Pile
2019 · 3m · United Kingdom
Directed by Toby Auberg
Genres: animation, experimental, satire
Tones: contemplative, darkly comic, surreal
Beginning at the bottom of his titular pile, Auberg introduces us to his world as we witness humankind just struggling to survive – living in scrappy tents or ramshackle huts, eating only what they catch or grow – before moving his camera upwards and revealing the true intentions of his short.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
A three-minute animation that treats accumulation—literal piles of stuff—as both absurdist comedy and existential dread; it's the kind of formally playful, tonally slippery premise that makes you uncomfortable before you can pin down why, and that's exactly when you know it's working.
Auberg's restraint with color and form creates a lineage with mid-century experimental animation, where minimalist visual language carries maximum conceptual weight—the editing rhythm between growth and stillness is deceptively controlled.
The decision to let the pile grow in real-time, without cuts or tricks, transforms what could be a gimmick into something genuinely unsettling; it's that commitment to duration and patience that makes the satire land.
Reviews
Thematically ambitious, Auberg backs up his grand concept with some impressive craft, telling his story in one continual shot, his virtual camera rising through his incredibly detailed tower of humanity. Selected to play at Annecy (where it won the 2020 Jury award for a graduation short film), BFI London and Cannes.