Japan' short scores major win

A peculiar, rebellious story about teen girls and goldfish has won the coveted Sundance Short Film Grand Jury Prize. Directed and written by Makoto Nagahisa of Japan, “And so we put goldfish in the pool” is about four 15-year-old girls who put 400 goldfish in a school pool on a summer day.

The film competed in a field of 68 shorts from the world over, including the U.S. SURREALISM & AWARDS Born in 1984 in Tokyom, Nagahisa studied French and surrealism and currently works as a commercial film planner at an advertisement firm. He has produced character content including the "Docomo Dake" mushroom. In 2013, he became the first Japanese person to receive a medal in the Young Lion Film Competition at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. In 2015, he won the best new writer award from the Osaka Copywriters Club. This year's jurors were Shirley Kurata, David Lowery and Patton Oswalt.