The Lonely Godess

This is both sad and sweet at the same time. The lonely moon goddess waits patiently for her love, the god of the sun. However, they can never be together and her life is spent weeping tears which turn in to stars. Yet they do come together at one special time but for how long?

This animation was created by Pamela Suryadjaja who is an art student and part time student. It was created for her thesis project at Binus University. It's a lovely piece of work and bodes well for her future career.  I love the artwork and her use of color.

Binus University (also known as Bina Nusantara) is an university in Jakarta, Indonesia. The university's primary field of study is in information technology - it was formed in 1974.

Sunday Short Movie: Beyond Memories

Sophie believes that the only way to move on with her life is to forget about a past relationship. In desperation, she disposes of the last symbol of their love but quickly discovers that as the memories begin to fade, her desire to preserve them only grows stronger.  Written and directed by Cristina Molino, Beyond Memories stars Jolene Anderson and Colin Branca.  It looks gorgeous and tells a simple but fascinating tale.

A Little Amsterdam Love Story

This is just about as sweet as it gets, following a tiny denizen of the Dutch capital as he makes his way to that important first date.  Yes, that is pretty much it but this is delightful work by Andrey Koval with some lovely touches throughout guaranteed to put a smile on your face.  It makes you wonder what goes on in cities all around the world which we fail to notice. 

Sunday Short Movie: Market Hours

Grab a hot beverage, wrap a quilt around you and enjoy this charming short film.  Randall is a burly but benign security guard who enjoys his job guarding a market even though, as his boss tells him, he is not that good at it!  Not only that but he is too shy to ask the girl he loves for a date. It takes a threat, a thief and a small dog for fruit and hearts to collide in this lovely short by Lexus Short Films.

When the End of the World Becomes a Love Story

Although I am the first to revel in the gore-fest that is The Walking Dead, the end of the world does not necessarily have to be all about which body parts can splatted the most distance – and Eric Nichols’ short film The Survivors shows that the zombie apocalypse (or whatever disaster has befallen us this time!) can be an opener for a relationship to begin and blossom.  Shot amid the dazzling Colorado landscape, it’s a languid glimpse at how, when catastrophe comes calling, so can love.

Lavatory Lovestory

It is said that some men lead lives of quiet desperation - and the same could be said of some women too.  I must say that the title of this Oscar nominated animated short film did put me off a little but I should not have worried that I was going to see something that I would have preferred not to.

It tells the story of a single, middle aged lady who works as a lavatory attendant.  To all intents and purposes it looks as if there is little else in her life but her mundane job and she longs for company.  Making matters worse, of course, is that she is surrounded by unavailable men for the duration of her working day.  Then, one day, she finds flowers in the jar that is used to collect the payment for using the facility.  Is her life about to change?

I never thought that the words toilet and charming would go together, but this really is.  Simply drawn in black and white (except for, well - you will see) this animated short film has pathos and humanity in buckets (and it has buckets too, believe me!).

It was created by the Melnitsa Animation Studio, which is based in St Petersburg in Russia.  You may know them for the animated feature film Little Longnose which was released in 2004. It was directed by Konstantin Bronzit and produced by Alexander Boyarsky and Sergey Selyakov.

Enjoy!

The Danish Poet - Academy Award Winner, Best Animated Short Film 2006

I am thrilled to little pieces to be able to share The Danish Poet with you.  Created in a 2006 this animated short film was written, directed, and animated by Torill Kove and narrated by Liv Ullmann.

This delightful animated film focuses on Kasper Jørgensen a sad and lonely Danish poet in the 1940s.  His psychiatrist suggests that he travels on the ferry from Copenhagen to Norway to meet his favorite author, Sigrid Undset.

He agrees but gets waylaid by the Norwegian weather and takes refuge at a farm where he meets Ingeborg, the farmer’s daughter.

