Rootless Heart
Japanese director Toshiko Hata’s animation “Rootless Heart” was named the Jury’s Choice for Short Film at the 11-day Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival, held in South Korea.
The 10-minute Rootless Heart is a mostly silent, painstakingly animated claymation horror short. In it, a grotesque humanoid monster is murdering hikers in the woods. When a boy and his little sister become trapped in a cabin, they must find a way to fight off the predatory advances of the unrelenting monster.
Born in 1985, Hata graduated last year from the Graduate School of Film and New Media of Tokyo University of the Arts. Her major works include Memory of Usual Days (2008), SUIYOU (2008), Bloom (2009) and Where He Can Relax (2010).
