Dormilón
2025 · 9m · USA
Directed by Olivia Marie Valdez
Genres: animation, drama, fantasy
Tones: contemplative, dark, surreal
A middle-aged janitor living in an abandoned theater escapes each night into dreams where he is the star performer, recording them lovingly. When a stormy night unleashes his accumulated nightmares into his waking world, he must confront his deepest fears and insecurities to become a more complete version of himself.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Stop-motion janitor dreaming himself a stage in an abandoned theater is a familiar Caligari-coded silhouette, but Laika support through Project Involve usually means the puppets and sets earn their close-ups. Pretty, possibly precious.
Stop-motion crafted through Film Independent's Project Involve with Laika support, dialogue-free with Caligari-influenced expressionism, is institutional pedigree that earns close attention. The only available link is a trailer, which makes evaluation provisional.
Stop-motion puppet animation with Laika support through Film Independent's Project Involve — that's a serious resource pipeline, and a nine-minute wordless dreamscape using miniature theater sets is the right format for it. Only the trailer was on the page so I'm extrapolating, but the institutional backing is real.
Reviews
This short has that magic stuff that separates a sketch from a poem in the short world. A stop-motion masterpiece.
A poetic blend of visual storytelling and emotional depth that explores themes of self-image, performance, and repression through a janitor's dreamscape.
Festivals
- Palm Springs International ShortFest 2025
- Slamdance Film Festival 2025
- Seattle International Film Festival 2025, Short Film Award Nominee - Animation
- AFI FEST 2025
- Vashon Island Film Festival 2025
- Florida Film Festival 2025