The two fall in love but fate gets in the way.  How Kasper and Ingeborg finally get together is something, I think, for you to discover for yourself but (without spoiling any surprise) it is more than their own fates that are at stake here.

The Danish Poet is a co-production of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and Mikrofilm AS of Norway, it has won both the Academy Award (the Oscar!) and Genie Award for best animated short film in 2006.

Paper

This animation tells a very simple tale and therein lies its profundity.  It is an old fashioned love story created by Mathieu Aubry but one I think which will appeal to a modern audience. I am actually finding it quite difficult to say much about this without giving the whole game away, but watch it to the end and you will hopefully see why I chosen to include it on Kuriositas.

As well as the storyline I am completely blown away by the animation techniques used here, particularly some of the angles which must have been pretty difficult and time consuming for what is a personal project.  Hats off to Mr Aubry but also to Jérémy Flandrin with Dirtyspleen, who provide the music.

My Love

My Love is a 2006 paint-on-glass-animated short film directed by Aleksandr Petrov, based on A Love Story (1927) by Ivan Shmelyov. Work on the film took place in Yaroslavl, Russia over a period of three years at the studio DAGO Co. It was funded by Russia's Channel One and Dentsu Tec in Japan.

It is quite a breathtaking animation, using Petrov’s conventional technique of paint-on-glass, a very painstaking and time consuming technique (hence the reason it took three years to make) but it is also a very rewarding one, always a visual treat.

We do not usually feature animations much longer than five minutes on Kuriositas and My Love comes in at just under thirty minutes. However, it is a visual treat with a compelling story and hero.

My Love tells the story of Anton, in his sixteenth year and with his romantic and sexual inclinations awakening. He searches for his first love and finds himself presented with a choice. There is the household maid, his age and pretty, flirtatious and self evidently prepared to return his feelings. Then, there is the mysterious older woman with the blue spectacles who lives with a group of men next door.

Who will Anton choose and what will be the consequences of his actions?

A Short Love Story (in Stop Motion)

I have been meaning to post this up for an age because it is so wonderful, charming and extraordinarily well made.

A couple of pencil-outlined birds escape from a little girl´s drawing, leading us through the life of which she dreams. It was created by the amazingly talented Carlos Lascano.

If this has piqued your curiosity then you can find out more about how this beautiful animated short film was made by visiting Carlos Lascano’s website.

The Lonely Goddess

This is both sad and sweet at the same time. The lonely moon goddess waits patiently for her love, the god of the sun. However, they can never be together and her life is spent weeping tears which turn in to stars. Yet they do come together at one special time but for how long?

This animation was created by Pamela Suryadjaja who is an art student and part time student. It was created for her thesis project at Binus University. It's a lovely piece of work and bodes well for her future career.  I love the artwork and her use of color.

Binus University (also known as Bina Nusantara) is an university in Jakarta, Indonesia. The university's primary field of study is in information technology - it was formed in 1974.

Lavatory Lovestory

It is said that some men lead lives of quiet desperation - and the same could be said of some women too.  I must say that the title of this Oscar nominated animated short film did put me off a little but I should not have worried that I was going to see something that I would have preferred not to.

It tells the story of a single, middle aged lady who works as a lavatory attendant.  To all intents and purposes it looks as if there is little else in her life but her mundane job and she longs for company.  Making matters worse, of course, is that she is surrounded by unavailable men for the duration of her working day.  Then, one day, she finds flowers in the jar that is used to collect the payment for using the facility.  Is her life about to change?

I never thought that the words toilet and charming would go together, but this really is.  Simply drawn in black and white (except for, well - you will see) this animated short film has pathos and humanity in buckets (and it has buckets too, believe me!).

It was created by the Melnitsa Animation Studio, which is based in St Petersburg in Russia.  You may know them for the animated feature film Little Longnose which was released in 2004. It was directed by Konstantin Bronzit and produced by Alexander Boyarsky and Sergey Selyakov.

Enjoy!