No. 52
SOEJIMA Shinobu
Animation Director / Sculptor
SOEJIMA Shinobu is an artist and a stop-motion animation director. Her short films and videos of stop-motion animation actively incorporate organic matter, including themes of "the impermanency of things" and conflicting ideas such as life and death, or light and shadow.
Through research on Asian folklore and ethnic culture, she experiments with a narrative film expression that incorporates images shared by people of all races and ages.
This work has won awards at domestic and international film festivals, including Special Mention at the Prize of the Ecumenical Online Jury given at the 68th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen. It was also selected as one the Jury Selection at the 22nd Japan Media Arts Festival. The film will be presented at art exhibitions worldwide.
Through research on Asian folklore and ethnic culture, she experiments with a narrative film expression that incorporates images shared by people of all races and ages.
This work has won awards at domestic and international film festivals, including Special Mention at the Prize of the Ecumenical Online Jury given at the 68th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen. It was also selected as one the Jury Selection at the 22nd Japan Media Arts Festival. The film will be presented at art exhibitions worldwide.
Blink in the Desert
2021 / Animated Short Film / 10:34
Director: SOEJIMA Shinobu
Music: Marty HICKS
Sound Design: NAKAOKA Hisako / TAWARATSUMIDA Nao
Producer: ITO Yuichi / Tokyo University of the Arts
Music: Marty HICKS
Sound Design: NAKAOKA Hisako / TAWARATSUMIDA Nao
Producer: ITO Yuichi / Tokyo University of the Arts
Malice comes up abruptly as if it were a blink and capricious like a flapping insect. One day a young hermit finds a winged insect and crushes it out of disgust in the desert. Meanwhile, the elephant sees what he has done to the winged insect but says nothing. From that day on, the boy is chased by shadows of the winged insects.
The title Blink in the Desert means “a moment of flapping in the desert.” A blink of evil sprouting in the middle of a lonely wilderness. This abrupt moment of malice attacked the protagonist like a tempting devil appearing suddenly before a person in his prayers.
This work, which was filmed in stop motion, expresses the complicated inner workings of the human mind such as mental conflict and fear by intentionally using a doll that has no facial expressions and instead using the angle and shading of its face. The dirt that accumulates in the doll shows the changes in deep and delicate emotions, which is her technique of visualizing negative emotions. Please pay attention to how the dirt and scars change on the doll at the end of the story.
The title Blink in the Desert means “a moment of flapping in the desert.” A blink of evil sprouting in the middle of a lonely wilderness. This abrupt moment of malice attacked the protagonist like a tempting devil appearing suddenly before a person in his prayers.
This work, which was filmed in stop motion, expresses the complicated inner workings of the human mind such as mental conflict and fear by intentionally using a doll that has no facial expressions and instead using the angle and shading of its face. The dirt that accumulates in the doll shows the changes in deep and delicate emotions, which is her technique of visualizing negative emotions. Please pay attention to how the dirt and scars change on the doll at the end of the story.
©2021 ShinobuSoejima
House Rattler
2019 / Animated Short Film / 06:27
©2021 ShinobuSoejima
The Spirits of Cairn
2018 / Animated Short Film / 07:07