Kira Matsubara-Dane is a Japanese American filmmaker and illustrator, currently based in rural Japan. She is best known for her short animated documentary “Mizuko.” The film received a nomination for the IDA Awards, Special Jury Awards at SXSW and IDFA, and Best Documentary Short at the Atlanta Film Festival. Kira was chosen as a fellow of the Sundance Ignite Program in 2019 and Berlinale Talents in 2023. She is a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and A-Doc. Outside of and informing her path as an artist, Kira is practicing and studying Tibetan Buddhism, while taking lessons in the Tibetan language.