Annecy 2016: Short Films in Competition 3
Day three of the Annecy festival saw the much anticipated presentation of Trollhunters – the new Netflix TV series helmed by perhaps the most visually creative directors of our age – Guillermo del Toro. A whistle stop tour of his film making process and a little behind the scenes and clips from the making of the series soon became a DreamWorks love-in as Jeffrey Katzenberg took to the stage to share in del Toro’s mutual affection and to talk about their collaboration. It was interesting to hear that del Toro is responsible for some of the more mature inclusions in DreamWorks feature productions, from the How To Train Your Dragon franchise, chopping off Hiccup’s leg and killing off parents amount to just two of his welcomed suggestions, there are many more.
After a while the event took a slightly odd turn as Katzenberg was surprised with a special golden delegates badge (the festival’s first) and tributes were paid in a specially commissioned video. It was nice to see Katzenberg rewarded, though unexpected as the Guillermo del Toro ticketed event quickly became a big round of applause for his boss, leaving poor old Guillermo looking rather redundant at his own event, though clearly happy for Katzenberg.
But enough about golden accolades, it’s all about the cristal awards at this festival, let’s take a closer look at Short Films in Competition 3.
Il était 3 fois (Once Upon 3 Times)
France – Julie Rembauville, Nicolas Bianco-Levrin
A group of cheeky youngsters discuss the big questions in life whilst idly scribbling some charming characters. Imbued with life by the children’s vibrant conversations the doodles act and react to the kiddies musings on the origins of man, life, love, religion and more. A delightful concept, made all the more delightful by the design style.
The Sparrow’s Flight
USA – Tom Schroeder
After the death of his friend and collaborator David Herr, Tom Schroeder pays tribute to him by creating a film that hops between the past and present exploring their relationship, David’s unfortunate illness and the process of working together using archive footage and mixed media techniques. The film gives the audience more than they may have wanted to know about their production company EIN AUS, which slightly borders on the self indulgent but that contextualises the more interesting parts of the film.
Decorado
Spain, France – Alberto Vázquez
A black comedy featuring a series of little vignettes starring down on their luck cartoon animals. The episodes are bookmarked by the varied orchestral cries of “DECORADO!” as the stories gradually come together. The delivery of this short was engaging as I doubt I would have enjoyed it had it all being stitched together without the breaks. An entertaining short demonstrating an interesting way of presenting a story.
Une tête disparaît (The Head Disapears)
Canada, France – Franck Dion
An old lady tries to escape the clutches of a looming figure who claims to be her daughter, to make things worse, the woman’s head has detached itself from her shoulders. Finding the right balance in a story can be difficult, especially when a director wishes to highlight a debilitating disease such as dementia, too subtle and the audience are left perplexed, too obvious and it risks coming across as preachy and boring. However, the director of this short has found a way of making the crux of the story obvious but at the same time as we follow this delightfully stubborn character it is easy to find ourselves transfixed with her psychedelic, imaginative but intimately tragic journey.
Read our interview with the director here
La Soupe au caillou (Stone Soup)
Belgium, France – Clémentine Robach
A charming tale of community. A lonely elephant wishes to make stone soup and has to encourage the help of his neighbours who each have a fear or resentment of one another, but one ingredient each. As the residents come together and put aside their differences to make the soup this delightful short will leave you with a delightful warm glow inside, almost like you’ve had a bowl of stone soup yourself.
Before Love
Russia – Igor Kovalyov
An ugly tale of romance, but not quite love, as a love triangle plays out before us. I loved the style of the backgrounds and the attention to details in the design and character animation in this short, and the delivery of the story was slightly confusing but ultimately entertaining.
An Ordinary Blue Monday
South Africa – Naomi Van Niekerk
A fantastic demonstration of straight ahead sand animation with few detectable edits or enhancements used in post. Although presented in a stark black and white, the film plays with lighting in a way that shows off the technique nicely. This stark tale give an impression of the harsh life some members of the South African community have to endure that are horrific to outsiders but part of the everyday for those living in the ghettos.
Wall Dust
China – Haiyang Wang
A surreal chalk adventure as pigs rectums become pomegranates which then shed tiny men instead of seeds, which then head towards a mincer whilst the pig turns into bones and then – you get the idea. This film keeps holds your attention as the odd twists and turns play out in chalk as the short turns from a steady exploration of the artists ideas into a performance piece for its conclusion.
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