23^rd Animation Show of Shows
Various directors

Friday, December 27, 6 pm | BUY TICKETS

$12 | $8 Speed members

Featuring 14 award-winning films by some of the most acclaimed directors in the world of animation, the 23rd Annual Animation Show of Shows offers the rare opportunity to see 11 rarely screened classic masterpieces that have won Grand Prizes at international festivals around the world. From Michaël Dudok de Wit’s poignant Oscar-winning Father and Daughter, to a hidden gem by the “King of Indie Animation,” Bill Plympton, to three all-new shorts from Croatia, Switzerland, and the U.S., this program is an incredible retrospective of some of the best-animated shorts of the last 30 years, as well as a peek at a new generation of filmmakers.

With films from a diversity of countries—including Croatia, Germany, the U.S., Canada, the Netherlands, Mexico, the UK, and Switzerland—this retrospective of the first 16 years of the Animation Show of Shows reveals empathetic narratives dealing with death, love, fear, passion, loss, reverence, denial, and joy. It’s a cinematic journey well worth taking. 1994-2023, Canada/Croatia/France/Germany/Mexico/Netherlands/Switzerland/U.K./U.S., DCP, in several languages with English subtitles, 91 minutes. Recommended for 15+.

According to Birds (Volgens de vogels)
Directed by Linde Faas

Dawn. The only sound is the wind in the trees. A leaf falls gently through the air and lands in a still pool. Then, as if by magic, the birds appear. This beautifully drawn, meditative film is an ode to nature and the winged creatures who fill the woods with their little rituals, strange movements and beautiful sounds. For bird lovers and non-bird lovers alike, this closely observed, evocative film is like a soothing walk in the woods. 2008, Netherlands, 6 minutes.

Overtime
Directed by Oury Atlan, Breakbot, and Damien Ferrié
In this moving and life-affirming film, a troupe of small puppets find their creator, who has died, lying on his bench. Grief-stricken, the puppets at first refuse to accept the death of their master. Yet, in time, they come to understand his death and to move beyond their overwhelming sense of loss. 2005, France, 5 minutes.

X1
Directed by Vuk Jevremovic

Taking football (i.e., soccer) as a jumping-off point into politics, history, and culture, X1 uses a flurry of ink-on-paper, pastel, watercolor, and oil-on-canvas tools to take us inside the head of a football player as he stands alone on a field for a penalty kick facing a goalie, a net, a ball, and thousands of fans. Flashes of archival footage dash across the screen, reflecting the outside world and the many external pressures and influences that are an inescapable part of competitive sports. As he confronts the goalie across the 11 meters that separate them, the shooter knows that whatever he does next will have repercussions beyond a simple kick and a single game. 2022, Croatia/Germany, 5 minutes.

Cameras Take Five
Directed by Steven Woloshen

Using as a soundtrack the Dave Brubeck Quartet version of Paul Desmond’s jazz classic “Take Five,” Steve Woloshen has produced a festive explosion of graphics that reflect and punctuate the musical score. Woloshen created the work by painting the thousands of individual frames on a three-hundred-feet-long piece of negative film. The abstract shapes, undulating lines, curves, stars, waves, spots, and points continuously evolve as the music plays. 2003, Canada, 3 minutes.

The Centrifuge Brain Project
Directed by Till Nowak

Based on his childhood fascination with amusement parks, Till Nowak created this mockumentary fantasy film. The film incorporates computer-generated imagery to create seven real-seeming fictional amusement park rides used in a faux documentary film about the construction of physics-defying rides intended for use in research efforts to improve human cognitive function. 2011, Germany, 7 minutes.

Father and Daughter
Directed by Michaël Dudok de Wit

A father says goodbye to his young daughter. Time passes and the daughter moves through life, age by age. She becomes a young woman, has a family, and in time she grows old. Yet within her, there is always a deep longing for her father, with whom, in the end, she is – or appears to be – reunited. 2000, Netherlands, 8 minutes.

Down to the Bone (Hasta los huesos)
Directed by René Castillo

In this exquisite stop-motion work, a newly dead man finds himself in an afterlife nightclub populated by others who are no more. Unsure if he’s in purgatory or if this is his permanent resting spot, he tries to make the best of it and, ultimately, he must accept his fate. 2001, Mexico, 10 minutes.

Hillary
Directed by Anthony Hodgson

“Hilary worked in an office with a rubber plant and a man whose name she’d forgotten, and she lived with her mother and her mother’s father, who was 76 and deaf and who secretly ate dogfood, although it wasn’t much of a secret.”  A man tells his daughter a bedtime story as they meander through a series of strange locations, each one Illustrating a different chapter in the humorous but ultimately tragic life of his wife, Hilary. 1994, U.K., 9 minutes.

I’m Hip
Directed by John Musker

A self-absorbed cat, in a jazzy song and dance, proudly and comically proclaims his “hipness” to the world. The world is not impressed. 2023, U.S., 4 minutes.

John and Karen
Directed by Matthew Walker

An unlikely couple – John, a polar bear, and Karen, a penguin – try to resolve their problems in this dryly humorous and surprisingly touching short. 2007, U.K., 5 minutes.

The Record
Directed by Jonathan Laskar

A traveler gives an antiques dealer a magic vinyl record, telling him, “It reads your mind and plays your lost memories.” Increasingly obsessed by this uncanny artifact, the dealer listens to it again and again. 2022, Switzerland, 8 minutes.

Requiem for a Romance
Directed by Jonathan Ng

A modern-day couple’s phone call about the anguishing details of their relationship is juxtaposed with visuals of an epic battle in feudal China where love equals war. 2012, Canada, 8 minutes.

Santa, the Fascist Years
Directed by Bill Plympton

While we all think of Santa as “Jolly old St. Nick,” it turns out that this beloved icon has a dark past that has only recently come to light. This short film uncovers and explores Santa’s flirtation with politics and greed. 2008, U.S., 3 minutes.

When the Day Breaks
Directed by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis

After witnessing the accidental death of a humanoid rooster, Ruby, a humanoid pig, seeks comfort from her everyday life in the city. Using pencil and paint on photocopies to achieve a textured look suggestive of a lithograph or a newsreel, the directors of this Oscar-nominated short create a tale at once whimsical and profound. 1999, Canada, 10 minutes.