Lili
2017 · 10m · Israel
Directed by Hani Dombe, Tom Kouris
Genres: coming-of-age, fantasy, surrealism
Tones: contemplative, surreal, whimsical
Lili refuses to abandon childhood and fights a sandstorm that threatens to carry Lili away. At the heart of the storm, childhood joy returns, yet a choice between illusion and reality remains.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
The sandstorm-as-metaphor thing is executed competently, but it's doing exactly what surreal coming-of-age films are supposed to do—there's no weird premise here that makes you question the form itself, just a well-shot allegory about growing up.
Formally situated in the lineage of contemporary European animated surrealism, with careful attention to color and movement that recalls both Cartoon Saloon and Eastern European traditions; the editing rhythm between whimsy and dread shows clear curatorial intent.
The decision to keep Lili's agency front-and-center while the sandstorm threatens—literally fighting back rather than being swept away—is the single choice that elevates this from concept to emotional truth, especially in how the animation holds that defiance in the character's physicality even when surrounded by abstraction.