation Film Festival (Netherlands)
London Interantional Animation Fesitval (UK)
TOKYO ANIMA! (Japan)
G-FEST (Slovenia)
MUMIA Underground World Animation Festival (Brazil)
Hors Pistes Tokyo 2012 (Japan)
Machida CON-CAN Short Film Festival (Japan)
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