Let’s Get Animated

The February 26 screening of “Let’s Get Animated” is dedicated to the memory of long-time friend of the festival Marcin Gizycki, who passed away in October 2022. Marcin was a film historian, presenter, and maker, who divided his time between his native Poland and the U.S., teaching winter and springs at the Rhode Island School of Design. Marcin made the short film Jellyfish with friends from RISD in 2018. We present it at the beginning of this program of animated shorts in celebration of his friendship with PCFF and his special passion for and lifelong promotion of the art of animation.

Animation IS magic. Giving inanimate materials the illusion of having life can be extraordinary. Included on this year’s reel…. Feathers become distinguished townspeople revisiting a town they were forced to flee during WWII (TIL WE MEET AGAIN, Estonia).  Although you can clearly see the strings of the puppets your would swear the characters are alive right in front of you (LITTLE MO’S JOURNEY, Germany). Skeletons rise from their graves to give a full moon jig before the sun rises (DANSE MACABRE, USA). 

Films and film line-up are subject to change without notice.

JELLYFISH
A group of kids visits a nature center with their teacher. They go to a room with a tank of jellyfish. The teacher starts to lecture and the longer he talks, the more excited the kids get. But it is not the lecture that captures their attention!
USA-Poland, 2018 / English / Marcin Gizycki / 6 min / Live Action

AND THEN (Und dänn…) – Three children make up the story of a whale jumping out of a mountain lake and taking a ride on a hot-air balloon. Fortunately for the whale the filmmakers added a happier ending. 🙂   (2022 / 3 mins / Switzerland / dirs. Tanja Nuijten, Leo Graf, Raphael Stalder / German w/English subtitles)

BOOM – A volcanic island covered with bird nesting grounds. What could possibly go wrong here? Especially if you have two wings but three eggs to save.  (2022 / 5.5 mins / France / dirs. Gabriel Augerai, Romain Augier, Laurie Pereira de Figueiredo, Yannick Jacquin, Charles Di Cicco / no dialogue)

DANSE MACABRE – Skeletons rise from the grave and frolic under the full moon. A short that tips it hat to the classic short film “Skeleton Dance”, animated by Ub Iwerks and produced by Walt Disney.  (2021 / 1.5 mins / USA / dir. Dawn Brown / no dialogue)

HUSH HUSH LITTLE BEAR – While the bear parents are away looking for berries and honey, the baby bears stay at home with the sheep. But what bear cub can resist a ball of yarn? Certainly not these two. Based on the traditional Latvian lullaby.  (2022 / 4.5 mins / Latvia / dir. Māra Liniņa / in Latvian w/English subtitles)

THE JOURNEY – (Putovanje) – There is a special place under the sun for each of us. A long and exciting journey takes us to this place. Sometimes we find our own way, sometimes we have to let others lead us, and sometimes we lead others.  (2022 / 6 mins / Croatia / dir. Mirela Ivanković Bielen / no dialogue)

KAYAK – A father and his baby’s kayak outing along a peaceful river turns out to be a real family adventure.  (2021 / 6 mins / France / dirs. Solène Bosseboeuf, Flore Dechorgnat, Tiphaine Klein, Auguste Lefort, Antoine Rossi / no dialogue)

LITTLE MO’S JOURNEY (Die Reise der Kleinen Mo) – On a busy country road, the box of an online mail order company falls from a delivery truck. The puppet girl Mo crawls out of it. She is lost in the human world. But a little bird shows her the secret entrance to a fairytale puppet world. Little by little it is revealed where Mo is going on this adventurous journey.  (2022 / 9 mins / Switzerland / dirs. Julian M. Grünthal & Charlotte Engelbert / no dialogue)

MISOPHONIA – A quiet bus ride home from the city library turns into an aural nightmare for a book-reading commuter. With every stop the bus fills with people and sounds, becoming a chaotic cacophony joyful to everyone but her. Only when the bus finally reaches her seaside stop does she find escape, slipping back into the watery silence of her natural habitat where we discover she is not the average commuter.  (2022 / 9 mins / USA / dir. Linda Wingerter / no dialogue)

MORTIMER AND THE VANISHINGS – Mortimer wants to know why things are disappearing all over his neighborhood. When his annoying sister Emma disappears too it now becomes imperative that he solves the mystery.   (2022 / 14 mins / Germany / dir. Robert Scheffner / in English)

STAR CATCH – It is the story of a fisherman, who dreamed of catching a star, but who no matter what remained a romantic soul. (2021 / 4 mins / Russian Federation / dir. Pelageya Generalova / no dialogue)

TIL WE MEET AGAIN – Animation short “‘Til We Meet Again” talks about the tragic history of a small Ruhnu Island. Fearing for their lives, its entire population abandoned their homes while escaping the war in 1944. Decades later they had a chance to finally return, only to find out that the strangers had settled in. In addition to the twists and turns of the history, “‘Til We Meet Again” looks deeper into the meaning of home – is it merely a location or a place that gives one a peace of mind.  (2022 / 14 mins / Estonia / dir. Ülo Pikkov / no dialogue)