I'm Still Alive

A young man in a leotard leads a group of animals in a sumo wrestling match. The bear is the final victor of all the animals, but then loses when he must face Kintaro.

The mischievous Chinkoroheibei visits the underwater realm of the fish king where he tries to steal the king's treasure box.

The two of them, all alone at home. All alone with her father's corpse. Memories, ideals, and reality all sink beneath the muck. Everyone is alone. Everyone is in solitude.

A small white box. Everything happens in that little world. A woman's face comes out from the side of the room and roars, birds peck at human flesh, trains run through, and a couple quarrel begins. When the billiard ball penetrates the room, the billiard ball changes into various shapes ... Each room is a world, and what happens there is a microcosm of modern times.

Remake of the 1960 film with the same name in color that tells the story of a man and a woman who go by raft to a remote desert island with chickens and a dog. At first, it is a kind of paradise for them. They farm and fish following the same routine every day, feasting on grilled sanma that they roast out in the open. One day, their harmony gets interrupted by a mustachioed scientist on a raft powered by an abused pig. This unwanted visitor constructs a robot which begins the process of industrialization on the island. The couple are disgruntled but decide to put up with the man and his technology.

Night Stalker

Stop-motion experiments using B&W 16mm film. Shot using a Bolex, transferred to video, DVD, mp4. No soundtrack.

The unlikely story of a little seal who befriends a blind musician.

Two children sneak out behind their parents' back, to a magical circus world.

A 1986 set of three French clay animation shorts: The Multi-Coloured Little Circus and The Two Little Nightwalkers, both by Jacques Remy-Girerd, and The Baby Seal by Pierre Veck.

The pair of mannequins in the mattress section seem the ideal couple: Handsome, elegant and perfect. But when the mall closes and the lights go out, things are quite different.

An animated film drawn entirely in pastels. Various fantastical plant-like things "grow" from the ground, eventually launching five spheres. The spheres drift in space while changing shapes and come back down to another setting, which eventually becomes more fantastical and symbolic than the opening one. The soundtrack has a jazz slant, with an ensemble of four saxophones and synthetic sound (i.e. sound created by drawing directly on the soundtrack).

Little Thunder dreams of growing up and wants to thunder and cause rain. For now, Grandpa Thunder does not allow him to do this and instructs him only to look for places on Earth where rain is needed.

A load of Halloween monsters freak each other out in a strobing cacophany.

Swamp

A commuter train leaves a lonely and dark station at night. A series of events that occur across the landscape can be seen through the window.

It is the story of an old man - Gulam - and the cherry tree which grew in his garden. As the story opens, the village children consider Gulam their best friend. But as the war wears on, Gulam directs his kindness and affection to his cherry tree, shielding the tree from the children who are starving. In the process, Gulam becomes very aggressive and eventually is seen as the enemy of the children. The movie shows how war can destory even the most tender and gentle feelings, as well as the most basic moral values of being human.

An animated short film by Yamamura Kouji.

A festival cut/compilation of the animated segments made by Yamamura Kouji for a TV documentary by NHK, Kojiki Girl Travelogue (古事記ガール 日向路を旅する). The 4 episodes that compose The Hyuga Episode of Kojiki are: #1 The Cleansing (禊/ Misogi, 3’17”) #2 Sun Goddess Amaterasu (天照大御神/ Amaterasu Ookami, 2’11”) #3 Flowering Tree (木花之佐久夜毘売/ Konohananosakuya-bime, 2’31”) #4 Umisachi and Yamasachi (海佐知山佐知/ Umisachi Yamasachi, 3’30”)

A fisherman's daughter has to accept her father's disease when she arrives at her childhood home and finds her father vulnerable and fragile.