- Batz, a seven-minute animated short from Max Maleo and Aurélien Prédal, is a fabulously original tale of unlikely friendship. It follows two bats whose vastly different lifestyles collide in a fast-paced, action-packed adventure. While some of the visuals are a bit squirm-inducing – it is, after all, a short about bats – the whole thing is a blast from start to finish. See the short here.
- In Carlos Stevens’ five-minute The Alchemist’s Letter, fantasy and heartrending emotion combine to great effect. The short centers on a young man who returns to the home of his late father, an alchemist, to revisit the past and find new meaning for his future. Carlos’ animation is absolutely astounding, rendered in lush, vibrant colors and striking detail. It certainly doesn’t hurt that he chose John Hurt as his star voice actor, either. The film can be found here.
- Charge, a one-minute film by Gerrit Bekers, is obviously very brief, but it goes somewhere entirely unexpected in its short runtime. We see two soldiers charging at each other and assume that combat is nigh upon them, but what happens instead is delightfully bizarre. It’s an impressive display of skill from Bekers, whose animation style is wonderfully expressive and refreshingly stylized. Check it out here.
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