Dec 4, 2018

Sundance Announces 15 Animated Short Films in Competition

The Sundance Film Festival has selected 15 animated shorts for the 2019 edition of its competition, which will be held in Park City, Utah, from January 24 to February 3, 2019.

Animation is sadly underrepresented at this renowned U.S. film festival, and of the 112 feature films announced this year, not a single animated film was selected. Despite the festival's mission statement, "to showcase bold independent storytelling regardless of format, format, or length," Sundance has historically shown a bias against animated filmmaking, usually relegating animation to the Short Films and VR categories, only occasionally a feature film is shown in the kids' section.

Among this year's selection of animated shorts, we are pleased to see two filmmakers premiering their previous work online at Cartoon Brew. Under Covers (pictured above) is directed by Mikaela Olsen, whose student film screened at our Student Fest in 2010. This January, "Glucose" won the Jury Prize for Best Animated Short Film at the Sundance Film Festival.

In addition to the shorts in the Animation category, the festival will also host the world premiere of his mixed media project "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared" in the Short Indie Episodes category. Although the future of the project was uncertain after AT&T announced it was closing Super Deluxe, Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling, the creators of the series, are working on a pilot version of the previously announced "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared" series. would not have much trouble finding another broadcaster for the series.

Here are the shorts competing in the animation category. A teenage girl escapes from a depressing village in Eastern Europe and meets a new friend under a bridge. International Premiere

(Director and screenwriter: Winnie Chang / USA) - A dazzling mystery drama based on a funny and disturbing lateral thinking puzzle.

(Director: Nikki Schuster - Austria, Germany, Mexico) - Explore decaying animal carcasses and infested spider webs with brooding drones that look like a swarm of hungry flies. Exploring the boundaries of the horror genre, the film depicts a kaleidoscopic and terrifyingly beautiful ecosystem. North American Premiere

(Director and screenwriter: Anka Damian / Romania, France) - A phone, a toilet, and a woman at the crossroads of the world U.S. Premiere

(Director and screenwriter: David Nestle / USA) - My dog has a dream and tells it to me. I made a film about that dream. This is that film. U.S. Premiere

(Director and screenwriter: Lorraine Yarvo / Belgium) - In a town where supernatural beings are a part of everyday life, two roommates are once again devoured by a house spirit overnight. The two go in search of a replacement spirit and a solution to the pest problem.

(Director/Screenwriters: Marc Trisses, Pau Anglada, Jenis Rigol/Spain) - Two men accidentally exchange briefcases. One contains a videotape, and the new owner embarks on an unexpected journey to discover its contents.

(Director/Screenplay by Aggie Pak Yee - Estonia, Hong Kong) - At the museum, we learn - from the outside to the inside, from the deep to its depths, earnestly and sincerely. [25] [26] (Directors: André Hermann, Anna Samo, Script: André Hermann-Germany) - During the Obon festival, one of the last survivors of the bombing in Hiroshima receives the spirits of his parents and is haunted by memories.

(Director and screenwriter: Jeron Braxton/America) - A man's street race to hell and back parallels the black experience in America.

(Director/Screenplay: Jeff Marslett / USA) - Loneliness: A truck driver calls out on his CB radio and waits for a reply that never comes. A ghost haunting an unpopular highway. A whale singing on a frequency that other whales cannot hear. World Premiere

(Directed and written by Renee Zang - USA, Japan) - Three Renee set out on a journey to find a god who is also Renee. As they traverse Renee's mountains and valleys, they discover the great joys, sorrows and mysteries of being Renee. U.S. Premiere

(Director/Screenplay by Shiqi Song - USA, China) - A man recalls his childhood memories of growing up with an annoying sister in 1990s China. On the night of a lunar eclipse, he uncovers the sweet, lewd and macabre secrets of a small town. From a pig-tailed psychopath to a naughty nun, this stop-motion animated film evokes the comforting idea that weird is relative. World Premiere

(Director: Ana Nedeljkovic Ana Nedeljkovic, Nikola Majdak, Screenwriters: Ana Nedeljkovic (Serbia, Slovakia) - A girl lives on an isolated island surrounded by huge walls. She has never traveled anywhere, but has always dreamed of traveling forever to a perfect world called "abroad."