CIFF’s 2024 Animated Short Film Lineup
By Ilana van der Merwe, October 7 2024—
If you found yourself in Chinook Theatre 16 on Sept. 24 5:30 p.m., you among many other enthused audience members were getting comfortable to watch the Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) curation of animated shorts for the 2024 program. Featuring seven films ranging from 11-20 minutes, the night was filled with stunning visuals, relatable characters and gut-wrenching plots.
Maybe Elephants
7/10
Maybe Elephants directed by Torill Kove is a family oriented short. This was an excellent pick for this program’s opening, presenting the audience with an engaging and relatable story though approachable graphics. A family of five moves to Nairobi on a mother’s whim of escaping the troubles of everyday life. With themes of depression and personal development, Maybe Elephants addresses the complexity of family relationships and how they change as individuals change their own perspectives. Exceptionally well-done in this film was the sound design presented during scenes set in a Tanzanian campground. The sounds of animals, wind blowing through glades of dry grass and birds singing made for a highly immersive experience.
Beautiful Men
9/10
A short film with motifs of brotherhood, Beautiful Men directed by Nicolas Keppens tells the story of three Dutch brothers in Istanbul for hair transplants. The irony of three men, deliberately isolated from each other emotionally, being so concerned with the way they appear to each other sets the stage for 17 minutes of awkward but charming interaction. Between the authenticity of the script and the captivity of the detail in the stop motion animation, Beautiful Men is highly entertaining and does leave its audience satisfied with each character’s development.
In the Shadow of the Cypress
8/10
Directed by Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani, In the Shadow of the Cypress follows the struggle of a former ship captain living with post traumatic stress disorder and his daughter, working tirelessly to keep him afloat. This short film is dripping in metaphor as the pair work to save a beached whale from dying, a wrecked ship from sinking and a storm from tearing both of them apart. The visuals depicting trauma in the mind of the father are so artistically diverse that they go far beyond harboring sympathy from the audience. It becomes evident in In the Shadow of the Cypress that pictures can speak a thousand words — without the need for dialogue.
The Brown Dog
6/10
The Brown Dog directed by Jamie James Medina is a composition of observations made by a security guard as he covers an overnight shift. Slowly, the guard spirals and makes progressively more poetic, reflective and subjective observations. This animation, created by Fons Schiedon, is highly dynamic as it produces a synthetic feeling reality that highlights features one might not notice through the use of mechanical inserts of color. Although the plot does not deliver typical arcs, the motifs and deliberation on topics of love, meaning of life and personal purpose take care of keeping the audience invested in the protagonist.
Tennis, Oranges
6/10
Pleasant, profund, and playful, Tennis, Oranges directed by Sean Pecknold, tells the story of a robot vacuum as it revolts against its former employer and looks for a place in the world with more gratification. This short deals with themes like cycles, purpose and friendship as unusual characters are capable of communicating all-too-real human emotions to a crowd of viewers. The extraordinary details presented in the fur of many of the stop-motion characters as well as the environment through delicate features like individual blades of grass, detailed pine needles and accurately textured tennis track gave dimensionality that made the colors of the film stand out substantially. The symbolism of the circle keeps the audiences hooked as looking for meaning in this film starts by identifying things that are round. From circular tennis balls, round automized vacuums and the spinning of ballerinas, Tennis, Oranges illustrates the beauty of the cycle of life.
Volelcelest
9/10
Leaving audiences gasping, Volecelest directed by Éric Briche tells the age-old story of the brutality of nature and what happens to it when it comes in contact with humantiy. As a petite white stoat tracks course around an abyss of snow, harsh conditions beat at her relentlessly. The story is simple, with no dialogue and limited sound design. Volelcelest features incredible black and white animations that are so impactful that lack of color does not diminish their radiance. Regardless of the white landscapes of blizzarding fields and motionless mountains, each shot is so beautifully animated that the audience feels included in the struggles of the small stoat. This piece was executed so elegantly that even with a devastating finale, the innocence of the plot is not overshadowed by the heartbreak of the conclusion.
The Miracle
10/10
Using two layers of stop animation piled on each other, Nienke Deutz’s The Miracle’s animation is not the only feature of the film that is multidimensional. Telling the story of a solo middle aged traveler taking a vacation at a luxury hotel, The Miracle addresses feelings of missing something in a place of abundance. The highly impactful animation style serves as an impactful aspect of the film, bringing together artistic vision and storytelling. The script of this film is highly charming, and the protagonist, Irma, is sweet, memorable and loving. Although the longing and loneliness portrayed in this film share screen time with waterslides, spa days and pool floaties, the seriousness of the themes are not indirect. The Miracle is an incredible short with admirable characterization, unique animation and beautifully executed story telling.
For more information about CIFF and the organization’s upcoming project, check out their website.