PROGRAM
《D》East Asian Experimental Competition4
4 works, 66min.
【TOKYO】Theatre Image Forum：9/28(SUN)11:00am、10/1(WED)4:00pm
【KYOTO】Demachiza：11/10(MON)7:35pm
【NAGOYA】Nagoyakinema Neu：11/26(WED)1:10pm
Mother, A Long Red Night
WAKABAYASHI Michiru / digital / 15min / 2025
The tragedy of an air raid on Tokyo on March 10th, 1945, is described based on witness testimony. The central focus is the narrative of a mother who was 24 years old at the time and ran from the flames leading her four-year-old son by the hand and carrying her eight-month-old twin daughters on her back. The testimony is taken from A History of Tokyo Air Raids/War Damage (1973) and other sources. As though enveloping this history, the footage of the Tokyo rivers and parks through which the mother fled as they are today is deeply affecting.
WAKABAYASHI Michiru
Prompted by her university graduation project, she began filmmaking and studied at the Image Forum Institute of the Moving Image. Currently, she is enrolled in the Graduate School Program of Imaging Arts and Sciences at Musashino Art University. At present, she is working on feature-length works, centered mainly on this project.
Betrayer
SHI Shengxue / digital / 11min / 2025
A hallucinatory animated film about family. “My” narrative unfolds. My mother called “me” a “traitor.” My grandmother transforms into a spider, spinning her web through endless hardships. Countless snails creep over torn off fingers, the bed, and “my” body. This work filled with disturbing images that appear in front of “me” examines the question, “What is the destiny to which a woman is born?”
SHI Shengxue
Born in Hangzhou, China. Graduated in 2025 from the Graduate School of Film and New Media, Department of Animation, Tokyo University of the Arts. Animator and illustrator. Other works include Confessional Somnium (2022), Mold (2023).
The Tales of the Tale
SONG Cheng-ying, HU Chin-ya / digital / 30min / 2025《Award for Excellence》
Houtong is an area in the mountains of northern Taiwan that was formerly home to a flourishing coal mining industry. Long ago many monkeys lived in its caves, but they have been exterminated by human beings. As memories of harsh working conditions in the coal mines are laid out through the testimony of the living, the dead who dwell in the ground and spiritual/divine beings are brought into sharp relief. A documentary steeped in imagination that is presented with beautiful visuals.
SONG Cheng-ying
SONG Cheng-ying graduated from Taipei National University of the Arts. He worked as a director, screenwriter and editor for several films.
HU Chin-ya
HU Chin-ya, based in Taipei, Taiwan, was a freelance writer for independent media in Taiwan. Now she produces docs concerning human conditions in social change.
Ordinary Life
MIZUSHIRI Yoriko / digital / 10min / 2025
While it has no dramatic story, this is a nevertheless a captivating work of animation. Walking a dog, putting a ring on a finger, pushing back long hair – these repeated, unremarkable actions are depicted with a soft touch and pale colors, and little-by-little become mysterious. Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Short Film at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival.
MIZUSHIRI Yoriko
Born in 1984. She creates animations that use body parts and everyday objects as motifs for tactile expression. In addition to making short films, she is also involved in the production of music videos, advertisements, and movies for installations. Her short films have been screened and awarded at festivals worldwide, including Anxious Body, completed in 2021, premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight Competition at the 74th Cannes Film Festival and has won 15 international awards.
