Here’s a unique short film from India that we’re glad to post on FS made by an animation studio known as Ghost Animation. “A climate change horror story” is the film’s simple tagline. Wade is a mesmerizing 15-minute animated short film that is now available to watch online. This initially premiered in 2019 and it played at the 2020 Annecy Film Festival, as well as numerous other fests worldwide recently. In an alternate “post-apocalyptic” version of Kolkata, India, rendered unbearable due to the rising sea level, things take a dark turn when a family of climate change refugees are ambushed by a pack of tigers on the flooded streets. It is described as “an award-winning post-apocalyptic action animated short that grapples with what the world will… [Read More...]

“I see now what she couldn’t see.” Another must watch animated short film that’s seriously worth your time. O Black Hole! is a stop-motion animated short created by a talented young Chinese-American filmmaker named Renee Zhan. An immovable woman meets an unstoppable girl in this musical quest to discover the meaning of transience and letting go. This initially premiered at the 2020 Locarno Film Festival, and it also played at last year’s SXSW Film Festival. The 15-minute short is about a woman who can’t stand the passing of time, and ends up sucking everyone and everything into a black hole. A thousand unchanging years pass inside her dark embrace until one day, the Singularity wakes. With the voices of Emmy the Great, Loré Lixenberg, Steven… [Read More...]

“You were radiant tonight.” A new short film from the animation school in France called Gobelins that is worth a watch. Louise is made by a team of five female directors, and was completed in 2021 and debuted online last year. We’re just catching up with it thanks to Vimeo Staff Picks and highly recommend watching. Louise, ballerina at the Garnier Opera in 1895, rushes home after a show but is stopped by a friend asking for money. She knows what she must do in order to repay her. Voices by Alice Orsat, Clara Quilichini, Victoria Grosbois, Lilly Caruso, and Jean-Christophe Lebert. This has some beautiful animation in it – inspired by the art of Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, & Jean-Louise Forain. Just as a… [Read More...]

“We keep our clothes on when we’re on holiday!” Time for something a bit strange and wild. Wildebeest is an animation + live-action short film from Belgium by filmmakers Nicolas Keppens and Matthias Phlips. Going on a safari is a dream for many. For middle-aged couple Linda and Troyer, it turns into a horribly real adventure when they get left behind in the wilderness. With the voices of Chris Boni and Sam Louwyck as Linda and Troyer. “Both are based on a type of citizen we often met in the streets of our hometown near Ghent, Belgium. They could have been neighbors,” the filmmakers explain. This is extra kooky and funny but there’s a sweet side to it that makes it all worthwhile… [Read More...]

One of the first things animators learn when starting out is how to animate a bouncing ball, an important part of mastering the techniques. This entertaining animation project continues that intriguing concept by inviting collaboration worldwide with a simple pitch: pass the ball. Created by animation filmmaker Nathan Boey, Pass the Ball features a total of 40 unique animated segments. His idea: “I always liked how rappers were able to collaborate with other rappers by featuring them on their songs. That doesn’t exist the same way in the film world.” So he got 40 different animators to create a 3 second animation of a ball, then pass it on to someone in another country. Each person “picks up where the other left off” and continues. And after years of… [Read More...]