Six Animated Shorts from Encounters 2019 to Look Out For
Among the many screenings at this year’s Encounters Film Festival were six well-curated animated short film programmes. As with every edition, animation programmer, Kieran Argo, identified a number of themes running through the films, and selected accordingly. Skwigly’s Ben Mitchell was also on hand after each screening to interview the film-makers (you can listen to each Q&A session but clicking below). This year, the themes included:
- WhatThe? – ‘experimental’ and films that offer new visual and aural creativity (Listen to this Q&A podcast)
- Desire – films that deal with the topic of “burning, unfulfilled desire” (Listen to this Q&A podcast)
- Herstory – a selection of women animators showcasing brilliant stories, excellent artistry and powerful statements (Listen to this Q&A podcast)
- Get Real – animated documentary; combining visual imagination with powerful non-fiction stories (Listen to this Q&A podcast)
- Ubiquitous Chip – films that deal with our digital age; from utopian dreams to dystopian demise (Q&A podcast coming 09/20)
- Fake News! – popular subjects in the news today: gender identity, sexual politics, racism, climate crisis, migration, the rise of fascism, the collapse of capitalism and religious extremism, and more (Q&A podcast coming 11/20)
As with any round up of ‘films you should look out for’, we couldn’t include all of the ones we wanted, or this list would be too long! Instead, we have had to wield the axe and brutally chop our list down to just six films:
Mind My Mind
What’s it about?
Directed by Floor Adams (Interview). Mind My Mind explores the struggles of a young man on the autism spectrum as he embarks on a new relationship. The film received the jury’s “Special Mention”, and will be screened in its entirety (30 minutes) at next month’s Manchester Animation Festival.
Floor speaks to Ben Mitchell and Laura-Beth Cowley in the latest Intimate Animation podcast.
Good Intentions
What’s it about?
Directed by Anna Mantzaris (Interview). After a young woman is responsible for a hit and run, strange and spooky things starts to happen… A small thriller about people that are not always the best at making decisions.
Chin Up
What’s it about?
Directed by JoAnne Salmon (Interview). Chin Up is a documentary about self-acceptance which follows JoAnne Salmon’s story from being 1 in 50,000 babies born with Treacher Collins Syndrome, to currently living her dreams as an animator.
Roughhouse
What’s it about?
Directed by Jonathan Hodgson (Interview). Three friends embark on a new adventure in a strange town, but when a manipulative new member joins their gang, their loyalty is torn apart with terrifying consequences. Roughhouse was the 2019 winner of the Best of British Award in the animation category.
Music & Clowns
What’s it about?
Directed by Alex Widdowson (Interview). This animated documentary tells of the relationship between Alex and Jamie, who has Down syndrome and is close to nonverbal; and the rest of the family who speculate about what life must be like for him.
Where Do We Go From Here?
What’s it about?
Directed by Stephen McNally. Extracted from a talk given at the RSA in 2017 – Revolutionary ideas, once dismissed as a utopian fantasy, became reality through people believing there was a better way – but what if our progress is hindered by our own view of human nature? You can watch the film under its alternate title Most People Are Pretty Nice at blinkink.co.uk
Where Do We Go From Here? (Dir. Stephen McNally)