Space Between Stars
2018 · 10m · Canada
Directed by Samuel W. Bradley
Tones: contemplative, mythic
A group of ethereal creatures navigate the corridors of an abandoned space station in this wordless science-fiction fable about the nature of conflict. Guru Studio's veteran artists built a custom 2D/3D pipeline to render the spacescape as painterly illustration with cinematic depth.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
A wordless space fable about conflict sounds like the kind of thing that could bore me senseless, but Bradley and Guru Studio sidestep the obvious—ethereal creatures in a derelict station, scored by Guthrie, refuses to settle into either sci-fi pulp or meditative art-film cliché, and that refusal is exactly what makes it work.
The custom 2D/3D pipeline isn't novelty; it's a considered formal choice that positions this film within a lineage of hybrid animation practice, and the wordless structure recalls experimental sci-fi fables while the painterly illustration aesthetic grounds it in a specific handmade tradition that elevates the mythic register.
What lifts this above competent animation is the decision to render depth through a hybrid pipeline built specifically for this premise—that technical specificity, the painterly texture colliding with cinematic dimensionality, is what transforms an abstract concept into something you actually *feel* moving through that station.
Reviews
A mesmerizing science fiction fable that examines the nature of conflict through striking design, emotive performances, and a hauntingly beautiful score.
Guru Studio's award-winning animated short blends painterly illustration with cinematic depth, bridging 2D and 3D into a visually arresting world.
Festivals
- Berlin Sci-Fi Filmfest 2018
- Ottawa International Animation Festival 2018
- SIGGRAPH 2018
- Animation Block Party 2018
- Animation Dingle 2018