Animation for Adults
SIFF link and summary for the series: Animation for Adults (styled "Animation4Adults")
70 minutes
The spirit remembers what it means to be in relationship to all beings, past, present and future, seen and unseen.
Screening: streaming at home.
Audience: two.
Snacks: bagels and leftovers (lunch).
Ad: The Bears' Famous Invasion - Italian animated film.
presenter: Stan Shields
SIFF link and summary: "We Have One Heart"
Poland, 2020; 12 minutes; director Katarzyna Warzecha
When Adam discovers letters his parents exchanged years ago, he takes the opportunity to find out more about his father, who he never knew, uncovering an extraordinary family secret.
The story in the letters featured in the film is very interesting, and worth telling. And the execution of the storytelling is excellent, with animations of the original letters, imagery in the style of a slide show, and so forth.
Language: Polish, with English subtitles.
Rating: Short films aren't awarded ratings in the US, but this film would probably rate a "PG-13" if they were.
SIFF link and summary: "Conversations with a Whale"
Germany, 2020; 9 minutes; director Anna Samo
In this love letter to artists, their art, and its audience, a filmmaker’s constant rejections surprisingly bear fruit.
The animation in this film is mostly pencil drawings, repeatedly erased and redrawn, without completely erasing previous images, which gives a hint of a trail. It's a very good piece, but doesn't need to go the entire nine minutes. Overall, I rate it good.
Language: English.
Rating: Short films aren't awarded ratings in the US, but this film would probably rate a "PG-13" if they were.
SIFF link and summary: "Charon"
USA, 2020; 12 minutes; director Cullen Parr
Myron, a California artist who has temporal lobe epilepsy, creates striking paintings, drawings, and sculptures inspired by the visions he has during his seizures.
This mix of animation and live action really shows off the artist's work well, and the art itself is pretty impressive. The narrative of the film is pretty thin, but the art makes up for it. I rate it good.
Language: English.
Rating: Short films aren't awarded ratings in the US, but this film would probably rate a "PG-13" if they were.
SIFF link and summary: "Migrants"
France, 2020; 8 minutes; directors Hugo Caby, Antoine Dupriez, Aubin Kubiak, Lucas Lermytte, Zoé Devise
Two polar bears are driven into exile due to global warming. They will encounter brown bears along their journey, with whom they will try to cohabitate.
This is an engagingly animated allegory about anti-immigrant hostility, but it also works as a story of cute animated bears. I rate it very good.
Language: no dialog.
Rating: Short films aren't awarded ratings in the US, but this film would probably rate a "PG" if they were, possibly even "G".
SIFF link and summary: "Nuevo Rico"
USA, 2020; 16 minutes; director Kristian Mercado Figueroa
A brother and sister stumble upon a celestial secret that propels them into Reggaetón stardom, but at what price?
In some respects, the story follows a fairly conventional arc of an artist whose talent is squandered due to a descent into addiction. But there's more going on - not all of which I understand. The imagery is stunning, and the music is good. I rate it very good overall.
Language: Spanish, with English subtitles, and English.
Rating: Short films aren't awarded ratings in the US, but this film would probably rate a "R" if they were, on the basis of addictive behavior.
SIFF link and summary: "Ghost Dogs"
USA, 2020; 11 minutes; director Joe Cappa
A home-alone rescue pup is visited by a host of deceased pups in this mind-bending short.
This short about a dog who sees ghost dogs is fairly engaging, and the way it opens with a robot vacuum cleaner is particularly clever. But it seems to run a bit longer than it needs to, and I'm not sure I see an actual conclusion to the story. I rate it almost good.
Language: no dialog.
Rating: Short films aren't awarded ratings in the US, but this film would probably rate a "PG-13" if they were.
SIFF link and summary: "Urban Sphinx"
Spain, 2020; 5 minutes; director María Lorenzo
Photos of stencilled and painted street art in Valencia, Spain are treated like animation cells, making movement where once there was none.
It's not immediately obvious that the source of the imagery in this film is artistic graffiti, which is often reminiscent of Banksy, though I didn't see his name in the credits. But the animation transforms it from a photo album into a weird sequence of animated vignettes. Very good.
Language: no dialog.
Rating: Short films aren't awarded ratings in the US, but this film would probably rate a "PG-13" if they were, because graffiti is generally illegal no matter how artistic.
SIFF link and summary: "Souvenir Souvenir"
France, 2020; 16 minutes; director Bastien Dubois
A man's decade-long quest to make a movie of his grandfather's war memories reveals unforseen truths about them both.
My grandfather served in the Army Air Force in World War II, and earned a Bronze Star. I haven't seen the citation, so I don't know what he did to earn the medal. And other than complain about British food, praise Belgian civilians' hospitality, and other stories that one might call wartime tourism tales, he never spoke about the war. Similarly, the film-maker's grandfather never spoke about his experiences in the Algerian war for independence from France.
Because the film-maker's grandfather never spoke about the war, the film-maker obviously couldn't make a film about the war itself. Instead, he told a story of how he tried, and that journey is a very interesting narrative too. Although it's tied as the longest short in this collection, it doesn't overstay its welcome. I rate the film very good.
Language: French, with English subtitles.
Rating: Short films aren't awarded ratings in the US, but this film would probably rate a "R" if they were, on the basis of depiction of war crimes the film-maker heard about from sources other than his grandfather.
SIFF link and summary: "Our Bed Is Green"
USA, 2021; 7 minutes; director Maggie Brennan
Realm, a virtual reality facility, is quite transparent about the erotic potential of its services: with its data-mining technology, customers can create virtual facsimiles of real-life places and people. This is what attracts clientele like Cecily . . .
I liked the premise of this film and its technique quite a bit. But the film-maker doesn't seem to be daring enough to take the erotic premise very far. I don't fault it for leaving out the details of the eroticism that the main character seeks; differences between the main character's, the film-maker's, and audience ideas of eroticism, portraying it directly in the film would be risky business. But the film doesn't offer much story to wrap around the implied eroticism. I rate the film almost good, on the basis of its premise and technique.
Language: English.
Rating: Short films aren't awarded ratings in the US, but this film would probably rate an "R" if they were; the ratings people are pretty squeamish about even the mildest eroticism.
SIFF link and summary: "Try to Fly"
Canada, 2020; 8 minutes; directors The Affolter Brothers
Confronted by an unexpected rite of passage, a baby owl's life flashes before her eyes.
Although this starts out with a scared fledgling owl about to leave the nest and try to fly, the owl thinks through all sorts of insecurities of a young human woman. (They're mostly similar to a young human man's insecurities.) But the little owl doesn't really have a story other than the insecurities, or to the extent that there is a story it's pretty obvious: fly or fail to fly. I liked the animation imagery, but otherwise I can only rate this almost good.
Language: English.
Rating: Short films aren't awarded ratings in the US, but this film would probably rate a "PG-13" if they were.
"we have one heart" - Poland film, slide show "conversations with a whale" "charon" "migrants" "nuevo rico" "ghost dogs" "urban sphinx" "souvenir souvenir" "our bed is green" "try to fly"