Taking A Quick Look at Fantasia’s Short Film Selection, 2024 Edition

As Montreal’s most beloved genre film festival enters its last week of celebrating an eclectic range of genre cinema, Fantasia’s short film celebration will have me keeping an eye out on these up-and-coming talents! Although I didn’t view everything in this category, what I saw so far is a great way to see what may get dreamed up to become feature length works in the future!

These filmmakers have come up with some fairly cool concepts. The following reviews do not make up a top five list, but are a sampler of what is there. I’m thankful to those who provided me with a screener, and I wish them all the best.

The True Shape of a Daisy

George MacDonald‘s narrative, “The Day Boy and the Night Girl,” provides the foundation for the cinematic The True Shape of a Daisy, and I’m fairly sure no one has ever compiled this tale into a book. This short story is available online.

What’s presented is a faithful adaptation, where we meet a witch named Watho, who would shape Photogen and Nycteris’ environments. True to their namesakes, one would live in perpetual daylight and the other at night. They don’t get to meet until later, and in this anime, they don’t live in enormous rooms. Instead, they are from a world of contrasts. The girl is from a beautiful forest, and the boy lived most of his life in a dark dungeon.

As an anime by Naoki Arata, I hope what she produced is more than just a tease, but an examination of how opposites can get along.

Time Machine (时间机器)

If it’s possible to imagine 2001 A Space Odyssey pumped up on steroids (and we recognize the 2010 book/film and subsequent 2061 as standalone) then the Time Machine is a movie to go wow at. The year is 2099 and humanity has evolved very little. Old-fashioned propulsion is still used to travel to the moon and back.

Despite this curiosity, it seems some mysterious agency has dispatched astronauts to investigate a strange stone circle before a moonquake shook free and revealed. What we see afterwards is an amazing trip through the light fantastic. And what’s presented is concerned about Earth’s future in terms of the shape of things still to come.

I couldn’t help but be reminded of the last moments in Chris Nolan’s Interstellar because of the themes explored, but when this 30 min piece is more of a case study than dialogue driven work, whatever viewers take from it will vary.

Here, we have quantum theory, which, as the short film’s namesake implies, considers looking back in time to before the creation of Earth, the emergence of this universe, and perhaps more! Director Zihan Gao and writers Zhihong Chen, Zihan Gao, Jiahao Liu put a lot of thought which considers creation on a grander cosmic scale. As for what it means, that is up to the viewer to decide.

Kamigoroshi: Prologue

I’m sure Niho Tomoyuki knows the meaning of Kamigoroshi, and to witness this tale in full effect is scary! Here, the “Godslayer” is no longer just the name of a sword, but is also the name of the world. This animated short begins in black and white, with an anthropomorphic fox building a human world. What he makes looks more like a Sim on a huge table than on a computer.

The humans come to life to enjoy everything that is, until the fox changes things around, and souls get sucked away. It’s a scary thought, and depending on which point of view is used, I’m unsure who to root for.

That’s because there’s no dialogue to explain what’s going on. The animation is reminiscent of Interstella 555 because there’s more music than anything else. What’s presented looks like an alien scenario gone wrong, and until we get the next chapter, this Prologue, is a well-crafted teaser of what may be V the series done kaiju style!

Bulusan and Agingay

With Joonie Gamboa‘s voice to bring the legend of Bulusan and Agingay to life, I better be careful where I go should I find the time to visit the Philippines! This may well be the last place Pterodactyls have flown, if this animated short is any sign, and for animator Gary “Dudz” Clotario to craft this tale through backlit paper-cut animation, everything that glows is amazing! The technique brings the folklore to life, and as for what the story is about, it concerns the legend of Si Bulusan Nan Si Agingay as seen through the eyes of the Mampak.

This short may well be the unsung hero of Fantasia’s Things That Go Bump in the East 2024 program! I hope the Tuldok Animation studio will produce more adaptations in this style!

https://tuldokanimation.org/si-bulusan-nan-si-agingay/

The Exorcist, Kim Rina

I believe I found the next Ghost Sweeper, and no, her name is not Mikami. Instead, she’s an energetic young Korean girl who wants to help the dead move on. When she’s called to investigate a haunted dormitory, she meets a sad spirit of a teen who committed suicide due to bullying, and like other restless spirits, can’t move on. But she wants vengeance, and what’s presented is a colourful work that shows sometimes revenge is a dish best served cold.

Rina’s willing to help the spirit, and what’s presented is perfect because of how the victim sees the paranormal world and how the public reacts. It’s a parallel construction rarely offered in any tale, and what’s presented is a colourful trip into a strange kaleidoscopic underworld. Here, this bully either has to confess or face eternal punishment. I wished for the revelation of her fate, but alas, that may be saved for another episode. I want more.

Hopefully creator Shin Sugyeong can find backers to expand this universe to either a web-comic or series. I see a lot of potential when I don’t expect the outcome offered here! It’s like The Sixth Sense without the maudlin atmosphere.