Halving the Bones

Streaming video - 1995

Skeletons in the closet? HALVING THE BONES delivers a surprising twist to this tale. This cleverly-constructed film tells the story of Ruth, a half-Japanese filmmaker living in New York, who has inherited a can of bones that she keeps on a shelf in her closet. The bones are half of the remains of her dead Japanese grandmother, which she is supposed to deliver to her estranged mother.. A narrative and visual web of family stories, home movies and documentary footage, HALVING THE BONES provides a spirited exploration of the meaning of family, history and memory, cultural identity - and what it means to have been named after Babe Ruth!. Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival.. "Editor’s Choice. ...One of my top one or two faves. Ozeki is both a terrific storyteller and a sly visual trickster; she seems to delight in keeping us off-guard, awake and thinking. Highly recommended for public and academic library collections.” - Gary Handman, Video Librarian. “A lyrical and sharply-observed film .” - Barbara Abrash, NYU more