SAMAA
2024 · 2m · Canada
Directed by Ehsan Gharib
Genres: animation, experimental
Tones: contemplative, surreal
A caged bird surrenders to the power of rhythm and movement — hand-painted animation about whether freedom is physical or spiritual.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Two minutes of hand-painted animation set to live drum, caged bird and Sufi rhythm — short enough to commit, expressive enough to mean something. I'll take it.
Gharib compressing Sufi sama into two minutes of hand-painted animation driven by live drum is a formally exhilarating gesture, and the NFB epilepsy warning suggests genuine sensory ambition. One million views in four months is no accident.
2:27 of hand-painted animation set to live drum score — Ehsan Gharib compressing Sufi Sama ritual into NFB animation territory is exactly the craft synthesis that earns the runtime. 1M views in 4 months on NFB's channel is significant. The epilepsy warning tells you the flicker is doing real perceptual work.