La Maison en Petits Cubes

Story

An old man is forced to continuously build on new levels to his home as the water rises in his town. When he drops his favorite pipe overboard, he is forced to dive to retrieve it from the depths. As he visits the submerged levels of his home, he begins to relive scenes from days gone by.

About the Director

“La Maison en Petits Cubes (The House of Small Cubes)” an animation film created and directed by Kunio Kato and produced by ROBOT (Head office: Shibuya Ward, Tokyo; President: Takaaki Kabuto).

This creation won Kato The Best Animated Short Film at the 81 st Academy Awards®.

Kato follows in the footsteps of the Anime master Hayao Miyazaki as only the second Japanese director in history to ever to win an Oscar®. Hayao Miyazaki won the Best Animated Feature Film Award in 2003 for his “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi” (Spirited Away).

Besides the Oscar, “La Maison en Petits Cubes” has garnered acclaim at film festivals worldwide. At the Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2008, it won the Annecy Cristal––the top prize––as well as the Junior Jury Award. Elsewhere, the film was awarded the Audience Prize at the 12th International Animation Festival in Hiroshima in 2008, and the Animation Division Grand Prize at the 12th Japan Media Arts Festival sponsored by Japan’s Agency of Cultural Affairs. To date, this masterpiece has won a total of 20 awards at 12 film festivals around the globe.

Kunio Kato, was born in 1977 and is currently working for Animation Studio “Cage” of ROBOT’s Communication Planning Division. Kato directed the work to a screenplay created by Kenya Hirata, a playwright also serving ROBOT.

Production: ROBOT Communications Inc.
Director: Kunio Kato
Country: Japan
Year: 2008

© 2008 Robot Communications, Inc.

Screening Information

Sector Animauteurs
Japan Society
333 East 47th Street
New York, NY 10017-2399
Sunday, September 11, 4 PM — 5:15 PM
Buy tickets