World of Tomorrow
World of Tomorrow
Play like a Driver
Play like a Driver
Locus of Everyday Life
Locus of Everyday Life

Screened as part of NZIFF 2015

Animation Now 2015 

World

This year’s big-screen celebration of the latest and best animated shorts is a dazzler, including Don Hertzfeldt’s World of Tomorrow, winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film at Sundance.

Sep 03

Lido Hamilton

Sep 08

Lido Hamilton

89 minutes

When NZIFF took the plunge and hired me to programme animated shorts in 1997, the job seemed massive: the number entered that year was 600. All arrived in the mail on VHS tapes. To get to this year’s programme, a grand total of 3,535 shorts had to be sifted, weighed and catalogued – and fewer than 100 arrived in a physical format. That speaks volumes for what is happening in the world of creative animation. There is a diversity, complexity and an intriguing, ingenious artfulness to so much animation that never makes it into the cinemas. As always, the overarching mission is to cut to the essence of what auteur animators are creating and showcase it here in one glorious big-screen hit. It’s a special pleasure to open this year’s programme with a stunning film that has many of its roots in New Zealand. — Malcolm Turner

Bendito Machine V – Pull the Trigger 2014

Director

12 minutes

Doomsday rendered in exquisitely filigreed silhouettes.

Me and My Moulton 2014

Director

Canada / Norway
14 minutes

This droll, beautifully crafted short from Oscar winner Torill Kove traces a young girl’s struggle with her parents’ obsession with modernism.

Scoop 2014

UK In English
2 minutes

Clark and Tiffany take their Chopper- Chopper to the annual Lava Fish Day to watch Lava Fish Man erupt yummy, red-hot seafood. But something’s wrong.

Locus of Everyday Life 2014

Directors

7 minutes

Abstraction of astounding beauty and visual complexity.

Bear Story 2014

10 minutes

A bear’s autobiography as played out at his own marvellous tin marionette theatre.

Nothing Else but Water 2014

5 minutes

Celebrating the safe return of a ship of intrepid explorers, a young pig wonders just where he fits into it all.

The Sleepwalker 2015

Director

4 minutes

If Miro had been an animator, he might have come up with this fiesta of lines, shapes and colours.

Play like a Driver 2013

Director

3 minutes

Confounding mini-masterpiece from one of Japan’s most audacious rising stars.

World of Tomorrow 2015

Director

USA
17 minutes

One of the year’s great short films, animated or otherwise, World of Tomorrow takes a young girl on a truly mind-bending tour of her future.