The Animation Show of Shows, a curated selection of the “best of the best” animated short films created by students and professionals around the world, features 11 films from seven countries offering an array of highly imaginative, thought-provoking, and moving works that reflect the filmmakers’ unique perspectives and their relationship to the world.
Personal relationships are at the heart of several of the films in this year’s program, including Daria Kashcheeva’s International Student Academy Award-winning puppet animation Daughter, a deeply moving exploration of the ties between a father and child. Charting a very different, but related, course, The Fox and the Bird by Sam & Fred Guillaume, is a beautifully observed fable about an unlikely friendship between the two eponymous characters. Filmmaker Michael Frei and game designer Mario von Rickenbach provide a more clinical view of human behavior in their mesmerizing Kids, which explores the nature of group dynamics. The program also includes two mini-documentaries about the creative process featuring Alkabetz and Amit Cohen & Ido Shapira (Hounds).
2019, Switzerland, Germany, Russia, Belgium, France, Israel, and Czech Republic, DCP, in English, Russian, and French with English subtitles, 87 minutes. Recommended for 12+.