Sponsor
Michigan Theater/State Theatre
Community Partner
Ann Arbor District Library
Ann Arbor Summer Festival
kaua — we (you & I)
Rachel Makana’aloha O Kauikeolani Nakawatase
Newhall, CA | 2023 | 2 | digital file
World Premiere
In an attempt to use mirror divination, a spirit appears as a clever creature during the year of the rabbit.
Austin Karimloo
Patricia Luna
Los Angeles, CA | 2023 | 4 | DCP
This short film was inspired by producer and composer Peter Rotter’s experience working remotely with his employees and colleagues during the worldwide quarantine period for the COVID–19 pandemic, as he tried to find and foster joy, despite the lack of in-person physical presence and connection.
Necktie Cinema
John Akre
Louisville, KY | 2023 | 4 | digital file
What if all the neckties stopped trying to strangle us and showed us their movies instead?
Minus Plus Multiply
Chu-Chieh Lee
London, UK | 2023 | 4 | digital file
With a container as a motif and a metaphor for a safe place, the story surrounds the protagonist’s self-searching and healing journey, exploring the relationship between emotion and space. The film attempts to construct psychological self-portraits and a poetic narrative through experimentation in 2D animation, stop-motion, and sound. It reflects sensibility, fragility, and fragmentation of identity by applying pottery and clay.
Glitter For Girls
Federica Foglia
Toronto, ON | 2023 | 4 | DCP
Glitter for Girls is a handmade tattoo film that utilizes a cameraless direct-on-film animation approach to craft a collage composed of multiple layers of water tattoos (commonly used by children).
The Forestbetween
Mar Sudac
Los Angeles, CA | 2022 | 13 | digital file
United States Premiere
A land surveyor is sent to map out an ominous forest between two rival kingdoms.
Somnia
Farbod Khoshtinat
Los Angeles, CA | 2023 | 3 | digital file
World Premiere
A girl, drowned in the depths of her dreams, swims through a perilous quest to find a way to awaken and escape her subconscious prison..
Bella Luna
Virginia L. Montgomery
Austin, TX | 2023 | 4 | digital file
”Bella Luna” is a surreal, synesthesia-esque film interweaving a cacophony of circular symbols, sounds, and gestures. The film features Bella, a North American luna moth, as she gently flutters between sticks and bells. Her moth-ly movements create the film’s soundtrack as her human companion hand-dances alongside her. Working together, they co-create a healing soundscape as both entities, moth and human, share a common dialogue of sounds, symbols, and intimacy.
Two One Two
Shira Avni
Montreal, QC, Canada | 2023 | 4 | DCP
”Two One Two” combines shimmering clay-on-glass animation with personal archives in a deeply intimate, experimental animated documentary love letter to motherhood, parenting on the spectrum, and two-headed monsters everywhere.
Soul Supreme: Geshem Bejuni
Tal Uliel
Jerusalem, Israel | 2023 | 3 | digital file
This music video clip for Soul Supreme was created as a graduate project by Tal Uliel from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. It aims to blend an analog aesthetic with 3D compositing, and draws inspiration from risograph printing and abstract geometry.
I'm Lost to the World
Tiger Cai
New York, NY | 2023 | 2 | digital file
”I'm Lost to the World” is an audiovisual experience of a daydream on an alien beach. It is a part of an ongoing worldview-building project named Wonderland and the Funny Fellows.