19th Animation Division Jury Selections
I Can’t Breathe
Animated short film
KIHATA Sayaka [Japan]
Outline
This sand animation uses the motif of water to interweave reality and an imaginary landscape, expressing the emotional changes and uncertainty of the protagonist’s guilt. A young boy accidentally drowns his friend while playing during a school swimming class, after which he is tormented by guilt and the accusing stares of his peers. Gradually he is drowned by the water that rises all around him, leaving him alone in the deep underwater.