Onikuma

 
 
 

NEW!! Onikuma is now streaming on FlixaTV, Illambra, and the Slamdance Youtube Channel!

 

REVIEWS

“The film, with its open-ended, poetic sequences of metaphorical action, presents a field of possible meanings, and each viewer will be able to build their own interpretation from the experience of watching the action. Cecchet has used consummate artistic skill in rendering these actions into a wordless assemblage of images and sounds that have the precise force of myth: the ability to take our primordial fears and transform them into legend.”

David Finkelstein for Film International. Full review here.

“Un film affascinante, splendidamente fotografato e ambientato in paesaggi suggestivi, che combina la ripresa live action all'animazione stop-motion per stimolare i sensi e le emozioni dello spettatore con un linguaggio simbolico.”

“A fascinating film, wonderfully photographed and set in evocative landscapes, which combines live action film with stop-motion animation to stimulate the senses and emotions of the spectator with a symbolic language.”

Corti a Palazzo, Verona, Italy, March 2018

“Beautiful. The blend of sensation — harsh objective & subjective mythological — is deeply affecting. Cecchet’s patience and trust, both in the rhythms of the piece and the audience bearing witness to it, create a space apart — one in which I’d gladly stay for much longer than the 12min runtime. Superb!”

carl_son (Letterboxd)

SYNOPSIS

Onikuma is Japanese yokai, a demon bear known for chasing horses.

Surrounded by a foreign landscape, two women will understand that demons can come in different forms.

Genre: Experimental Narrative


AWARDS

Special Jury Award - 9 Wordless International Short Film Festival, Sydney, Australia + Qazvin, Iran

Best Fiction - 3 High Coast Film Festival, Sweden

 

SELECTED SCREENINGS and OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

2020

Another Experiment by Women, Anthology Film Archives, NYC

8 South Texas Underground Film Festival, Corpus Christi, TX

2019

7 International Short Film Festival Canton, Guangzhou, China

Italy Exported - Shorts in Competition // San Diego Italian Film Festival, San Diego, CA

Venice Film Week, Venice, Italy

5 Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival, Hong Kong

21 Moviate Underground Film Festival, Harrisburg, PA

12 Philadelphia Independent Film Festival

40 Brussels Independent Film Festival, Belgium

4th Wall: HER.E i see lotus | Part I - Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

38 Black Maria Film Festival [finalist]

2018

Oz Film Festival, Melbourne, Australia

24 Caminhos Film Festival, Coimbra, Portugal

14 Ellensburg Film Festival, Ellensburg, WA

36 New Jersey Film Festival, New Brunswick, NJ

3 High Coast Film Festival, Lunde, Sweden

3 Defy Film Festival, Nashville, TN

4 San Diego Underground Film Festival, San Diego, CA

7 Oak Cliff Film Festival, Dallas, TX

4 Mammoth Lakes Film Festival, Mammoth Lakes, CA

49 Nashville Film Festival, Nashville, TN, USA

66 Columbus Film and Animation Festival, Columbus, OH, USA

24 Slamdance Film Festival, Park City, UT, USA

2017

19 Ismailia Film Festival, Egypt

13 Lago Film Festival, Italy

4 Women Media Arts and Film Festival, Sydney, Australia

9 Wordless International Short Film Festival, Sydney, Australia + Qazvin, Iran

34 Tehran International Film Festival

39 Festival Internazionale Cinema e Donne, Firenze, Italy

2016

34 Torino Film Festival, Italy

 

Shortlist

63 Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen

Grants

Santa Cruz Arts Council Development Grant 2017

Cast

Woman who Killed... Sandy Siquier

Woman with Mirror... Sarineh Garapetian

Dying Man... Jacob Riddle

 

Crew

Director... Alessia Cecchet

Cinematography ... Alessia Cecchet

Costume Designer... Paul Capotosto

Production... Carlton Daniel Jr.

Animation Consultant... Josh Tuthill

Animation.... Alessia Cecchet

Sound Recording... Josh Tuthill

Camera Assistant... Ash Lu

Sound design and score... Nigel Li

Editing... Alessia Cecchet