Animated Shorts: “Over, Under, Sideways, Down”
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Animated Shorts: “Over, Under, Sideways, Down”
One of The Yardbirds’ greatest hits is the perfect description for the incredible diversity and breadth of artistry on display in this year’s mind-boggling edition of our domestic animated shorts program. West Coast transplants, last meals and regrets, angry balloon gods, the fumbly feelings of desire, a jaw-dropping variation on the Cain and Abel story, life lessons in the kitchen, life’s routine, a disturbing dog-walking ritual, survival of the fittest at lunchtime, and food and felonies are at the heart of this wide-ranging celebration of the best and brightest new animated works to cross our paths this year.
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Animated Shorts: “Over, Under, Sideways, Down”
Welcome to 8th Street
Directed by: Yoo Lee
USA, 2023, 7m
Yoo Lee, last year’s Grand Jury Award winner for Best Animated Short for “7LBS 8OZ,” returns to Jersey City (and FFF!) with another stop-motion charmer set on the block where she lived for a decade. This time, a California couple has just moved in and are shocked by the sights and sounds of their new home.
Animated Shorts: “Over, Under, Sideways, Down”
Baloney Beacon
Directed by: Max Landman
USA, 2022, 5m
You’ve never seen this before! A godlike alien hungers for exotic delicacies from the deepest reaches of space in this transfixing stop-motion wonder made entirely with balloons.
Animated Shorts: “Over, Under, Sideways, Down”
The Voice in the Hollow
Directed by: Miguel Ortega
USA/Colombia, 2023, 10m
In Swahili with English subtitles
In this visually stunning African fable of sisterhood, envy, and ancient evil, a young girl who’s jealous of her sister’s hunting skill, accepts an offer from a nefarious force.
Animated Shorts: “Over, Under, Sideways, Down”
Menagerie
Directed by: Jack Gray
USA, 2022, 4m
A study of the daily motions and mundane tasks of city life, this visually inventive and ingenious work features individuals functioning like clockwork, day after day, until the repetition spirals into an endless kaleidoscope of abstraction.
Animated Shorts: “Over, Under, Sideways, Down”
The Law of the Jungle Gym
Directed by: Yoon Hei Cho
USA, 2022, 6m
Grade-school kids having lunch outside in the playground start morphing into mutant versions of what they are eating. Yoon Hei Cho, director of last year’s “Parked” (and yet another amazing Cal Arts alum), has given us a fantastic, intense, and totally trippy new nightmare to ponder.
Animated Shorts: “Over, Under, Sideways, Down”
Ninety-Five Senses
Directed by: Jerusha Hess and Jared Hess
USA, 2022, 13m
An elderly man on death-row (Tim Blake Nelson) recalls his life in the moments before his execution. Written by Chris Bowman and Hubbel Palmer (American Fork, FFF 2007) and directed by Jerusha and Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), this extraordinary film utilizes five different animation teams to depict the five senses as they pertain to moments in the condemned man’s youth.
Animated Shorts: “Over, Under, Sideways, Down”
fur
Directed by: Zhen Li
USA, 2022, 7m
From Cal Arts comes this freaky hand-drawn meditation on a crush gone moldy, distinctively rendered using charcoal on paper and mixed media. Body horror, confused budding sexuality, and a thick layer of misophonia seal the deal.
Animated Shorts: “Over, Under, Sideways, Down”
Now I’m in the Kitchen
Directed by: Yana Pan
USA/China, 2022, 5m
In Mandarin with English subtitles
A young Chinese woman experiences complicated reflections of her mother while cooking her favorite dish that her mom used to make. Another gem from Cal Arts, and the latest work from the director of “0000E8” (FFF 2021).
Animated Shorts: “Over, Under, Sideways, Down”
Ex Creta
Directed by: Jon Portman
USA, 2022, 6m
With its striking visual style and Modigliani-esque figures, this whimsical look at a group of bored, 20-something roommates in San Francisco trying to cancel a weird dude who walks his Pomeranian by their apartment, will bring a smile to your face.
Animated Shorts: “Over, Under, Sideways, Down”
Hardboiled
Directed by: Peter Sluszka
USA, 2022, 28m
So you say you’re looking for a nearly 30-minute, stop-motion buddy/cop, ‘90s-action throwback with food for characters, production values through the roof, and breakfast puns and cooking references galore? With its raunchy humor, film noir pedigree, and the voice talents of Anne Heche and Judy Greer, “Hardboiled” is the film for you!
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