There are a number of regions scattered throughout Japan that practice the tradition of honekami (lit. “biting the bones”). Honekami involves eating the bones that remain after cremation so that the deceased becomes part of you, in an attempt to overcome one’s grief. For better or worse, there were families who practiced this tradition on the island I come from. And in my own first experience with death – the death of my father – I too was encouraged to eat one of his bones, but could not bring myself to do it. Still very young, I had no way to come to terms with and accept my father’s death. My memory of the experience is traumatic; the bone I did not eat stayed with me, as if stuck in my throat, and I found myself unable to express the experience in words or forget it.
An old wartime ammunition dump still stands on the island where I was born. The fact that it was an ammunition dump, rather than an air raid shelter, near my childhood home made me feel that I was on the side that imposed death and ruthless violence, rather than on the side that was subjected to it. Reflecting on this experience as an adult, I found there to be a link between my father’s remains and the ammunition dump, and so I decided to confront honekami again.
Through this project, I wanted to face up to the bones I could not eat before by blurring the boundaries between life and death.

Animated and Directed by YANO Honami
Producer: YAMAMURA Koji
Assistant Producer: sanae
Production: Au Praxinoscope
Voice: TANO Ayamo
Sound Designer: TAKINO Masumi

Living things, artificial things, geometry shapes, and lines. When these different things encounter, a new direction is born.

Animation: MIZUSHIRI Yoriko
Scenario, Script: MIZUSHIRI Yoriko
Set: MIZUSHIRI Yoriko
Image: MIZUSHIRI Yoriko
Film editor: MIZUSHIRI Yoriko
Mix: ONO Seigen
Soundtrack: Yuka C. HONDA
Production Company: Miyu Productions
Co-Production Company: New Deer

The steak has been marinating for a few days now. The pan is heated. Franc’s stomach is rumbling. But Liza’s co-workers surprise her with a birthday party. Will she be home on time?

Animation: Špela ČADEZ, Anka KOČEVAR, Zarja MENART, Clémentine ROBACH
Scenario, Script: Gregor ZORC
Image: Špela ČADEZ
Film editor: Iva KRALJEVIC
Sound engineer: Johanna WIENERT, bvft (sound designer)
Mix: Julij Zornik
Soundtrack: Olfamož, Tomaž GROM
Production Company: Finta Film
Co-Production Company: Fabian&Fred, Miyu Productions

A Holocaust survivor reads a letter he wrote to the pig who saved his life. A young schoolgirl hears his testimony in class and sinks into a twisted dream where she confronts questions of identity, collective trauma, and the extremes of human nature.

Animation: Meton JOFFILY, Anne KRAEHN, Tal KANTOR
Animation Intern & paint animation: Teresa BAROET
Scenario, Script: Tal KANTOR
Backgrounds: Dafi BEN-AMI, Tal KANTOR
Actors: Moriyah MEERSON, Alex PELEG, Ayelet MARGALIT, Indra MAHARIK
Voice: Alex PELEG
Special effects: Shachaer KANTOR, Shahar DAVIS
Film editor: Efrat BERGER
D.O.P – Arbel ROM
Compositing: Shahar DAVIS
Sound engineer: Erez EYNI-SHAVIT
Sound editor: Erez EYNI-SHAVIT
Mix: Erez EYNI-SHAVIT
Soundtrack: Pierre OBERKAMPF
Production Company: Miyu Productions

A music video for the musician Cuushe’s song, Magic. Photographic background images of majestic mountains and the Earth’s landscapes, taken by the filmmaker TAJIMA Tao, are combined with the lighthearted, airy hand-drawn animation by KUNO Yoko. This mystical video with two girls and animals is the fruit of the three creators’ communication through sound and images.

Director: TAJIMA Tao
Animation: KUNO Yoko
Music: Cuushe

A music video for the song DARKEN by ZUTOMAYO. The animation portrays a story of a maid android left behind in a collapsed civilization, who finds a baby with a horn in an abandoned building and begins to raise it. The ambience and story of the animation are constructed based on the song and lyrics by vocalist ACA-Ne, and the artist’s unique cartoon-style characters hop around in this individually produced animation. This personal project outside animation studios was completed entirely remotely, pursuing quality beyond studio works with its creativity and originality. With over 4,000 million views, it showcases the skillful expression of ZUTOMAYO’s ambience, attracting a wide range of viewers rather than just anime fans.

Story & Design & Direction: hanabushi
Lyrics & Music & Vocal: ACA-Ne
Arrangement: 100kaiouto, ZTMY
Sound Direction: MATSUMOTO Kohei

This work is an original animation using the technique of stop motion. In a world where guinea pigs became cars—the “Molcars” made of wool felt move around expressively. The sound of Molcars are taken from an actual guinea pig, and live actors appear using pixilation technique. This is an animation full of guinea pigs with healing, friendship, adventure, and crazy action around various situations unique to cars.

Director / Script: MISATO Tomoki
Production: MOLCARS

Have you or your partner ever had an experience where you missed your period or been “late”?

Director: KABUKI Sawako
Animation: ZHOU Xiaolin, UMEBAYASHI Ikumi, SHIMIZU Haruka
Film editor: Albane du Plessix
Soundtrack: Hikariko
Production Company: Miyu Productions
Co-Production Company: New Deer

Home and family, relationships, desires, wishes and everything are summarized in a kitchen. The stuttering boy is alone there, playing with his imagination.

Director: Mahboobeh KALAEE
Writer: Mahboobeh KALAEE
Cinematographer: Mahboobeh KALAEE
Animator: Mahboobeh KALAEE
Editor: Mahboobeh KALAEE
Producer: Mahboobeh KALAEE & DEFC (Documentary and Experimental Film Center)
Sound Designer: Hossein GHOORCHIAN
Narrator: Taha ASADI
Cast: Mohammad Amin NEMATI