A celebratory showcase of some of the year’s best and brightest animated shorts. If you’re looking to sample the animation ecosystem in all its multi-coloured, variously-shaped glory, there’s no better place to begin.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2020
Animation NOW! 2020
Welcome to Animation NOW!
Diversity was the guiding light in bringing together this single programme of animation from the 3,000+ submissions we received this year. Techniques range from paint-on-glass and hand-drawn, to the exquisite precision of 3D digital animation and the beautiful imperfections inherent in all stop motion work. Storylines, too, range eclectically from classic narrative right across the creative tundra to the kind of uncannily malleable chronicles animation often does so well.
Violent Equation brings a polished digital elegance to the surrealist labyrinth it navigates while the simple grace of Moth relies as much on its striking, painterly style as it does its humble inspiration.
The inspiration behind Girl in the Hallway is all too clear and as one of the most affecting films submitted this year it had to close the programme, simply because it was hard to imagine what could follow it. But opening Animation NOW! 2020 is the latest film by one of New Zealand’s most accomplished animators. James Cunningham’s Prickly Jam showcases both the extraordinary technical virtuosity and the wickedly off-beat humour for which he is internationally renowned. — Malcolm Turner
Prickly Jam 2019
An end of days comedy about an ambitiously amorous cricket and a starving hedgehog with a devious plan.
Rain 2019
An unusual rain and one anonymous superhero’s thankless effort to stem the tide.
There Were Four of Us 2019
Four characters trapped in a room try to decipher the reason behind a death.
Trauma Chameleon 2019
An escaped laboratory rat navigates through a sea of punctuation.
Moth 2019
Wandering through a range of primal emotions, this work was inspired by the simple act of a moth hitting the artist’s studio window
Holodomor. Cookie 2019
A hungry child sacrifices the only thing she has in the world to save her starving mother.
Cante 2019
The haunting strains of Cante Alentejano, a traditional choral music, lead a man through a revaluation of his everyday life.
I-I-I 2019
Blommaert returns with an intensely-packed moving graphic montage of fascinating diversity.
Bubbles 2019
“What a lie it is to say that love conquers all. I would have danced on fire for you. But…”
Kids 2019
How do we define ourselves when we are all equal. An intense exploration of group dynamics.
Locomotor 2019
Half man, half steam engine. Full speed ahead, regardless.
Live a Little 2018
A visual poem about struggling to fit into a patriarchal society’s views on how a young woman should behave.
2.3 x 2.6 x 3.2 2019
A woman confronts her mortality and wonders why it came to this.
Violent Equation 2019
Ignorance creates fear, and envy brings violence. An astonishing proto-visual tour de force of mad collective imagination.
Under the Canopy 2019
Birds of paradise, displaying beautiful plumage, sing and dance in the tropical forests.
Girl in the Hallway 2019
Why does Little Red Riding Hood give Jamie nightmares? It’s been 15 years, and the girl in the hallway still haunts him.