SAIGO

Light animation by TOCHKA.

Takamori Saigo was born in Kagoshima in 1828 and has been dubbed the last true samurai who is still loved by the people of Kagoshima. Saigo committed harakiri in the Battle of Shiroyama in 1877. Nobody knows what he actually looked like since he only appears in an etching and drawings. No photos of him at all.

The directors visited Saigo's descendants to ask for his facial features and characteristics for this film. Now Saigo has come back to life in animation, and he wanders around in towns and Sakurajima, an active composite volcano in Kagoshima. This is an experimental animation done by using penlights.

(Source: The Guanajuato International Film Festival)