The animation filmmaker Ru Kawahata graduated from the Tilburg Institute in the Netherlands. Having received global recognition for several productions, her animated short film ‘Negative Space’ was co-directed with her partner Max Porter in 2017 and screened at over 300 film festivals. It received 120 awards, including an Academy Award nomination in the Animated Short Film category at the 90th Oscars awards.
Her residency at the Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud allowed her to work further on her project ‘Dandelion Seed’, something she had wanted to do for eight years. The previous year, during another residency, Ru Kawahata had met with filmmakers and screenwriters from around the world, and her month at Fontevraud gave her the time to reflect on and consolidate the visual development of the work, as well as working on the transformation of her script.
‘Dandelion Seed’ is an animated film directly inspired by the artist’s life. It tells the story of Kyao, a Japanese exchange student who attends an American boarding school near to Michael Jackson’s famous Neverland Ranch. In addition to the various events which punctuate the journey of her young heroine, the artist also tackles four themes which are important to her: the loss of innocence, Japanese culture, the world of fantasy, and the media.