Dwarf Studios' wooden-puppet samurai stop-motion feature Hidari and Takayuki Hirao's Wasted Chef will screen at the Cannes Annecy Animation Showcase on May 17.
Dwarf Studios' long-gestating stop-motion samurai feature Hidari has landed a high-profile international stage. The wooden-puppet film, directed by Masashi Kawamura, will screen at the Cannes Annecy Animation Showcase on May 17, 2026, alongside Takayuki Hirao's new work Wasted Chef. The showcase is a joint programming strand between the Marche du Film and the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
Hidari centres on Hidari Jingoro, a legendary 17th-century sculptor whose carvings, folklore claims, could come to life. Kawamura's film reimagines him as a one-armed samurai seeking revenge, with every character, prop and set built as a hand-carved wooden puppet. A proof-of-concept short released in 2023 went viral for its tactile, chisel-marked aesthetic and drew backing from Dwarf Studios, the Tokyo stop-motion house behind Rilakkuma and Kaoru's Diary and the Domo shorts.
The feature has been in development since that short's reception, with Kawamura expanding the world into a full-length revenge narrative. Production details on the official film site describe a cast of wooden puppets animated frame by frame, a process that has kept the project on a slow, craft-driven timeline rather than a conventional studio schedule.
The Cannes Annecy Animation Showcase spotlights animated features in progress or nearing completion, giving buyers, festival programmers and press an early look before the Annecy festival opens in June. This year's edition leans heavily on Japanese and Latin American work. Alongside Hidari, the programme features Takayuki Hirao's Wasted Chef a new project from the director of Pompo: The Cinephile and God of High School plus films from Mexican stop-motion director Sofia Carrillo and several European co-productions.
For Dwarf Studios, the slot functions as both a sales launchpad and a signal that Hidari is moving from its crowdfunded short-film origins into the festival-circuit tier occupied by Laika and Aardman features. Hirao's inclusion extends the Japanese presence, with Wasted Chef previewing ahead of its own festival rollout.
Japanese stop-motion has had a quiet but steady run on the international circuit, from Dwarf's own shorts to Takahide Hori's Junk Head. A Cannes-adjacent showcase slot for a samurai-themed wooden-puppet feature is unusual, and it places Hidari in direct conversation with the Western stop-motion houses that dominate the format's global conversation. The handcrafted approach no CG substitution for the puppets, no digital set extensions in the proof-of-concept is central to the film's pitch.
There is no India release date or streaming partner for Hidari yet. The May 17 showcase is a trade-facing screening rather than a public premiere, so distribution deals struck at Cannes will determine when and how the film reaches Indian audiences. A full Annecy festival screening in June is the next likely milestone, followed by a theatrical or streaming rollout once Dwarf finalises sales.
Hidari's showcase slot caps a multi-year journey from viral short to festival-ready feature, and the May 17 screening will be the first substantial public look at Kawamura's wooden samurai since the 2023 proof of concept.
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