Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2022, the world’s largest animation film festival, will be held in Annecy, France. My short film “Krasue” has been selected as an Official Short Film in Competition. (Official Short Films in Competition-Krasue) the Official Selection: the shortfilms here.   Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2022 https://www.annecy.org/home

Actor Marika Ito has invited her work colleagues and creators to be her guests in the GINZA series, “Someone’s Home Sweet Home” vol. 04. Ryo Hirano was a guest on “Someone’s Home Sweet Home” vol. 04! Marika san visited us at our home in Nagano, and we talked about our lives in Nagano, our favorite foreign manga, illustrated books, cats, and so on… I had a very enjoyable conversation with her! Please take a peek! https://ginzamag.com/lifestyle/home-sweet-home04/

I will be participating in a screening and talk program at the Sendai Short Film Festival 2025, which is organized by a group of volunteers, mainly working adults and students from Sendai City! September 20th, 13:45 – 15:45 | Program B: “Looking to the Future from Animation” https://www.shortpiece.com/B.php This program will feature three films by director Ryo Hirano and two films by director Sakichi Watanabe. What do we see in these mysterious worlds? For those aspiring to create animation, a talk session will be held after the screening where we will dive deeply into the world of animation, listening to and learning about the behind-the-scenes stories of the creation process from both directors. Films to be screened: Ryo Hirano “The Kappa’s Arm” “Holiday” “Paradise” Sakichi Watanabe “The Princess of Raspberry Jam #1” “Tulip-chan” There will be a talk with Director Sakichi Watanabe to delve into the world of animation! I am really looking forward to it. I don’t often have screenings of my student works, so if you are in the area, please come and join us. I will be participating online!!