The Lost Sound
Director: Steffie Yee
Based on a poem this short had a unique style of animation using modelling clay cut into slices and hand drawn animation.
The story concerns old sounds no longer being heard in new forms of language and the visuals are also abstract.
An interesting short with a unique visual style.
Lost & Found
Directors: Andrew Goldsmith & Bradley Slabe
Two soft toys are best of friends. When one gets into trouble at the fountain the other runs off in a desperate struggle to save it only to get itself snagged on a nail and start unravelling.
I enjoyed the animation in this and the fox and dinosaur toys were cute. The setting was a Japanese house as there was a paper screen and a bamboo water feature that the fox fell into.
A fun film with some enjoyable scenes.
[O]
Directors: Mario Radev & Chiara Sgatti
In this strange world various creatures go about their business and the cycle repeats.
The animation style and creature design reminded me of Terry Gilliam’s work
Was a weird looking film and a bit hard to work out what was going on but I did enjoy it.
Perfect Town
Director: Anais Voirol
In a strange looking town the residents are ejected from their residence whenever they do something too weird. Still other people come in to replace them via the narrow stairs leading into the town.
I enjoyed the animation in this and the character design was very weird and wonderful. There were some funny jokes like the dude sucking his own dick.
The director was a guest of the festival and said the soundtrack was made up of toys and the voices from Google translate.
Mr Deer
Director: Mojtaba Mousavi
Set on the underground, animals dressed as people go about their business. A deer gets onto the train with other animals and various things happen. There is a fight between the animals after a snake sleazes on the lady deer and spits venom at the male deer. Meanwhile an earthquake occurs and the deer exits the train to see who he can save.
A very interesting short with stop motion animation and the animal designs are great. The monkey and the gorilla were good as were the other animals.
Agua Viva
Director: Alexa Lim Haas
A woman from China talks about her life in the beauty salon as the world unfolds around her.
Very nice watercolour painted animation style and some interesting scenes.
Down Escalation
Director: Shunsaku Hayashi
In a strange world a figure in the ruins stands up and is taken by a giant hand, only to be rejected and pushed into the ground.
A strange abstract animation style and negative images with interesting character design. Not really much story to speak of but fun to watch.
Bless You!
Director: Paulina Ziolowska
In a street full of people a sneezing epidemic breaks out with absurd consequences.
I enjoyed the painted animation style in this with some great character designs and effects when the people sneezed. It reminded me of all the old communist animations from the 1970s and 80s.
Obon
Directors: Andre Hormann & Anna Samo
An old woman in Japan talks about her life. A story about her working in the bank ends up being a retelling of the destruction of Hirsoshima during World War II.
I enjoyed the painted watercolour animation in this very Japanese looking in the traditional style. During the scenes of destruction it was very harrowing.
The Subject
Director: Patrick Bouchard
A figure on a mortuary slab is cut into and begins to sprout weird contraptions. The person dissecting then pulls an anvil from the body.
An interesting live action stop motion animation style with interesting mechanical creations for the contraptions that come from the body and I liked that the flesh turned to clay once it was cut. An interesting short with an ambiguous outcome.
Mermaids and Rhinos
Director: Vikoria Traub
A man runs to the sea shore, during the course of the story we find his daughter and mother are living in a hostel and his wife has left him. The family used to be performers in the circus but the mother fell in love with another performer and left them.
This short has a great hand drawn animation style with some interesting character designs. I don’t know why the people keep turning into rhinos but it has something to do with the description at the start about them being “sensitive creatures”.
Inanimate
Director: Lucia Bulgheroni
A woman becomes self-aware that she is in an animation and tries to break free of the world. In the background we see the blur of the animators and the scene pulls back to reveal other scenes being worked on under time lapse.
A great stop motion animated short with good looking characters and sets. Great concept for an animation too and I would like to see more of this director’s work.