We Are Aliens(Wareware wa uchujin)

In a rural town, the timid Tsubasa becomes fast friends with his assured schoolmate, Gyotaro. But as Gyotaro becomes ostracised by their peers, quiet betrayal creeps in, leading to an irreversible incident that changes their relationship forever. A haunting portrait of the coming-of-age trajectory, Kadowaki Kohei’s feature debut combines rotoscoping techniques and painterly digital animation to explore teenage angst and fragility through an intriguing dual perspective, with an inventive use of dynamic styles that reflect the characters’ shifting emotions. ‘Hey – what if I told you I was an alien?’ sets in motion something a boy will spend a lifetime trying to forget.

Cannes Directors' Fortnight

Annecy International Animated Film Festival: In Competition