Environmental
Screening

A selection of Animated shorts selected from our open submissions 2020, this curated programme carries a central theme of the natural world.

Tanah – Earthly Land

3 minutes/2019/Ireland/Colour/Digital

Director/Writer // Claire Hannigan

College // Colaiste Dhúlaigh

A mother bear and her cub run for their lives when deforestation destroys their home. As the humans clear the land, the pair must escape the large metal monsters. Her maternal instincts never falter as they battle to survive.

The I Land

2 minutes, 38 seconds/2019/Ireland/Colour/Digital

Director // Leanne Dooley

College // LSAD

The I Land is an animated short that follows the main character upon her discovery of a deserted island. This thriving oasis is vibrant with a flourishing eco system, set in the middle of a vast ocean. The nameless islander works hard to survive by utilising the island’s resources. However, the more she takes the more vulnerable she and the island become. This animated short acts as a metaphor, attempting to hold up a mirror to humanity’s failure to acknowledge the consequences of our actions and how short-term gain can often lend itself to monumental loss.

Family Bonds

6 minutes 34 seconds/2019/Germany/Colour

Director // Maria Schmidt

Producer // Nina Schwarz

The little fox Hugo has a happy family, but it’s a bit unsual – his parents are geese. They live an harmonic life until one day Hugo discovers a grown fox attacking another goose. This results into the most challenging and difficult situation our little patchwork-family has to overcome before Hugo ultimately finds out who he really is and that family is a feeling and not a matter of heritage.

Birds of Today

1 minute, 45 seconds/2019/Switzerland/Colour/Digital

Director/Writer/Producer // Moritz Engi

How little birds eat their dinner these days.

The Beekeeper

6 minutes 29 seconds/2019/Ireland/Colour/Digital

Director // Robyn Conroy

College // IADT

Deep in the heart of a bamboo forest, a paternal bear watches over Mae, a spirited young girl that he is raising. Sustained by the collection of beehives that the bear tends to, the two live together in peaceful harmony. However, in order to continue this peaceful way of life there is one rule that Mae cannot break – she must never enter the bee yard where the bees are kept. Everything must change for the two when she does.

Fish For Life

8 minutes, 05 seconds/2019/Austria/Colour/Digital

Directors // Kerstin Blätterbinder, Lisa Gierlinger, Lukas Mathä, Victoria Wolfersberger

Fish for Life tells the story of Manolin, an outdated fisherman who lives in Norway. He has not caught anything in weeks. Manolin lives for his work. Unfortunately, he can no longer keep up with the new technology and also rejects it strictly. Then one day he has reached the point, where he leaves the safe harbor and set out to the open sea.

The Bear Hunter

7 minutes 27 seconds/UK/Colour/Digital

Director // Sayaka Hara

Writer // Kenji Miyazawa

A hunter who lives in the mountain knows the bears well. She apologizes to each bear every time she kills one, but she has to, for it is how she makes her living. One evening, she comes across a bear and when she is about to kill it, the bear speaks to her.