The April 2024 survey of under-the-radar animated shorts currently travelling the festival circuit or new to online viewing takes a special look at five films to keep an eye on at the Stuttgart Animation Festival.
In this month’s special edition of Binocular Briefs, we look at some highlights from this year’s main competition at the Stuttgart Animation Festival, which takes place from April 23-28th in Stuttgart, Germany. Now, there are a few gems in their competition that we’ve already reviewed here so we’ll shift the spotlight over to some of the lesser-known works to keep an eye or two on.
The Miracle, Nienke Deutz, Belgium, The Netherlands, France, 2023
The latest work by Nienke Deutz (who made the very fine Bloeistraat 11 that won the Grand Prize at the 2018 Annecy International Animation Festival) is another inspired, mixed-media wonder.
Irma arrives at the Miracle Hotel. It’s a sorta White Lotus-type resort with endless food, drink, and activities. Surrounded by families and couples, the woman soon finds herself out of sorts, constantly reminded of all that she doesn't have: a partner, kids, and family.
The Miracle reminds us that the concept of utopia is a fine and dandy idea, but in reality, it’s horseshit. There is no single concept that could possibly be heavenly to everyone. One person’s paradise is another’s hell. That said, we have the power within us to turn any hell into, maybe not heaven, but something bearable.
A complex mix of drawings, cut-outs, and assorted objects, the characters were first animated in 2D, then the drawings were printed onto transparent sheets. They were then cut out and hand painted. The characters were then reanimated frame by frame within physical sets.
Recordari, Carolina Cruz, Germany, 2024
This brand spanking new stop-motion student film is set in Santiago, Chile in the 1980s. Seven-year-olds Camile and Paula are best buds. As they gleefully play and share each other’s company, they remain (somewhat) oblivious to the outside horrors of Pinochet’s brutal military dictatorship.
The brightly colored attire of the young girls stands in stark contrast to the plain white backgrounds around them. Their imaginations carry them beyond the harsh realities around them.
When a bitchy neighbor appears to rat out one of the girl’s parents after they coordinated a peaceful soldier neighborhood protest, it marks the end of their friendship and innocence.
Cold Soup, Marta Monteiro, Portugual/France, 2023
A woman recounts years of domestic abuse that she endured and survived. We see how alone and small the woman becomes over time, imprisoned by fear and a determination to protect her children.
This mixed-media work combines simple black-and-white drawings over collage elements. The technique aptly mirrors the sense of fragility, invisibility, and powerlessness of the abused woman.
Horror is often most powerful when it’s unseen or unheard. Zone of Interest is extra potent because we don’t see the murder. We are left with our imaginations, which serve up something far more menacing or horrific. Cold Soup is in a similar vein. Except for one brief scene, we don’t really ever see the abuse. We see what appears to be a normal family, but violence and menace lurk nearby. Not showing the violence also reminds us that it isn’t isolated, it doesn’t end with this story. This woman’s story is over, but so many others are starting and continuing.
Outside, Izabela Plucinska, Germany, Poland, 2023
In the same vein, Izabela Plucinska’s mini masterwork also offers a peek between domestic doors. Inspired by an article about this in a German newspaper titled “The Numbers Are Scary," Outside takes us inside one volatile apartment, revealing the ways one particular woman deals with an abusive partner. The woman washes clothes and puts on her dress shoes and lipstick to please her man, but all it takes is one moment, one innocuous accident, to trigger acts of violence from the balding beast. How can she break free from this prison?
Using coal sketches over red and blue backgrounds, this expressionistic, wordless wonder reveals fragments of spousal abuse and the lingering effect it has on the victims. We see inside one apartment, but soon realize that it’s only one of many, many spaces of violence and abuse.
Peeping Mom, Francis Canitrot, France, 2023
Does spring have you feeling a little ‘randy’? Well, this French short might be just your cup of aphrodisiac. Eli is a 50-year-old fella who looks after his hypersexual elderly mom with a big case of theatrics. Eli can’t stand his mom’s sexual obsessions, possibly because he’s got a cupboard full of his own.
Peeping Mom is a playful and unique stop-motion work that, on the one hand, celebrates sexuality, no matter what age you are. We’ve become such a prissy society that we think sex has age restrictions. Such nonsense, of course.
Of course, this is not just about sexual desire. The film is also an exploration of a complex parent-child relationship that shows just how powerful the parent’s influence can be in stifling the child’s growth and sense of independence. Eli worries that he will become like his mom, but he soon learns that it doesn't have to be that way. He can break the pattern and carve out his own life.
A well-known figure in the world of independent animation, writer, author & curator Chris Robinson is the Artistic Director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival.
