La Perra (The Bitch)
2023 · 14m · Colombia
Directed by Carla Melo Gampert
Tones: provocative, sensual, tender
In Bogotá, a bird-girl leaves behind her domineering mother and faithful dog to explore her burgeoning sexuality, navigating shame and desire in a hand-drawn world of ink and watercolors.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
Bird-girl coming-of-age in ink and watercolor, Bogotá's Cannes selection — the visual language alone is enough, and the alienation-from-body conceit isn't just decorative. Yes.
La Perra is a formally exquisite debut — its ink-and-watercolor hand-animation and dialogue-free exploration of feminine desire mark Carla Melo Gampert as a singular voice, confirmed by official Cannes selection.
Hand-drawn ink-and-watercolor bird-people with beaks and long necks as the embodiment of a daughter's alienation from her own changing body — Gampert's Cannes Official Selection conceit is the rare animation choice where the medium and the body horror are inseparable. Bogotá and Bestia are good company.
Reviews
Provocative but assured in its presentation narratively and artistically, it is one of the most impressive short films of the last couple of years.
With an elegant and dynamic visual layout made by hand drawn in ink and watercolors, Carla Melo Gampert offers an intimate look at a taboo theme with magnificent scenes.
Festivals
- Cannes Film Festival 2023
- Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2023
- Toronto International Film Festival 2023
- SXSW Film Festival 2024
- Palm Springs International ShortFest 2024
- Brooklyn Film Festival 2024