Well, well, this is a pleasant surprise. We first learned of the friendship and collaboration between Japanese directors Ryuhei Kitamura and Shuni Iwai a little while back when word surfaced about their project Bandage, which at the time was due to be directed by Kitamura from a script by Iwai. Now, Kitamura is no longer attached to that film but that was apparently not the end of their collaboration.
Word has just surfaced about a fifty minute animated feature titled Baton. Commissioned for the 150th birthday of the city of Yokohama that film has been directed by Kitamura and is produced by Iwai under the supervision - more than a little surprisingly for a Japanese commission carried out by a pair of high profile Japanese directors - of American animator Mark Brooks at Studio Titmouse using a blend of traditional and rotoscoped animation. There is no hint of a synopsis yet but the film is due to take its bow on April 28th.