Glove
2016 · 5m · USA
Directed by Bernardo Britto, Alexa Lim Haas
Genres: animation, documentary, experimental
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, whimsical
An animated retelling of the true story of an astronaut's glove that floated away during a 1965 spacewalk, tracing the glove's journey from a small Delaware manufacturing plant to its eternal drift through the cosmos.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Five minutes of hand-painted cosmic loss following an astronaut's runaway 1965 glove. Sundance-Grand-Jury-bait when it premiered and I still don't hate it — small subject, real form, no padding.
Britto and Lim Haas's hand-painted requiem for an astronaut's lost glove — Sundance 2016, SXSW Grand Jury — sits beside Don Hertzfeldt as one of the defining cosmic-grief animations of the decade. Dedicated to the co-director's late father, which is exactly the weight five minutes needs.
Hand-painted animation tracking an actual 1965 NASA glove's drift through space, dedicated to the co-director's late father — that's the kind of specific historical hook that lets a 5-minute meditation on loss earn its tone. Sundance + SXSW Grand Jury for animation; the form is built for the content.
Reviews
While 'Glove' seems like such an inconsequential subject, even for a short, Haas and Britto know why the story is worth telling and where the fascination lies.
'Glove' turns a random throwaway shot from a NASA documentary into a wondrous, hand-painted animated tale of loss and cosmic wonder.
Festivals
- Sundance Film Festival 2016
- SXSW Film Festival 2016, Animated Short Grand Jury Prize
- San Francisco International Film Festival 2016, Best Animated Short
- Milan Film Festival 2016, Best Animated Short
- Provincetown International Film Festival 2016, Best Animated Short
- Palm Springs International ShortFest 2016
- Aspen Shortsfest 2016