INTRODUCTION

≪26 years old, working solo≫

“Dessert Night” is a 25-minute independent stop-motion film set in a late-night diner.

Blending elements of crime films, dialogue-driven dramas, and coming-of-age stories, it depicts “a fleeting moment of solidarity among lonely individuals.”

Created with a longing for 1990s Western films, this work, despite being stop-motion, evokes the atmosphere of a live-action film.

The filmmaker handled everything from the screenplay and miniature production to cinematography and editing entirely on his own. It took approximately two years to complete.

STORY

15 minutes until the police arrive.

Two robbers have broken into a late-night diner.
Their target was a single painting hanging on the wall.

But the alarm goes off, and the diner is completely sealed off.

The protagonist just happened to be there.
But in fact, he is also a thief—he had stolen the “real painting” and swapped it for a replica before the robbers arrived.

He must not let them know he has the real thing.
But if the police arrive, things will get far worse than that.

With the help of a mysterious novelist who happened to be at the diner, the four of them begin searching for a way to escape the establishment.

As they sip milkshakes and engage in aimless conversation, this strange night gradually begins to take on a different shape—

PILOT MOVIE

CHARACTER

PROTAGONIST 
A rare square-headed one. Not just a customer who happened to be there…?
Voiced by: Ryunosuke
BRIGHT 
He is afraid of red light. He has a short temper and a rough-and-tumble personality.
Voiced by: Yuta Nakayama
OSMO 
A novelist who just happened to be at the diner.
He’s carefree and tells nothing but lies.
For some reason, he seems to be strangely enjoying the escape drama.
Voiced by: Soichiro Shimura
LUCKY 
Bright's younger brother. He's positive and doesn't overthink things.
Voiced by: Kodai Ito

GALLERY

MAKING OF

“Dessert Night” was produced entirely by one person, who handled everything from screenwriting and miniature creation to filming and editing.

The diner set and characters were all crafted by hand, and the creation of the miniatures took approximately eight months.

AWARDS / SCREENINGS

AWARDS
  • 21st Yamagata International Movie Festival – Tohoku Cable TV Network Award
  • Atami Independent Film Festival – Art Direction Award
  • 10th Suginami Hero Film Festival – Audience Award and Theater Bacchus Award
  • 3rd Spotlight Film Festival – Excellence Award
SCREENINGS
  • The 3rd Film Fest Akizuki
  • The 10th GoodStock Film Session
  • The 2nd Akabane Independent Film Festival
  • The Meguru Yoshiwara Film Festival
  • The 1st Japan-China International Animation Film Festival

DIRECTOR

Rui Sakai

Born in 1998. Hails from Tokyo. While at Aoyama Gakuin University, she was a member of a film production club where she made live-action student films; since graduating, she has been creating stop-motion films entirely on her own.

Having grown up watching mostly Western live-action films, her stop-motion works naturally take on the same atmosphere as those films.