Sarina Nihei，Nihei, originally from the city of Fukushima, graduated in animation from the Royal College of Art in London in 2014 after earning a degree in graphic design from Tama Art University in Tokyo in 2012.At the Royal College of Art, she met strange(and talented) classmates, which ultimately led her to make 'Small People with Hats' that is often seen as a weird film.Luckily, Small People with Hats, created as her graduation thesis project, won several awards including British Animation Awards 2016 and the Grand Prize at the OIAF in 2015 where the film won the award for best sound and, most impressively, the grand prize for best independent short animation, the first time in the fest's 39-year history that the prize was awarded to a student film.When asked about the themes she loves to creat films about, Sarina Nihei says:‘I would say I don’t want to get away from despair in terms of filmmaking because you can’t avoid the death. So that would be an essential part in my films. But in reality, I don’t wanna see depressing films all the time so I’m trying to keep the balance between serious subjects and humour’.