PROGRAMME TRAILER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ_IuZ2drKM
ANIMATED - SHORTS
Tickets at $5 / 7 (conc. for students, NSFs, SFS members and
Friends of The Substation)
17th September, Thursday, 7.15pm – 8.30pm
Venue: The Substation Theatre
Total runtime: 68 min
Session is rated NC16
Animations, cartoons, stop motion, claymation…
A selection of in-competition animated pictures in motion.
Short films in this programme are in-competition for the Audience
Award for the top 3 most voted International and Local short
films.
1) SHARE: A TALE OF TWO HUMPTY DUMPTIES & A
BIRD
Zhu Chuan / 2008 / 4min / Singapore / G
Synopsis:
Adapted from the classic household fable of Humpty Dumpty, “Share:
A Take of 2 Humpty Dumpties & a Bird” revolves around a naughty
Humpty Dumpty who refuses to share his food with others, and his
arrogance and selfishness to those around him bring about
disastrous yet hilarious consequences.
Director’s Statement:
Fairytales and fantasy worlds are an integral in our lives and our
process of growing up. In my film, I seek to expand on the existing
storyline of the nursery rhyme “Humpty Dumpty”, and to explore the
underlying dark themes inherent in fairytales. Furthermore, by
utilizing stop-motion animation, I also strove to fulfill and
realize the potentials and wonders of this medium, which has become
less and less regarded in today’s modern age of digital and
computer animation.
Director’s Bio:
Zhu Chuan was born in Singapore in 1990, and is a graduate from Hwa
Chong Instituition. It was during his years in the Art Elective
Programme that he discovered his love for art and movies. He has
since created numerous award-winning short films. He is currently
serving national service.
2) ANTI-GRAVITY
Chow Lin Ping / 2008 / 4min / Singapore / PG
Synopsis:
The play on gravity draws a parallel to the pressure of conformity
present in society. Like gravity, it is a seemingly harmless force
moving in all directions, only becoming a strong resistance when we
push against it.
Director’s Bio:
Aspiring animator from National Junior College.
3) PULCINELLO
Gabriella Mesenas / 2009 / 6min / Singapore / PG
Synopsis:
Pulcinello always had a smile on his face. However, a hollow smile
was all it was. He lived as a puppet, chained onto his master's
hands, emotionlessly dancing to its master's rhythm. Pulcinello’s
only wish was to show his true emotions, even so being unable,
Columbine, the beautiful puppet that descended from the sky,
accepted him for what he was. Yet, when everything was at its peak,
Columbine’s time was up and she departed against her will.
4) STORY OF I
Syarah Mahmood / 2009 / 4min / Singapore / PG
Synopsis:
The main theme of the story is Identity. RED exists in a world of
Grey, unique yet oblivious to her surroundings. She disturbs their
continuity; they do not like people standing out. In her distress,
a red balloon comes and saves RED from the vicious Grey, and leads
her on a path to self discovery where RED finally realizes that she
can never really lose her identity as its in her all the while… or
is it a catch-22 situation?
5) HERO
Wang Xun / 2009 / 3min / Singapore / NC16 (Some Violence)
Synopsis:
HERO is a 2D animation based on the legend of a Chinese warrior
king, Xiang Yu. One young tourist tries to follow the trail of the
warrior king, and gets into a fight accidentally. He defeats every
single enemy as an invincible warrior, until a tinkling sound of
cymbals clashes, pulling him back to the real world.
Director’s Statement:
The story idea came out when I watched a Hong Kong film where the
male impersonator took on a role full of personalities.
Director’s Bio:
Born in 1987 in Chengdu, China. Wang Xun graduated with a Bachelor
of Fine Arts in Digital Animation at the Nanyang Technological
University School of Art, Design and Media.
6) SYNCHRONICITY SERIES
Eileen Anastasia Reynolds / 2008 / 2min / Singapore / PG
Synopsis:
“Synchronicity Series” is an animated series shot and performed in
Little India and at The Sch. of Art, Media & Design in
Singapore. It is a migrant artist’s interpretation of living as an
outsider and an alien in a foreign land where conformity is seen as
admirable and where the government takes pride in its systems of
order, cooperation & control.
This 2 min video is the result of 12 consecutive weekends spent
choreographing, animating & performing improvised formations
within the urban space.
Director’s Bio:
Beginning her art career working primarily in painting &
photography, Eileen Reynolds went on to work in the film and
television industry. Along with shooting various independent short
films, she was Director of Photography for the “Pow Wow, Gathering
of Nations”, a video series distributed by FOX TV. Eileen continues
to exhibit her personal artwork, consisting of painting,
photography & stop-motion animation. For the past 3 years, she
has been an Asst. Prof. Of Animation in the Sch. Of Art, Design
& Media at NTU.
7) HUSH BABY
Tan Wei Keong / 2009 / 3min / Singapore / PG
Synopsis:
Overturning the popular association of animation with children's
entertainment, "Hush Baby" depicts a baby's struggle against
confinement and restrictio. The many expressive faces of a baby are
brought to life with dark humour and wit as the film imaginatively
explores a different facet of animation.
Director’s Bio:
Tan Wei Keong's animated short film "White" was awarded the Special
Achievement Award at the 20th Singapore International Film
Festival. He has just finished his BFA in Animation at the School
of Art, Design and Media.
Film Festivals:
- 22nd Singapore International Film Festival (Special
Mention)
- 6th Singapore Short Cuts
Youtube Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1FwtBiX2Bk
8) MASIRE SARDE KHAN (COLD BLOOD)
Amir Mehran / 2008 / 7min / Iran / PG (Some Disturbing
Scenes)
Synopsis:
When real war victims cannot truly be illustrated in films, still
frames can be more realistic.
