SHORTS BLOCK 8: Animation
04 min -- “Portlandia Rats Book” by Rob Shaw: In the third season of IFC's Portlandia, the team of Carrie Brownstein, Fred Armisen and Jonathan Krisel dreamed up a skit featuring the lovable Portlandia Rats. In “Rat's Book” the rodents become revenge-seeking DIY publishers after discovering a hateful publication on human/rat relations. The skit was directed by Rob Shaw and produced in Portland, Oregon at Bent Image Lab. (Animation)
04 min -- “Husk” by Paul Howell: While collecting paper scraps for her den, Husk, a life-size tree spirit, has a shock encounter with some feral fairies in the street-art urban environment of Melbourne, Australia. Nothing is as it seems as this hypnotic story unfolds. (Animation)
04 min -- “Ain't No Fish” by Tom Gasek and Miki Cash: An animated film set to the music and lyrics of Sigman and Russell and performed by Hoagy Carmichael. Animated seals sing the show tune and it's slowly revealed why there Ain't No Fish. Despite the upbeat attitude of the seals the garbage and oil industry that pervades the sea provides the answer. (Animation)
03 min -- “Super Secret” by Jim Johnson: The story of a super villain father and his daughter. On her 13th birthday, he discovers her deep, dark, secret. (Animation)
04 min -- “PROXIMITY” by Joshua Cox: “Proximity” is a suspenseful romantic crime drama with an unusual setting...an elderly woman's living room. Her collection of ceramic statues have a life of their own. Two figures explore the depths of love and betrayal. Proximity illustrates how spatial relativity shapes our interactions with the world and people around us. Closeness can create the illusion of an unspoken bond, but when challenged by desire it can be turned on its head and shatter reality. (Animation)
08 min -- “Blue” by Katelyn Bianchini, Rena Cheng, Asia Lancaster: A fearful balloon must learn to put his fragile life in the hands of an unlikely friend. (Animation)
03 min -- “The Uncluded, ‘Organs’” by Rob Shaw: The painful process of grief and the grace of organ donation punctuate the latest music video 'Organs' by rock duo The Uncluded. Produced at Bent Image Lab and directed by Rob Shaw, the video weaves together a dark tale of loss and love as performed by whimsical stop motion insects. (Music video, Animation)
02 min -- “Sushi Mischief” by Jim Johnson: A stranger shows up at a sushi shop, irking the local punk. Show down! (Animation)
18 min -- “The Dam Keeper” by Roberto Kondo & Dice Tsutsumi: In a desolate future, one small town has survived because of a large windmill dam that acts as a fan to keep out poisonous clouds. The dam's operator, Pig, works tirelessly to keep the sails spinning and protect the town, despite bullying from classmates and an indifferent public. When a new student, Fox, joins Pig's class, everything begins to change. (Animation)
13 min -- “Le Nocturne De Lumiere” by David Boarini: Technology has the power to bring those that are far away very near to us. Sometimes though, it can distance us from those we are closest to, the very ones who love us the most. In a world where billions of immaterial communications happen across the globe every second, a mother desperately tries to connect with her daughter. (Animation)
05 min -- “Level 1457 Last” by Xabier Urrutia Perez: A worker of Persephone solar energy maintenance is fixing the solar cylinders when he discovers a hole that may lead to the frozen surface. No human has been up there for centuries, and leaving the safety of his subterranean world could cost him his life. Will he make this ultimate sacrifice to see the sky just once in his life? (Animation, Spain)
15 min -- “Lessons Learned” by Toby Froud is a short film about a young boy receiving an intriguing birthday gift from his grandfather. This gift will stay with him for the rest of his life as he stumbles from his grandfather’s cottage to a layered world of trials and danger. “Lessons Learned” was executive produced by Heather Henson for her Handmade Puppet Dreams (HMPD) film series.
06 min -- “How to Avoid Annoying People” by Ariel Nasser: Hand-drawn animation uses sarcasm and irony to criticize social behaviors such as self-centered small talk. Within a narrative structure punctuated by an infomercial announcer, this comical film reveals the harassment endured by a plane traveler as he endures verbal barrage from a fellow passenger. (Animated)
03 min -- “Lime” by Sean Carrow: Two very unlucky fishermen, Willie and Burt, are on their ship adrift at sea starving from hunger and thirst until a lone lime is discovered on board the ship offering them a glimpse of hope. The two friends turn on each other, letting their greed for the lime tack control destroying all they have. (Animated)
