Animated Shorts Competition presented by IMDbPro
Animated Shorts Program
An assortment of stories told using traditional animation, computer-generated effects, stop-motion, and everything in between.
Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.
Program Includes:
In an insect food farm, millions of crickets are being bred, frozen, packaged, and fried. The ordinary, everyday process in the farm is a one-time catastrophe for the crickets and usually ends with their certain death. Nevertheless, one cricket survives and escapes.
A spirited young woman persuades a hyena from London Zoo to take her place at a dreaded dinner dance being held in her honour. Their plan requires a surprising amount of artistry and violence. The Debutante is based on a short story written by the artist Leonora Carrington, who was presented at the court of King George V and herself became a debutante in 1936. Elizabeth Hobbs celebrates Carrington’s bold and funny story with ink, paint and collage, accompanied by a score by composer Hutch Demouilpied.
With a delicately penciled animation style, "A Tiny Man" tells a moral tale of nefarious schemes gone awry. As a husband faces the consequences of his actions, he perhaps begins to realize that maybe size does in fact matter.
A scientist lives alone in a large mansion, controlling every aspect of his life with a series of machines that allow him to have no interaction with the outside world. After he accidentally creates a plant creature that takes the form of a baby, his bond with it opens him up to a connection he previously refused to have. As the creature gets older and tries to go outside, the scientist stops it, until one day it grows to a size he can no longer control. As he tries to contain the creature, it breaks free and swallows him whole before bringing him on a journey through the outside world where he learns that it is not as threatening as he may have previously thought.
Amid David’s disbelief and stupefaction, 'Sandwich Cat' explains himself: he’s an alien who has swapped minds with his cat. He will spend a day with David and, depending on what he observes and hears, he will decide whether or not to destroy the human species. David, unsurprisingly, goes nuts.
In a quiet evening, an intriguing little paper figure magically emerges out of a notebook. At first, it was excited and full of curiosity. But later, when the little paper figure suddenly discovers just how small and fragile and alone it is in this big, foreign world, fear sets in and caused it to crumble up. The little paper figure dive into its unconsciousness to discover where it came from and finds the strength to make the tough decision to rip itself from the paper where it came from in order to explore the world beyond. This is the story of growing up and leaving home told as an imaginary tale.
'Ashkasha' is a living being guided by curiosity. This causes her to lose her head and get trapped in the depths, where is submerged on a discovery journey.
Linh is a Vietnamese single mother who’s successfully forged a life for herself and her son in America. But when her father visits from Vietnam and insists on cooking the family a traditional Vietnamese meal, Linh is confronted with the past and culture she left behind and the question of where it belongs in her family’s new life.
Every day, a father and his son jump with a parachute from their vertiginous cold house, attached to a cliff, to go to the village on the ground far away where they sell the ice they produce daily.
Christopher embarks on a transatlantic voyage as a passenger on a cargo ship. His hopes of finding out what lures so many men to sea sets him on a journey into solitude, fantasy, and obsession.
In an insect food farm, millions of crickets are being bred, frozen, packaged, and fried. The ordinary, everyday process in the farm is a one-time catastrophe for the crickets and usually ends with their certain death. Nevertheless, one cricket survives and escapes.
A spirited young woman persuades a hyena from London Zoo to take her place at a dreaded dinner dance being held in her honour. Their plan requires a surprising amount of artistry and violence. The Debutante is based on a short story written by the artist Leonora Carrington, who was presented at the court of King George V and herself became a debutante in 1936. Elizabeth Hobbs celebrates Carrington’s bold and funny story with ink, paint and collage, accompanied by a score by composer Hutch Demouilpied.
With a delicately penciled animation style, "A Tiny Man" tells a moral tale of nefarious schemes gone awry. As a husband faces the consequences of his actions, he perhaps begins to realize that maybe size does in fact matter.
A scientist lives alone in a large mansion, controlling every aspect of his life with a series of machines that allow him to have no interaction with the outside world. After he accidentally creates a plant creature that takes the form of a baby, his bond with it opens him up to a connection he previously refused to have. As the creature gets older and tries to go outside, the scientist stops it, until one day it grows to a size he can no longer control. As he tries to contain the creature, it breaks free and swallows him whole before bringing him on a journey through the outside world where he learns that it is not as threatening as he may have previously thought.
Amid David’s disbelief and stupefaction, 'Sandwich Cat' explains himself: he’s an alien who has swapped minds with his cat. He will spend a day with David and, depending on what he observes and hears, he will decide whether or not to destroy the human species. David, unsurprisingly, goes nuts.
In a quiet evening, an intriguing little paper figure magically emerges out of a notebook. At first, it was excited and full of curiosity. But later, when the little paper figure suddenly discovers just how small and fragile and alone it is in this big, foreign world, fear sets in and caused it to crumble up. The little paper figure dive into its unconsciousness to discover where it came from and finds the strength to make the tough decision to rip itself from the paper where it came from in order to explore the world beyond. This is the story of growing up and leaving home told as an imaginary tale.
'Ashkasha' is a living being guided by curiosity. This causes her to lose her head and get trapped in the depths, where is submerged on a discovery journey.
Linh is a Vietnamese single mother who’s successfully forged a life for herself and her son in America. But when her father visits from Vietnam and insists on cooking the family a traditional Vietnamese meal, Linh is confronted with the past and culture she left behind and the question of where it belongs in her family’s new life.
Every day, a father and his son jump with a parachute from their vertiginous cold house, attached to a cliff, to go to the village on the ground far away where they sell the ice they produce daily.
Christopher embarks on a transatlantic voyage as a passenger on a cargo ship. His hopes of finding out what lures so many men to sea sets him on a journey into solitude, fantasy, and obsession.