BAFTA ANIMATED SHORTS - 1

The winners of the Best Short Animation BAFTA are varied...



Don't Feed The Pigeons by Antonin Niclass ('21) (UK) (9m) *

Don't Feed The Pigeons, which won the BAFTA in 2022, is set in a coach station in the middle of the night, where a varied assortment of travellers wait in silence while the pigeons go about their business. When the pigeons take flight in a display that inspires awe in the humans, there is a momentary connection. The animation is, of course, awesome and there are some nice moments but the story is perhaps a little limited - as is often the case with the BAFTA winner.

Jet

Granddad Was A Romantic by Maryam Mohajer ('19) (UK) (5m)

Created by British-Iranian animator Maryam Mohajer, Granddad Was A Romantic seems to be telling a Persian love story until a more earthy (perhaps British) sense of humour reveals itself. It is voiced by Maya Naraghi, who had collaborated with Mohajer on her previous short animation, Red Dress. No Straps, which also tells a Persian story from a child's point of view. I am not qualified to critique animation but I prefer this short to many of the more recent BAFTA winners due to its brevity and funny ending.

Dating

Roughhouse by Jonathan Hodgson (2018) (UK) (16m)

As ever with animated shorts, I can only really appraise the storytelling and not the animation itself. It starts with some casual animal cruelty by three Birmingham (UK) boys; then tells the story of these three unlikeable friends as they travel to art college in Liverpool and befriend a law student who encourages them to bully one of their number when he stops contributing to the rent. This leads to the bullied man considering suicide.

Skhizein

A Love Story by Anushka Naanayakkara (2016) (UK) (7m)

A Love Story won the BAFTA in 2017, when only three animations were nominated. Created in woven wools, A Love Story is a fairly experimental film in which two floating heads come together before one is taken over by a blackness that the other finds impossible to negate. It reminds me of BAFTA winning The Bead Game from 1978 but I have to admit I prefer the older film. Naanayakkara made A Love Story while a student at the UK's NFTS, continuing a long tradition of BAFTA winners.

Skhizein

Kisa Filmler Link to Spanish page Link to Russian page Link to Romanian page Link to Polish page Link to Polish page Link to Japanese page Link to Italian page Link to Hungarian page Link to German page Link to French page Link to Chinese page