Film Festivals:
- 4th ruyesh film festival, Iran, 2008 (Best Film)
- 25th Tehran international short film festival, Iran, 2008 (Best
Experimental Film)
- 6th picture of year celebration, Iran , 2008
- 3rd Bursa international silk road film festival, Turkey, 2008
(Special Jury Award)
- 20th Ankara international film festival, Turkey, 2009
- 5th Aljazeera international documentary film festival, Qatar,
2009
- 2nd Cyprus international short film festival, Cyprus, 2009
(Documentary Award)
- 3rd International short film festival Kratkofil, Bosnia,
2009
- 19th International Videofestival Bochum, Germany, 2009
9) ZAMANE PAYAN (THE FALL)
Amir Mehran / 2009 / 8min / Iran / PG (Some Violence)
Synopsis:
The Iranian Revolution of 1979 was the revolution that transformed
Iran from a constitutional monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza
Pahlavi to an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader
of the revolution and founder of the Islamic Republic. It has been
called: "the third great revolution in history”.
Film Festivals:
- 3rd international urban film festival, Iran, 2009 (Special Jury
Award)
- Kimera film festival 2009 Italy
10) ROSAROT (ROSE-COLOURED)
Ines Christine Geisser, Kirsten Carina Geisser / 2009 / 1min /
Germany / PG
Synopsis:
A short film about the aberrations and confusions of love.
Director’s Bio:
Ines Christina Geisser was born in 1982 in Naila and has been
studying illustration and animation at the School of Art and Design
Kassel.
11) THE SLUB (THE WEDDING)
Maciek Salamon / 2007 / 4min / Poland / PG
Synopsis:
Honorata is a newly wed, who wakes up in the morning after her
wedding night and realises her husband has left her. She is furious
and starts to wreck her house, destroying one of the walls so we
can see what is behind it. She finds an advert for home-helping
robots and soon robots are helping her with her chores. Everything
is going fine, until one day all the robots to go crazy and revolt
by throwing her body off a cliff.
Film Festivals:
- 2nd Northernwave Fest, Iceland (Best International Short)
- Stranger Festival, Amsterdam (Stranger Award)
- XIV Polish Animation Festival
- Lava Kulturset, Stockholm
- 4th Athens Animfest
12) VIOLA: THE TRAVELING ROOMS OF A LITTLE
GIANT
Shih-Ting Hung / 2008 / 8min / USA / PG
Synopsis:
Viola, trying to discover the world, puts solitude in her suitcase
and begins her dreamy journey.
Film Festivals:
- Festival de Cannes Short Film Corner
- Moondance Film Festival (Best Multi-Media Film)
- Expresion En Corto IFF Mexico
- Hermosa Film Festival
- California International Film Festival (Best Live Action /
Animation Film)
Youtube Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNsmBevhHCY
13) NATURE ON ITS COURSE
Su-An Ng / 2009 / 3min / Canada / PG
Synopsis:
“Nature on Its Course” is a short mixed-media animation about a
careless hunter who takes more than he needs.
Director’s Statement:
Throughout my development as an artist, I have been exploring the
relationships between people and their immediate environments. I am
interested in social design, making change, sustainability, and
education, art as expression and art as a problem solver. I have
always been influenced by design, photography and critical theory
and see myself using animation as a form of time-based media to
communicate ideas and stimulate discourse. I am inspired by
everything around me, from the sound of trickling water on a
mountain top to the design of chipping paint on the wall to the
color of my coffee. What drew me to animation is the
inter-disciplinary nature of the medium. With the combination of
the power of storytelling, it presents itself as a limitless form
of expression. I am excited about the possibilities.
Director’s Bio:
Su-An Ng recently graduated from the Emily Carr University of Art
and Design. She received the President’s Media Arts Award for her
graduation film, “Nature on its Course”.
Interested in experimental approaches in her work, Su-An is a
multidisciplinary designer and animator who doesn’t limit herself
when trying to solve her creative problems. Whether it is using
traditional 2D hand drawn animation, 3D motion graphics or stop
motion animation, Su-An is willing to explore any medium necessary
to get her message across.
Su-An founded the Motion Sickness Animation Collective in 2008.
This collective allows for experimentation and collaboration with
other animators in Vancouver. Their goal is to refresh the artistic
standard through time-based media. She also contributes to the Roy
Was Here Artist Collective in which she designs graphics for
t-shirts and other accessories.
Youtube Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajVoF3rVkV8
14) EX OBLIVIONE
*International Premiere*
Jack Feldstein / 2009 / 5min / Australia / PG
Synopsis:
A surreal neon animation film by stream-of-consiousness neon
filmmaker Jack Feldstein of H.P. Lovecraft's prose poem EX
OBLIVIONE about time and mortality
Director’s Bio:
Jack Feldstein is a scriptwriter, filmmaker and re-animator in
Sydney, Australia. As a scriptwriter he has worked extensively on
Australian series and in Network Production for Australian
Networks. His previous neon films have included “3 Months with
Pook”, “The Great Oz Love Yarn”, “The Loser who Won”, “The
Ecstasy of Gary Green” and “A Wondrous Film About Emma Brooks”. His
award-winning neon films have been screened worldwide from Lincoln
center New York to Rotterdam International Film Festival to Mumbai,
India. As a filmmaker, he works only in neonism… a stream of
consciousness deconstructionist, post-modern animation filmmaking
style that utilizes appropriation and pop art techniques in a
“Warhol meets Vegas” look.
