ATELIER
2017 · 30m · Denmark
Directed by Elsa María Jakobsdóttir
Genres: drama, experimental, surrealism
Tones: contemplative, surreal, tense
A woman retreats to a remote modern studio utopia seeking peace, but a sound artist interrupts her stay while mysterious sheep close in.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
The sheep-as-metaphorical-threat thing could've been pretentious garbage, but Jakobsdóttir commits to the weirdness without winking—it's genuinely unsettling in a way that makes you unsure if you're watching horror or meditation, which is exactly the kind of tonal resistance I live for.
A precise formal exercise in negative space and sound design that situates itself squarely in the experimental cinema tradition while maintaining genuine dramatic tension; the interplay between the woman's isolation and the sound artist's intrusion recalls Bresson's economy but with a distinctly contemporary unease.
The decision to let the sheep remain largely off-screen—present only as acoustic and visual disturbance—transforms what could be a gimmick into genuine dread, and that restraint, paired with the muted color palette, does everything the film needs on a modest budget.
Reviews
Atelier is a brave and mysterious film about isolation and the tension that arises when differing expectations clash. In a delicate play of genres, the short's use of stark locations and bold sound design results in an unsettling aura that beautifully lingers from frame to frame.
Festivals
- Aspen Shortsfest 2018, Vimeo Staff Pick Award