featured image from Love Is Just A Death Away
I think I’m the only staffer at The Sunbreak that relishes the quick thrill of short films whether animated, dramatic, documentary, or horror. I had a limited time to spread that relish this time around so I chose to focus in on the animated shorts. Below are some of my favorites.
The Other Morgan (2021 | USA | 13 minutes | Alison Rich)
A charming snapshot of the wacky life of an exterminator named Morgan. The sudden death of her father throws everything into chaos but through it all, she stays true to herself and that’s pretty great.
Our Bed is Green (2021 | USA | 7 minutes | Maggie Brannon)
An exploration into sexuality, jealousy, dreams and hidden desires. When your dreaming life is more true to who you are than reality, it might be time to start listening to your subconscious. The animation is dreamy and sweet and reveals a boatload of emotion in just seven minutes.
Rendang of Death (2021 | Indonesia | 6 minutes | Percolate Galactic)
A quirky, weird animated short whose end result is a lot of laughs and ridiculousness after a fight over the last rendang leaves a small restaurant in ruins. The timing of this one seems incredibly apt considering the anti-Asian sentiments that are running rampant throughout this country. It’s time we appreciate what all Asian cultures bring to our country, not the imagined “problems” the diversity of their presence bears.
Love is Just a Death Away (2021 | USA | 11 minutes | Bára Anna Stejskalová)
One of the ugliest, yet sweetest, stop animations I’ve seen in a very long time. I don’t mean the actual work was ugly, but the subject-matter itself. Set in a junkyard full of decaying animals and rusted out cars, and nearly devoid of life, love can still be found. Possibly creepy overtones, but well worth the watch to leave a smile on your face.
Opera (2021 | Republic of Korea | 8 minutes | Erick Oh)
A gorgeous, silent, and deeply emotional look at the cyclical world we live in. It begins showing a small group of people toiling away. Little by little a civilization is revealed and as new levels emerge, the more we understand of each player’s role in the larger picture. Along the lines of Socrates’ allegory of the cave, our everyday lives can seem pretty meaningless and insignificant at times if we take a broader view of our place in the world. Then again, what matters to us, as individuals, can be just as important even if the broader view says otherwise.