Kohei Kadowaki’s We Are Aliens anime took the prize for Best Animated Feature Film at the 59th Sitges Film Festival Festival Internacional de Cine Fantástico in Spain this week. The competition in Catalonia awarded Kadowaki the trophy for Best Feature Sitges over entries from around the world. It’s the first time in six years that a Japanese production has earned that award, following a series of festival screenings that began at Cannes in May [1].
Why the Anima’t Jury Chose We Are Aliens Anime
The Anima’t jury brought together British filmmaker Hugh Welchman, Spanish animation producer Chelo Loureiro and Mary Yanko [3]. They selected the movie after public screenings on October 16 and October 17 in Catalonia, where Kadowaki met with attendees right after the Spanish premiere to discuss his work. Japanese titles don’t win every year in Sitges, which gave the selection added weight among festival followers.
Kadowaki turned 30 on October 14, only days before the festival announced its list of winners, which made him the youngest Japanese director to win the honor in festival history. Makoto Shinkai won in 2016 for your name., while Mamoru Hosoda took the prize two years later with Mirai. Six years ago, director Yuta Murano won for Seven Days War, after which Japanese animation went without the category until Kadowaki won with his very first feature film [1].
The victory gave We Are Aliens anime its second major festival trophy in under two months [4]. NOTHING NEW backed the movie as its first animated project, entering competition with backing from experienced European partners [5].
Production and Creative Direction
Before directing this feature, Kadowaki worked on BEASTARS, creating the credit animation that closed its second season [5]. He also directed music videos for pop duo YOASOBI, such as ‘Comet’, and completed the independent short film Rouseki. For the new feature, titled Wareware wa Uchujin in Japanese, Kadowaki handled planning, the screenplay, direction, storyboards, and cinematography while teaming up with Kenichiro Tachikawa on film editing [2].
French animation studio Miyu Productions joined in June 2025 as a co-producer, providing European backing for NOTHING NEW after previously collaborating on international productions like Ghost Cat Anzu and A New Dawn. Those earlier releases gave the team direct experience in foreign festival strategy and distribution. Composer Yaffle wrote the score. Known for his work with Fujii Kaze and Kenshi Yonezu, Yaffle teamed with pop singer adieu, who sang the theme song ‘Sasakure’. It’s an unusual partnership for an indie anime project, but pairing commercial pop talent with art-house animators gave it a distinct musical tone from the very beginning [1].
Kadowaki avoided standard talent agencies when casting the childhood roles [1]. Instead, he held open auditions to pick young performers Tasuku Nakagome and Yuto Maki to voice the central lead characters as everyday countryside schoolboys. That choice gave the dialogue in early scenes a raw, natural delivery. It captured how children actually speak on a playground.
Childhood Friends and Rotoscoped Art
The story centers on two young boys, Tsubasa and Gyōtarō, who cross paths as third-grade elementary school students in a small countryside village during Japan’s Heisei era [3]. Tsubasa feels uneasy about being plain. Gyōtarō is popular and outgoing among their classmates. The two boys soon become close companions, sharing secret spots and daily adventures in their rural neighborhood. But quiet rivalries and small misunderstandings slowly eat away at their bond, culminating in an act of betrayal that shatters their shared world and leaves deep emotional scars for more than thirty years [2].
Decades later, both boys lead separate adult lives. Actor Ryota Bando, who starred in Fureru. and voiced Hiccup in the Japanese dub of How to Train Your Dragon, voices adult Tsubasa. Amane Okayama, recognized for roles in Blue Giant and Hirayasumi, plays the adult Gyōtarō. When old memories return unexpectedly, the men must confront the childhood fallout that divided them [1].
Other cast members include Sakurazaka46 singer Ten Yamasaki as Konatsu, comedian Kemuri Matsui as Batahara, and Gaku Sano as Tsubasa’s childhood friend Seiya Toda [1]. Reika Ōzeki voices the young Seiya, with Arisa Sasaki playing Elmo Matsushita and Edo Harumi appearing as a calligraphy teacher. Kadowaki animated their expressions using a mix of hand-drawn 2D animation and rotoscoping. Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki praised that visual intimacy in personal remarks, saying after watching the screening that “he wanted to see his old friends again” [3].
Touring We Are Aliens Anime Through Global Festivals
The festival journey for We Are Aliens anime began in France on May 14 at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, where the movie held its world premiere. Programmers praised the visual style, which sparked interest from events across Europe and Asia. In June, it entered official competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, screening between June 21 and June 27 [1].
Screenings continued across the globe, reaching the Melbourne International Film Festival and the New Zealand International Film Festival [1]. In Asia, the film screened at the 31st Busan International Film Festival within a curated lineup called “Japanese Animation Special: Masterpieces of Madness, Exhilarating Prospects 12+1”, marking its Busan (BIFF) debut. In September, the film captured the Grand Prize for Animated Feature at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in Canada, setting the stage for subsequent festival honors. That win established Kadowaki as the youngest director ever to claim the top feature award in the event’s history [3].
Capturing top prizes at both Ottawa and Sitges in successive months isn’t a common feat for independent anime directors [4]. While Ottawa evaluates projects on animation craftsmanship alone, Sitges examines entries through the lens of fantasy and genre storytelling, and that dual appeal convinced the jury in Sitges.
International Theatrical Rollout
In Japan, the film arrived in commercial cinemas on September 25, welcoming domestic viewers following its overseas festival journey [3]. An earlier limited release in Japan had begun on September 15, giving local audiences their initial look at the completed drama [1]. The domestic run helped build viewer discussions that complemented the positive festival reviews coming from abroad.
European distribution is now rolling out in several countries [3]. Director Kohei Kadowaki and Spanish distributor DeAPlaneta confirmed that theatrical rights for Spain have been secured, setting a wide nationwide cinema release for December 11 [5]. The Sitges screenings served as an early premiere for Spanish filmgoers. In France, Dulac Distribution will handle cinemas under the French title Un Monde entre nous [3].
Paris-based sales company Charades manages international licensing and has closed distribution deals across multiple Asian markets outside Japan. A North American theatrical distributor hasn’t been announced so far. With honors from Cannes, Annecy, Ottawa, and Sitges in hand, the film moves into winter theatrical distribution with strong momentum across foreign markets [3].
- ONLINE NEWS Anime News Network. (2026, October 17). We Are Aliens Film Wins Sitges Film Festival’s Anima’t Award. [Article Link]
- WEBSITE Sitges Film Festival. (2026, October 18). We Are Aliens. [Article Link]
- ONLINE NEWS Fonix, & Kumo. (2026, October 17). We Are Aliens Takes Sitges’ Top Animation Prize After Cannes and Ottawa. Hoshika – Anime & Manga. [Article Link]
- ONLINE NEWS Yomimono. (2026, October 17). We Are Aliens Wins Sitges Anima’t Award for Best Feature. [Article Link]
- ONLINE NEWS Beldam HnH. (2026, October 17). ‘We Are Aliens’ gana en el 59º Festival de Sitges. Hikari No Hana. [Article Link]
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