Tag: Short Film

A Geek’s Guide to the 2023 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

We offer our list of must sees at the 2023 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, and they include a mix of short animated works along with three features!

39th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film FestivalAll hands are on deck for the 2023 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, and it’s resumed being a mostly in-person event. A small selection of works will be made available online and what attendees should check out are its shorts program! All the fantasy and genre works are found here, and what I offer as a highlight of what to look for those attending.

Although some pieces are tough to group according to the name of the program, what I offer will be by genre tag. Thus, in the animated category, I’m particularly excited for Colorville, Rem Koolhaus’ Music Video Kajo, The Old Young Crow, Tala’s Bedtime Story, and Māui Adventures: Capturing The Sun.

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On Why Charlie Mackesy’s “The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and The Horse” Tugs at the Heart

This animated short is adapted from Charlie Mackesy’s storybook of the same name. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse left me wondering how faithful the art is between the two.

Charlie Mackesy's The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and The Horse
The children’s book that this short is based on is available to purchase on Amazon USA

Available on Apple Plus

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse is a very deeply moving story that’s very multilayered. This animated short is adapted from Charlie Mackesy‘s storybook of the same name, and it left me wondering how faithful the art is between the two. I debated purchasing a copy at a bookstore just because I loved the tale. But hot after its Christmas release, both they and even the local libraries couldn’t keep it on the shelf long, and I waited my turn to take it out.

The movie has a quality that feels like a Victorian age children’s novel has come to life. In regards to what this author wanted to share as a message to viewers is very encouraging. There’s more to teaching readers the value of compassion, but also love. And the other life lessons that it imparts will certainly have many thinking. When it’s beautifully complemented with a piano soundtrack, the comtemplative feel good vibes will certainly last!

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[Fantasia 2022] More Than Just a Sneak Peak at José Luis Saturno’s La Melodía Torrencial

José Luis Saturno’s La Melodía Torrencial is more than just a fairy tale, and we got to interview this filmmaker about it’s deeper meaning.

José Luis SaturnoMonsters and and Humans Shorts
July 23 at 9:00 PM at the Cinéma du Musée

In Fantasia’s 2022 list of animated shorts, not only did José Luis Saturno’s poster for La Melodía Torrencial catch my attention for its artistic design but also the trailer looked fabulous! The art design had a touch of Tim Burton’s design aesthetic which I adored, and I had to know more. I mentioned this film in my top animated picks list, and got a chance to see this short film ahead of its premiere.

This story about a rainmaker going by the name of Fluvio has a lot of layers tucked into its narrative. When a township sought him out to bring them rain to their arid community, what they get–some may say–was their just desserts. But there’s a lot more going on in Saturno’s latest work than meets the eye.

This filmmaker studied Film Animation at Concordia University in Montreal and started producing even before finishing his degree. He didn’t submit for film festivals until his third year in school, and instead of working for the big studios, he decided going independent was the way to go.

Thus, Enjambre Hexagonal was born. A few of their works can be found on YouTube, but to see them as they’re intended, on the big screen, is a must so the detail can be appreciated. He hires freelance artists as part of the staff to do this work, and the people on call include Yann Ben Alluch who does the storyboards and helps animate (“El mimo y la mariposa negra”). Robin Servant handles all the music and is the talent behind the sounds in La Melodía Torrencial. 

He said, “I never felt compelled to work in the industry from the bottom in the hopes of one day being hired as a director. I simply wanted to make films as quickly as possible.”

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Enter the Sublime at the 2022 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Shorts Program

This year’s set of cinematic shorts programs playing at the Los Angeles Asian Film Festival continues to enlighten and educate.

2022 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Shorts ProgramThis year’s set of cinematic shorts programs playing at the Los Angeles Asian Film Festival continues to enlighten and educate. My tip is that anyone curious about SouthEast Asia should check these curated selections out! Each nation has a uniquemess that not everyone is aware of, and I’m constantly amazed at what the filmmakers from here can produce. Even if you can’t make it to this event, most of them can be found streaming online.

From the program guide on one of these programs:

Through various frames and points of view, we are brought closer to encountering an ancient Pacific past. Once again Pacific Cinewaves pushes the importance of āina, ancestry and belonging, challenging how Pacific people have been imagined throughout history. In these films, seven filmmakers become modern-day navigators using their hands and creative vision to steer each story.

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The NFB’s Adds 2 New Comic Strip Chronicles and is Presenting at the Montreal Comic Arts Festival!

National Film Board of Canada LOGO

The National Film Board of Canada has humour and serious drama in store with two pieces now in its online Comic Strip Chronicles Collection. This series of shorts looks at the strong connection that exists with comic strips–in its traditional Sunday funnies format–with animation. When considering the latter, it also delves deep into thoughtful experiences too.

More events are planned this weekend. These two particular works will be screened at the Films et Table Ronde Entourant L’univers de la BD event (in French and organised by the NFB) and the Montreal Comic Arts Festival, beginning May 7.

There’s also a terrific retrospective written by Marc St-Pierre on The NFB’s blog to get readers up to speed on what the Animation Studio of the French Program has been up to in the past several years. The article is written in French, and it can be parsed through Google Translate.

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Scrat Tales is Exactly What the Doctor, er Disney Ordered

Scrat Tales has six laugh-out-loud episodes which I’ll be regularly watching. from time to time because of the insanity that goes on between the adult and jr.

Ice Age: Scrat Tales (TV Mini Series 2022– ) - IMDbAvailable to view on Disney Plus

An Ice Age movie or television series without Scrat is just not right. Disney thought they could get away with not bringing this beloved mascot back, and I’m glad they’ve released Scrat Tales, now available on Disney Plus. This series has six laugh-out-loud episodes which I’ll be regularly watching. 

This series was already in development before being acquired by the mouse and I love the classic Looney Tunes style shenanigans that make up this squirrel’s chase for the beloved nut. Scrat is now a dad, sort of. He’s found another of his kind, a younger version of himself, and they’re cute and evil towards one another. Sometimes they work together, and other times they are at each other’s throats like in Spy vs Spy. 

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