Ru Kuwahata, an Academy Award-nominated animation director who has earned more than 200 international awards, will visit the University of Rhode Island on Friday, Oct. 16, from 3 to 5 p.m. Presented by the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, the free public event at Swan Auditorium will feature a master class, a screening of her new film, and a discussion on multicultural creative leadership.
URI Master Class Strategic Overview
- Event Timing: Friday, Oct. 16, from 3 to 5 p.m. at Swan Auditorium, 60 Upper College Road, Kingston Campus.
- Core Presentation: Screening of the 10-minute stop-motion film “Cartoon Physics” in Japanese with English subtitles, followed by a Q&A session.
- Interdisciplinary Focus: Bringing together students studying different languages at URI, including Japanese and French, to explore stop-motion production and cross-cultural collaboration.
Screening of Cartoon Physics and Stop-Motion Master Class
The upcoming visit centers on the screening of Kuwahata’s new 10-minute stop-motion film, “Cartoon Physics.” The project was recently premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France. Following the screening, Kuwahata will lead a master class demonstrating the stop-motion production process for students.
URI Associate Teaching Professor of Japanese Nahoko Collis assisted with translating the film’s script. Collis noted the unique operational structure required to bring the project to fruition. “Working with Ru was the first time I saw how the creative process involves so many people with different backgrounds and languages,” Collis stated.
| Event Detail | Specification |
|---|---|
| Director | Ru Kuwahata |
| Featured Film | “Cartoon Physics” (10 minutes) |
| Location | Swan Auditorium, 60 Upper College Road, Kingston |
| Sponsoring Units | Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, College of Arts and Sciences, Center for the Humanities |
Kuwahata Brings Award Winning Storytelling Experience to URI
Kuwahata and her husband, Max Porter, reside in Providence and are recognized for mixed-media storytelling rooted in personal experiences. Their work translates milestones such as marriage, relocation, and parenthood into narrative formats. Their films have reached more than 1,000 festivals worldwide, including Sundance in Boulder, Colorado, as well as Clermont-Ferrand and Annecy in France.
The 2017 short film, “Negative Space,” secured an Academy Award nomination and collected 134 international prizes. At URI, Kuwahata will share operational insights regarding leadership across diverse linguistic and multicultural teams spanning France, the Netherlands, and Japan.
Interdepartmental Collaboration at the University of Rhode Island
Leslie Kealhofer-Kemp, URI professor of French and film, emphasized the institutional value of the visit. “We are thrilled that Ru Kuwahata will visit URI to share her experience and knowledge with us. Her unique background will highlight for students how language learning can open doors in unexpected and very exciting ways,” Kealhofer-Kemp said.
The event is supported by URI’s College of Arts and Sciences and the Center for the Humanities. Additional inquiries regarding the schedule and logistics can be directed to Nahoko Collis at [email protected] or Leslie Kealhofer-Kemp at 401-874-4699.
