Retrospective: Ru Kuwahata and Kenji Iwaisawa

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Retrospective:
Ru Kuwahata and Kenji Iwaisawa

Ru Kuwahata, who has been making films in the US and Europe, has told a series of twisted stories using puppet animation while Kenji Iwaisawa just debuted world-wide with his first feature film ON-GAKU: OUR SOUND . Despite their different backgrounds, these two artists of the same generation are becoming the most noteworthy artists in the international animation scene. This program show their greatest hits of short films.

Screening

Man in the Tunnel Alley

2008 / 0:04:42

Director : Kenji Iwaisawa

Nageki no Ice Candy

2009 / 0:03:52

Director : Kenji Iwaisawa

Mountain

2010 / 0:09:12

Director : Kenji Iwaisawa

Taro ha Mizu ni Naritakatta

2019 / 0:05:14

Director : Kenji Iwaisawa

Something Left, Something Taken

2010 / 0:10:13

Director : Max Porter & Ru Kuwahata

Between Times

2014 / 0:14:22

Director : Max Porter & Ru Kuwahata

Perfect Houseguest

2015 / 0:01:35

Director : Max Porter & Ru Kuwahata

Negative Space

2017 / 0:05:30

Director : Max Porter & Ru Kuwahata

DIRECTOR

Kenji Iwaisawa

Born in 1981 in Tokyo. After graduation from high school studied with director Teruo Ishii starting from feature film production then moving on to animation. First animated work “Fukuraicho man in the tunnel maze” was completed in 2008. His first independent feature animation “On-Gaku: Our Sound”, which it took seven and a half years for him to complete, was released in theaters on January 11, 2020 and screened in many theaters in Japan for 9 month.

Ru Kuwahata

Ru Kuwahata is an Oscar-nominated animation filmmaker born in Tokyo, Japan, living in Providence, USA. Since 2007 she has been collaborating with Max Porter as the directors duo Tiny Inventions. Known for their unique mixed-media animation, they have directed and produced TV commercials, music videos, PSAs, comics, interactive games, and four independent films. Their films have screened in more than 1000 festivals around the world, including Sundance Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand and Annecy International Animated Film Festival. Their most recent short, Negative Space (2017), was nominated for the 90th Academy Awards and has garnered 135 prizes. They are currently working on their first feature-length animated film, Porcelain Birds, with Miyu Productions in France.