Part Two of Norwich Film Festival’s BAFTA Shorts programme, hosted at The Forum, showcased seven feats of animation. Robert Morgan‘s BOBBY YEAH, an absurdist morality tale set in an in-between world populated by snips, snails and puppy dogs’ tails, set the ball rolling. Look out for an upcoming TAKE ONE feature on this and Morgan’s other films.
ABUELAS (Afarin Eghbal, Kasia Malipan) at first brightened the tone, presenting as a sweetly nostalgic portrait of grandmotherhood, but it soon becomes apparent that this is not just the sentimental voice of a knitting-needle wielding old biddy. We are listening to a genuine testimonial from one of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo. Hundreds of babies were born behind bars, or taken away during the “Dirty War” (1976-1983) in Argentina, and the Grandmothers strove to return each one to its biological family. One of these grandmothers narrates in Spanish, and actor Geraldine McEwan repeats each line in English; their voices layering and harmonising as fluently as the mixed animation techniques on the screen.
2012 BAFTA award winner A MORNING STROLL (Grant Orchard, Sue Goffe), a spunky vaudeville whimsy set in New York, hopscotches in 50-year increments from 1959 to post-zombie apocalypse. Why did the chicken cross the road? We still don’t know, but we all clapped the hardest for this one. Orchard’s excellent characterisation and irrepressible wit make A MORNING STROLL a worthy addition to the Studio AKA portfolio, joining other excellent films such as JOJO IN THE STARS, which TAKE ONE reviewed at Brighton Film Festival.
David Prosser‘s MATTER FISHER perpetuated the retro feel, evoking the surreal conceptual and narrative style of Chris Ware’s Acme Novelty Library. Prosser is another Studio AKA alumnus, and his kinetic elegance and subtlety of sound design lend atmosphere and depth to this solipsistic story of loneliness and estrangement. The storms at sea continued with PINTOR DE CEOS, by Jorge Morais. This had the feel of a much longer feature, and collapsed like a concertina into just 20 minutes the rhythm suffered and it proved difficult to follow. Emma Curtis’ THE REASON I COLLECT was a breath of fresh air – a look at the lighter side of hoarding, it examined the power of the ephemeral as a reminder of, and perhaps also a distraction from the inexorable march of time. Rhiannon Evans’ graduation film, the cutie-pie HEART STRINGS, a love story in the style of “Little Big Planet”, rounded off the bunch.
Final list of NFF2012 award winners
Best Short: Jane Gull’s SUNNY BOY
Best Animated Film: Gergely Wootsch’s THIS IS NOT REAL (read our interview with Gergely here)
Best Student Film: Hadi Ghandour’s LOVE AFTER SUNRISE (read our interview with Hadi here)
Best Documentary Film: Sushmit Ghosh’s DILLI
Norwich Film Festival will be reopening submissions on April 16th 2012. Click here for information on how to submit.