Short Film Archives | Otaku No Culture

The NFB Defines The Physics of Sorrow

The NFB

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Georgi Gospodinov’s “The Physics of Sorrow” is animated by Theodore Ushev (best known for Blind Yaysha), and this director/artist’s approach is hauntingly beautiful. It made its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (Sept 5-15, 2019) and is produced by the National Film Board of Canada. I suspect this animated short will have a few more cinematic screenings before becoming available online. I recommend the big screen version because of the artistry put into the work.

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Top Scares from Fantasia’s Things That Go Bump in The East 2019 Shorts Program

We offer our top picks on which of Fantasia Festival’s “Things That Go Bump In The East” Shorts Program are must sees.

Runs: July 11 – August 1st Montreal, Quebec

This year, Fantasia Festival‘s “Things That Go Bump In The East” Shorts Program offers an eclectic mix of animated works which I’m savoring like fine wine. This year featured eleven works and plenty are from the Tokyo University of the Arts. Some of these will no doubt screen at other film festivals. We can find a few online, like Shishigari (a wonderful tale of survival with elements of Mononoke Hime tossed in) and the others–they are worth seeking to get your scream on.

Various cinematic and illustration styles are used to deliver the goosebumps. In what makes these films unique is in how the animators push the envelope not only in how 2D Digital Animation can tell the story but also with how Asian filmmakers are defining an age old genre.

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GKIDS & Shout! Factory to Release Modest Heroes June 18th!

Modest Heroes Blu-ray Cover GKIDS and Shout! Factory will issue Modest Heroes on Blu-ray + DVD and digital download on June 18, 2019. The release, which features both Japanese and English audio tracks and comes complete with bonus features, is available for pre-order now on Shoutfactory.com.

From Studio Ponoc (Mary and The Witch’s Flower), the acclaimed new studio founded by twice-Academy Award®-nominated producer Yoshiaki Nishimura (The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, When Marnie Was There), comes a thrilling collection of stories exploring ideas of heroism in their own unique way.

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Finding Zen in Giltrude’s Dwelling, An Interview with Jeremy Lutter

Giltrude’s Dwelling is set to make its hometown debut Jan 25th, during the Vancouver Shorts Film Fest, and writer Marcy Waughtal and director Jeremy Lutter could not be any happier.

Giltrude’s Dwelling is set to make its hometown debut Jan 25th, during the Vancouver Shorts Film Fest, and writer Marcy Waughtal and director Jeremy Lutter could not be any happier. This piece is about a young girl who has seemingly lost her parents. They warn her about the dangers the outside has, especially at night. Their home teleports to new worlds every day. The question of whether it returns is asked, and by only going to see this work, answers can be given.

One night, the folks leave and Giltrude (played by Kennedi Clements, the young girl, and Kacey Rohl, adult) is waiting for their return. Years pass and this young lady has a lot to fear. However, there’s more to this work than meets the eye. Lutter saw something unique in Waughtal’s story and he believes it is has a lot to offer to the viewer.

“It’s a fairly common trait to let bad events have a big impact on your future,” said the filmmaker, “I have seen it ruin people’s lives. I also had my fair share of heartache in my life that I had to see past and not let it stop me. As soon as I read Waughtal’s script, it spoke to me.”

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Hedgehog’s Home finds its way to The NFB Homestead Dec 17th!

Not everyone understands what “home” is. A fox, wolf, bear, and boar berate Hedgehog after finding what his den is made of and try to understand why his home is different to their

The NFB By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

All hail the Mighty Hedgehog! No, we are not talking about Sonic from the video games, but rather an innocuous creature of the woods, as imagined by poet Branko Ćopić. Simply titled Hedgehog’s Home, this stop-motion animated short has numerous accolades. It was spotlighted at many a film festival including Annecy and New York back in 2017, and how it’s making permanent residency on the free media servers of the National Film Board of Canada

The music takes some cues from the Wild West and perhaps even the narrative too. As someone from that era might say, “There ain’t no place like home.” Homesteaders back then had to stand their ground against resistance. Whether that’s over land ownership, against others (bullies) or against the aggressive climate (making a new life was not easy), many a theme can be explored. Ćopić‘s tale comes out of his experiences from native Yugoslavia, post-World War II and the folk tradition.

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[VFF2018] The Wild West Tale is Redefined with Undertaker’s Son, A Short Film

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By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Making an effective Western that stands out can be a challenge. All the tropes have been done to death and how can any filmmaker offer a tale that’s new? Foreshadow Film‘s (formerly known as Affolter Entertainment) The Undertaker’s Son is a very impressive work which I believe deserves number one place if I was to say which one of the 2018 Victoria Film Festival‘s BC Shorts Program (which played Weds night) I enjoyed the most.

This piece began as a challenge under the auspices of Vancouver’s Crazy 8’s challenge — to make a film in eight days. Since finishing this project a year ago, this nugget of gold has been making the film festival rounds.

With this tale, young Christopher’s (Darien Provost, The Whispers) anxiety shows when he knows that one day he is to train and be the next in line to continue the family business. In the days of the Wild West, death can be anywhere. Whether that’s a matter of surviving in untamed frontier or the lawlessness that’s around, we hardly learn about those on the sidelines or has the thankless job of burying the dead at Boot Hill. This short film looks at the life of a young lad — who clearly has interest in a girl he meets along the way to the morgue — and also his relationship with his father, Jonathan (Louis Ferreira, Breaking Bad & Stargate Universe).

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