Japanese stop-motion animation studio dwarf studios announced on Sunday at the Annecy Animation Showcase of the 79th Cannes International Film Festival that actor Keanu Reeves will star as Jingoro Hidari in the studio’s HIDARI stop-motion samurai film.
Image courtesy of dwarf studios
©dwarf/Whatever Co./TECARAT
Image courtesy of dwarf studios
©dwarf/Whatever Co./TECARAT
The Annecy Animation Showcase is featuring five animated works-in-progress from around the world, and is part of an expanded “Cannes Animation” initiative running from May 15-17 under Cannes’ “Marché du Film” marketplace. Japan is the 2026 Country of Honor at the Marché du Film.
The HIDARI pilot film screened at the event on Sunday, along with a talk with the film’s director Masashi Kawamura and producer Noriko Matsumoto. Kawamura and Matsumoto presented the current status and prospects for HIDARI’s feature-length film adaptation, which is slated to be 90 minutes long.
The HIDARI pilot film first streamed online in 2023, and currently has over 4.9 million views on its YouTube channel. The pilot film has already won several awards in different international film festivals.
The film’s website describes the story:
A skilled carpenter/sculptor Jingoro, gets set up by his disciples and loses his right arm and his father in an “accident” during the reconstruction of the Edo Castle. A few decades later… Jingoro is continuing his journey of revenge with his partner “Sleeping Cat” and his weaponized prosthetic arm. People have come to call him Jingoro “Hidari,” which means “left” in Japanese.
Jingoro defeats all the foes that has betrayed him, but he learns that Tokugawa Shogunate was behind the murderous event. He searches for clues on who was behind the whole set up, and fights with an army of mechanical soldiers along the way. Finally he confronts the mastermind behind all the killings, but first, he must save the city of Edo by stopping the Edo Castle, now turned into a gigantic weapon of mass destruction!
Jingoro Hidari is a Japanese legendary sculptor who is said to have existed in the Edo period, and is famously known for his very life-like animal carvings, that stories say that the animals come to life at night. Theories say he got his name “Hidari” because he was left handed, or that he is left with just a left arm after his right arm was chopped off by a jealous rival. The film’s original story is inspired by these theories.
The film project has a Kickstarter campaign, and has received 15,255,294 yen (about US$95,961) from 1,419 backers. An update on the film’s Kickstarter page on September 5 stated the staff estimate the film will need about four years of production after the staff get a green light on the film. Entertainment news website Variety previously noted the film will be in English and is currently slated for completion in 2029.
The film has also received financial support from Questry, a financial startup and asset manager for the Japanese entertainment and content industry. The film project is still recruiting more partners and raising funds for its feature-length adaptation.
Aside from directing the film, Kawamura is also writing the screenplay. Iku Ogawa (Pokémon Concierge) is co-directing, and is also designing the characters with Takeshi Yashiro, who is also in charge of wood carving and art design. Yūsuke Tominaga, Masami Ouchi, and more are producing the film along with Matsumoto. The film is collaborating with TECARAT, in charge of creating the wooden puppets, and Kawamura’s creative studio Whatever Co., in charge of the film’s script, direction, art direction, and promotions.
Source: Press release
