Ryo Orikasa’s animated short, inspired by Henri Michaux’s book of poetry and drawings, explores the limits of language and perception; accolades include ‘Grand Prize for Short Animation’ at OIAF 2023.
The National Film Board of Canada’s (NFB) hand-drawn animated short Miserable Miracle by Ryo Orikasa has been selected for competition at this year’s Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (ISFF), which runs February 2-10, 2024. The Miyu Productions/NFB/New Deer co-production will screen in the Lab Competition.
Emmanuel-Alain Raynal and Pierre Baussaron produce for Miyu Productions; Jelena Popović, Robert McLaughlin; Michael Fukushima for the NFB; Nobuaki Doi for New Deer. It was produced with the support of CNC & the Ciclic Animation Residency. Sound design was by Sacha Ratcliffe and Pierre Yves Drapeau, with musical composition by Ratcliffe.
The film draws inspiration from Henri Michaux’s book of poetry and drawings of the same name. The animated short explores the limits of language and perception, creating dazzling connections between sound, meaning, shapes, and movement. Denis Lavant’s French voiceover guides the film.
The short won the Grand Prize for Short Animation at the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) and was an official selection at the Atlantic International Film Festival in Halifax, the Spark Animation Festival in Vancouver, and the Whistler Festival.
Born in Ibaraki, Japan, and now based in Tokyo, Orikasa became prominent in 2015 with Datum Point, winner of the Golden Zagreb at Animafest Zagreb and Best Experimental or Abstract Animation Award at OIAF.
Watch the trailer:
Source: NFB
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
