by Adrian Branzan, Samuele Matteuzzi, Elina Boeva, Katarina Mihelic, Ada Gabor
Another category with the freedom to colour outside the lines is Asia’s Best Independent Animated Film category. Rich in all types of animation styles, ranging from cartoonish to realistic, everything about the films is a true masterpiece. As for the genres, they range from drama to comedy and the technical animation work is a stunner, drawing you into the magical world of the director’s making.
SHAKESPEARE FOR ALL AGES (2022)- Dir. Hannes Rall
Hannes Rall presents us with a unique approach to target the younger generation – who are increasingly becoming more tech obsessed – in incorporating the classic works of Shakespeare and gauging their interest.
In the Q&A, the director discusses on how his field of work involving literary works of Shakespeare, who he greatly admires, eventually led him to pursue making a film honouring the great writer: “I have been working for a long time in research doing several projects with the Shakespeare institute in Stratford-upon-Avon, and these are usually quite longer films, immersive media, projects and so on. But then somehow, I was engaging in these different Shakespeare works and somehow felt this idea came out of nowhere, thinking about- wouldn’t it be nice to link human history to Shakespeare and to prove how he always mattered andalways will…..”
WHAT YOU CAN’T TAKE WITH YOU (2022) – Dir.Shirley Camia
This Canadian animated film allows us to peek inside the protagonist’s mind getting lost in in her thoughts, reflecting on the former life they once led – and the cost it took to indefinitely leave it behind.
DEPTHS OF NIGHT (2022) – Dir. Step C.
How do you face the feelings in the past, present and future? It is as though the soul is broken into infinite pieces, but as long as we can survive, the Depths of night passes… eventually.
The animated story is about a woman, a girl and a child. Each are missing a piece of themselves, due to a person in their lives leaving them. They try to find the right shapes to make themselves whole again but continue to suffer in the process of chasing after them, being tormented by their painful pasts.
NIGHT LIGHT (2022) – Dir. Miguel Gierran
Night Light is a CG animated short film set in a dystopian, fantasy world. It is the story of the Hiraya people, who harvest light in order to survive within a world shrouded by darkness.
In a fantasy world where shadows can instantly kill you, the light of lotus flowers seems to be the only way to survive. However, its brightness doesn’t last long and it’s extremely hard to find.