Naoyuki Tsuji

The walls of video rental shops in Japan are lined with hundreds upon hundreds of animation DVDs, but experimental and art animation on DVD are rare. To remedy this situation, Image Forum put together this showcase of the work of contemporary avant-garde animators trained in Kyoto and Tokyo.

"Yoru no Okite" takes us to the sky (or to hell) to accompany the delirium of a man who is assassinated. A different take on a spirit who is adrift after being murdered. This restless spirit takes us on a surreal journey through death, the after life, and back to the land of the living again.

This work is based on Chapter One of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen.The original text depicts a disaster brought about tools and technology.There is a connection between this theme and nuclear power plant accident that occurred in Japan in 2011. I attempted to create a new form of animation film through an interleaving depiction of the original story and a real accident.

A funny little story about people living on the soft cloud. A look at their daily life, in the morning, they listen to the bell and begin to go down the sky.

A story set in a world before ours. A world in chaos where forces of good and evil fight and mingle. By doing so, it creates the chance to give birth to the new world. A couple of winged beings make love and fly away. They bear a child in an egg, and when the child opens its eyes they are immediately destroyed, one consumed by fire and the other by water. Mythical, elemental and mysterious, the world created by Tsuji is dangerous, menacing and suffuse with signs of apocalypse, but somehow simultaneously tender and compassionate. A Feather Stare at the Dark captures simple gestures and primal feelings and amplifies them, realising the non-verbal and non-literal with remarkable grace.

Short experimental film by Naoyuki Tsuji.

She puts her hands together and makes a wish to heaven. At that moment, right above her house, high in the sky, something huge is flying with its wings outstretched. On its back is a mountain range along its spine, and at the foot of the mountain is a wide, wide forest. In the depths of the forest, three cephalopods with big eyes are playing a game with mysterious cards that resemble playing cards. The course of the game has a strong influence on the fulfillment of her wish...

The "Spirit of the Wind" is the wind that blows high in the sky. He finds a mother and her baby playing on a small hill in the mountains and swoops down. The wind spirit greets the mother and takes the baby from her. Holding the baby in his arms, he flies high into the sky and begins his little adventure in the world of the sky. He goes through many clouds and plays in a park above the clouds...

A somewhat dark and surreal tale by Naoyuki Tsuji. Our protagonist sets out on a journey in a world which starts at The Gate of Confusion. To complete his travels, he must meet various strange characters to relieve himself of his burdens and set himself free.

Something happens at the junior high school. When a boy starts to draw a cloud, that drawing begin to move and eat the students...

A boy and his sister are nearly eaten by their father and they rush out of the house. They run away in their father’s car and wind up in the wilderness, where they meet a Giant and a Witch. This animation film in black & white charcoal drawings uses the sound of a bass guitar and combines a Japanese Manga feel with a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.

Short film from animator Tsuji Naoyuki, who is known for his use of both charcoal and puppet animation. Wake Up is a dark and brooding animation epitomizing his story telling style by combining serene worlds and childlike images with darkness and nightmarish scenes.

I found a very interesting story in the book "Indian Mythology" by Katsuhiko Uemura. It is poetic and gaggy in some parts. Once upon a time, a mountain had wings and flew around. When the mountain landed on the earth, the earth shook with a roar...". This story was made up by Brahmins (monks) 4 to 5,000 years ago. It is said that those in power at that time ruled their people by making up interesting stories. Is it the same today?

People’s body and soul transform into big a cloud, and are mixed with erotic shapes.

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