C’est la vie – After the U.S.A., France is the country that submits the most films and we are glad they do! This reel comprises multiple animated shorts with a wide range of narratives about life. You may relate to some and learn from others.
FILMS AND FILM LINE-UP ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.
AIR – A boy finds another way to join his friends in the water below and experiences a few moments of total freedom. (2022 / 3 mins / France / dir. Juliette Laboria / French w/English subtitles)
BIRTH OF AN OASIS (Naissance des oasis) – A snake and a camel develop a friendship that leads to a tale of why you can find an oasis in the middle of a desert. (2022 / 9 mins / France / dir. Marion Jamault / French w/English subtitles)
THE BOY AND THE ELEPHANT (Le Garçon et l’Eléphant) – The arrival of a new elephant-headed student in class triggers mockery and sarcasm. One of the students seems captivated and disturbed by this strange child. Will he be accepted? (2022 / 6.5 mins / France / dir. Sonia Gerbeaud / no dialogue)
FOR FREEDOM (Pour la liberté) – A little girl lets her tears rise and almost drowns in her sorrow. Little by little, she accepts to bathe in it, to tame it and gives herself the freedom to live her emotions. (2022 / 3 mins / France / dir. Ada Hernaez / French w/English subtitles)
FUNNY BIRDS (Drôles d’oiseaux) – Ellie is entering secondary school in Saumur. Shy and fascinated by nature, and birds, she spends her time with books. Ellie draws the attention of Anna, the school’s librarian. The day when Ellie must absolutely return a book to Anna, she finds the school library closed. Ellie decides to take it back to Anna’s home, a few miles from school, on an island on the Loire River. An island full of birds. (2021 / 30 mins / France / dir. Charlie Belin / in English)
HOW I GOT MY WRINKLES (L’Effet de mes rides) – Claude, a multi-faceted artist passionate about animation, decides to make “his own” film at last, before he turns 70. He embarks with him on this adventure Gaston, his 7-year-old grandson, curious about everything and always on the go, to whom he transmitted his passion for drawing and moving images. (2022 / 12 mins / France / dir. Claude Delafosse / French w/English subtitles)
NO-NO GOES TO SPACE (Non-Non dans l’espace) – Three…Two…One…Go! End of the countdown, it’s time to plant Underwood Springs’ flag on the moon! In a cloud of smoke and sparks, Bigtooth’s rocket leaves the earth’s orbit. Floating in space, No-No, Magaïveur and their friends barely have time to admire the landscapes before a meteorite shower veers them off their initial course and sends them directly … to an unknown planet! Their meeting with Ribbit, a little green creature, will transform this space adventure into an interplanetary story of friendship! (2022 / 26 mins / France / dir. Wassim Boutaleb Joutei / in English)
QUEEN OF THE FOXES (La Reine des Renards) – In the hopes of seeing their queen smile again, a group of foxes rummage through the city’s trash, searching for all the love letters that were never sent. (2022 / 9 mins / Switzerland / dir. Marina Rosset / French w/English subtitles)
SLIPPING AWAY (L’Air de rien) – In a sanatorium by the sea, an old man finds his life transfigured by the arrival of a seagull, that he delicately tames. When the seagull gets wounded, the man takes care of her, and for a brief moment, he returns to boyhood again. (2022 / 14 mins / France / dir. Gabriel Hénot Lefèvre / no dialogue)
THE STRANGER (L’Etranger) – What does this stranger want, blocking the road? In order to find out, no need to shout, just climb up and ask him! (2022 / 3 mins / France / dir. Hugo Glavier / French with English subtitles)
THE WOLF AND THE DOG (Le Loup et le Chien) – A hungry wolf and a hunting dog have a little tête-à-tête about their daily lives. The dog’s life sounds temptingly luxurious until he is told one thing which makes his life choice easy to decide. (2022 / 3 mins / France / dir. Héloïse Le Bail / French w/English subtitles)
No Easy Answers – Life can be hard at any age. These challenging stories include homelessness, bullying, immigration and the effects of war. Each powerful film offers a perspective where solutions are not so apparent. How do you cope with such uncertainty? Your answer might be different than the person sitting next to you. (Multi-national / English or w/English subtitles / 90 mins /
FILMS AND FILM LINE-UP ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.
AMANI – In this tale, halfway between reality and fantasy, a mysterious narrator tells us the story of Amani, a young boy passionate about dance. Amani’s innocence and joie de vivre open the narrator’s eyes to the humanity he had never really cared about before. But as the night begins to rumble, Amani’s joie de vivre disappears to give way to his pain, which echoes in the silence of the plain. (2021 / 17 mins / Chad, Canada / dir. Alliah Fafin / French w/English subtitles)
AROUND THE CORNER (Za vogalom) – There are times when you think you are witnessing a bullying situation but there is so much more you don’t know. Wanting to do the right thing might end up being very wrong. Life is complicated that way. (2022 / 13 mins / Slovenia / dir. Martin Turk / Slovenian w/English subtitles)
BURROS – In southern Arizona, twenty miles from the Mexico border, a young Indigenous girl discovers a Latina migrant her age who has been separated from her father while traveling through the Tohono O’odham Nation into the United States. Her story is a microcosm of what needs our attention and action at our southern border. (2021 / 14.5 mins / USA / dir. Jefferson Stein / Spanish and Indigenous language w/English subtitles)
LETTER TO A PIG – Riveting and chilling, writer/director Tal Kantor’s animated short Letter to a Pig (Israel/France, 2022) finds a Holocaust survivor (voice of Alexander Peleg) telling a group of young students about his harrowing experience of a pig saving his life from pursuers, and how he lived with those animals in a desperate bid to stay alive. His story is met with indifference from some of the students, but as he tells of a letter of thanks that he wrote to the pig, the imagination of one girl named Alma (voice of Moriyah Meerson) sends her on a surreal journey. Stark, black-and-white animation is blended with live-action visuals to create a marvelous dreamscape that is a visual feast while driving home some serious food for thought. (2022 / 16.5 mins / Israel / dir. Tal Kantor / Hebrew w/English subtitles)
ME, MAHMOUD and the MINT PLANT – In the war-torn city of Mosul, Iraq, Canadian nurse Trish develops an unlikely friendship with Mahmoud, a local man who takes his beloved mint plant wherever he goes. As Trish discovers the mystery behind Mahmoud’s precious plant, she learns the importance of keeping your promises to the people you love. (2022 / 5.5 mins / Canada / dir. Cat Mills / in English)
SPARE PARTS (Du hast viele Teile…) – Eight-year-old Lina is in urgent need of a new heart. She figures out that in order for her to have a new heart another must lose theirs. This inspires Lina into action. She finds a junkyard to look for parts in order to build herself her own heart. There, she meets Kalle who initially opposes her being there until told about the plan. A story about life, death, and true friendship. (2021 / 24.5 mins / Germany / dir. Niva Ehrlich / German w/English subtitles)
WHAT YOU’LL REMEMBER – Through a raw love letter to their children, two young parents reframe their experience of homelessness in WHAT YOU’LL REMEMBER, an achingly beautiful short portrait about home, family and security. (2020 / 13 mins / USA / dir. Erika Cohn / in English)
Lola lives on a houseboat called “The Pea” with her mother, but life isn’t exactly smooth sailing. She misses her long-gone Dad and doesn’t care much for her Mom’s new boyfriend. Things change when she befriends a Turkish schoolmate with problems of his own. Despite the tough subjects in this film LOLA ON THE PEA is also musical, funny, and fast-paced with a believable story that will provide much to talk about after the show.