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!”
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
Poster by Joshua Dean Tuthill
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