It´s interesting to see how the animation and experimental formats have been constantly explored, and yet they continue to reveal works that stand out for their innovative, inventive character, with a very unique aesthetic. The mixture of styles, technical experiments, narratives and diverse influences have liberated both experimental and animated films from models and paradigms, redefining their form and sometimes merging both formats, as we see on both selections of films in competition for this edition’s Silver Lynx.
The selection of experimental and animated shorts - there are nine experimental and ten animated shorts - presents surprising films, which bring together precisely all these transformations and experimentations that have marked both formats in recent times.
In the experimental selection, we find provocative works, thematically and visually seductive, such as Liu Sha´s hypnotic “It Is My Fault”, a sensory experience that uses surreal and grotesque images loaded with colors, and 8-bit music to magnetize viewers while provoking different sensations in them. On the other hand, Justyna Mytnik´s “Apocalypse” preserves the structure and rhythm of a simple family drama, in this case, the daily life of a young couple, but with an abstract ambience through 3D animation. “Vensolin” by Hansje Hofland is a provocative film about an intergalactic hangover, and “Simba is in New York” by Tobias Sauer, an emotional journey that demystifies the “American Dream” through various segments of videos, from Disney movies to archive footage.
In the selection of animated short films, we find the social criticism in Samaneh Shojaei´s “Ascribed Achivements”, a study of the manipulative power of new technologies in our self perception, and in Marco Jemolo´s “Framed”, a stop motion movie about authoritarianism and oppression that reminds us a lot about Franz Kafka´s universe. We have also the amusing “Pussy”, directed by Renata Gasiorowska, an intimate and also surreal exploration of feminine masturbation. In “Locus” by Anita Kwiatkowska-Naqvi, we discover spaces that seem made of crystal, creating a visually arresting universe of a woman that, during a train journey, dives densely in her intimate memories. “Lupus”, by Carlos Gomez Salamanca, is inspired by the real case of a man who was murdered by a pack of dogs; through 3D images of the neighborhood where this happened - that simulates the video surveillance images - we witness the unfolding of the story until the tragic final outcome. But much remains to be said, since both programs have other equally amazing and must see films, whose viewing is mandatory!
Tiago Vieira
