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Interested in independent Asian animation, but not sure where to start? Well, we could give you a list of anime, but we've already got (three parts!) to an anime tribute already. Instead, here's a list of 15 animated indies from the last few years that fall outside of mainstream animation studios like Disney, Pixar and Ghibli.

This list is in no way prescriptive nor comprehensive, and is merely organized by date of release. Some of these filmmakers are more established; others are just beginning their careers. Some of these are shorts, others are features, a few are even series. Regardless, with each of these animated indies, prepare to laugh, cry, and have your mind blown by the unbridled joy of animation.

1. Your Name (2016) by Makoto Shinkai (Japan)

While Makoto Shinkai had been churning out his own shorts and mid-length films for almost a decade preceding “Your Name,” he doesn't really nail...

“Tehran Taboo” doesn't hold anything back, save for the fact that it is animated. In Ali Soozandeh's wild rotoscoped debut feature, he depicts the increasingly entangled stories of three people in Tehran. Pari (Elmira Rafizadeh), a street-savvy but jaded sex worker demands a divorce and an education for her mute son. Sara (Zar Amir Ebrahimi), a soft-spoken pregnant woman seeks work despite her husband's strict orders to stay at home “for the baby's sake.” Finally, Babak (Arash Marandi), a struggling musician, is flung into an absurd search to replicate an unbroken hymen for his one-night stand. In the trio's search for propriety in Tehran's underbelly, the three find that their worlds, strangely, overlap more than they initially thought.

Their growing kinship is made clear at the turning point of the film, when Sara joins her neighbor, Pari, at her veranda. Perhaps, in a different world, they wouldn't have met at all.

Tehran Taboo Kino Lorber Reviewed by: Harvey Karten Director: Ali Soozandeh Screenwriter: Ali Soozandeh Cast: Elmira Rafizadeh, Zara Amir Ebrahimi, Arash Marandi, Bilal Yasar, Negal Mona Alizadeh, Payam Madjilessi Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 2/26/18 Opens: February 14, 2018 Naturam expelles furca, tamen usque recurret. The Roman poet Horace said this. Translated: You can drive […]

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