Halving the Bones
Documentaries
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1h 9m
Directed by Ruth Ozeki • 1995 • Japan, United States
Starring Ruth Ozeki
Skeletons in the closet? HALVING THE BONES delivers a surprising twist on the old saying. 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, memory, cultural identity, and what it means to have been named after Babe Ruth!
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