Direct Action (2024)

Eight woman, one life. Short animation by Sumito Sakakibara. The 9th Japan Media Art Festival Animation Division Grand Prize Winner

A picture of the life of the Danish people from the late 1820s to the introduction of the free constitution in 1849. A fictional character, Rasmus Nielsen, travels around the country, first as a traveling teacher, later in other positions, and through his experiences we are introduced to the conditions of various population groups. The central figure in the portrayal of historical figures is the politician Orla Lehmann.

Six vignettes pit an assortment of characters against each other in everyday situations.

A woman encounters a star from another era.

The Red Mountain Tribe hangs out in my backyard. "Lipton's lovely home movie PEOPLE, in its affection for valuable inconsequential gestures, indicates in the course of its three minutes why there has to be a continuing alternative to the commercial cinema." – Roger Greenspun, The New York Times

Two dumb soda jerks dream of writing radio mysteries. When they try to pitch an idea at a radio station, they end up in the middle of a real murder when the station owner is killed during a broadcast.

Four bodies are found at a cave accident and forensics point to the only survivor as the culprit. He denies guilt, accusing his wife of committing the crime. But how is this so? She is one of the deceased.

Anton and Erika started out as friends for five years and got into a romantic relationship for seven years. Anton is a commercial director while Erika is a former band member and becomes his stay-at-home partner. The day finally comes when he asks her to marry him.

Genji and his victorious G.P.S. alliance find themselves facing down a new challenge by the students of Hosen Academy, feared by everyone as 'The Army of Killers.' The two schools, in fact, have a history of bad blood between them. And the simmering embers of hatred are about to flare up again, burning away any last remnants of the truce they had so rigorously observed until now.

"Maine-Ocean" is the name of a train that rides from Paris to Saint-Nazaire (near the ocean). In that train, Dejanira, a Brazilian, has a brush with the two ticket inspectors. Mimi, another traveler and also a lawyer, helps her. The four of them will meet together later and live a few shifted adventures with a strange-speaking sailor (Mimi's client).