BERLIN ANIMATIONS 3
Please Say Something by David O'Reilly (2008) (Ireland) (10m)
It actually took me a while to work out which was the man and which was the woman in this slightly experimental and somewhat earnest animation about domestic violence. I think its other-worldly weirdness - and animators tend to lead the way in this type of weirdness - is part of its engaging quality and there is at least a fairly clear narrative. It won O'Reilly the Golden Bear for Best Short Film in 2009.
Our Man In Nirvana by Jan Koester ('06) (Germany) (11m) *
Just to prove that the Berlin jury are partial to some kind of continual drug-induced trip, Our Man In Nirvana, by Jan Koester, enters a psychedelic world that is somewhere between The Beatles' Yellow Submarine and a Monty Python animation. The title is referencing both the late Kurt Curbain's old band and the supreme goal of Nirvana in various Indian belief systems. Thus we have a rock star who dies on stage and finds himself in a strange world...
Lucia by Felix Gönnert (2004) (Germany) (6m) *
A sweet computer animation from German Felix Gonnert, Lucia shares many of the characteristics found in other Berlin animations - with someone adrift in a strange wolrd. In this case a young girl wakes alone in hospital, creeps out of her room and discovers her x-rays. An angelic creature flies out of her head x-ray and leads her into a magical world where her brain tuma is devoured by a fish! It won the Special Award from the German Children's Fund in 2004.
