Kaho Yoshida’s slip of the tongue

Kaho Yoshida, a Japanese immigrant living in Canada, licks sexist men into shape with this very personal cautionary tale with a twist. 

Titled Tongue, the film was inspired by Yoshida’s experiences of feeling objectified by many Western men’s approach to dating Asian women: “I was expected to be sexual in a way that meets the stereotype, while my needs and desires were ignored,” she reveals. 

Enhanced by gloriously squishy sound design by Ana Roman, the film features a woman who extracts from her suitor the only part of his person she's interested in... something she takes home to add to her collection of titillating tongues that will help her fall into a suitably pink orgasmic ocean of joy. 

The symbolism of the popular oral organ works in other ways, too: “As an immigrant who learned English in my teen years, my tongue (my accent) has always prevented me from accessing power and safety. As soon as I open my mouth, my tongue betrays me and reveals my otherness.”

Talking about the creation of the film the director says: “In terms of craft, I really wanted to animate the tongue in stop motion. I love stop motion because it is so tactile and physical, and I wanted the tongues to look like you could touch them. I wanted to have some contrast between the tongue and the characters, so I decided to animate everything else in digital cel animation.”

For more on the making of the film see here.