Stranding
2023 · 11m · USA
Directed by Ben Kadie
Tones: melancholic, mythic, surreal
Ten-year-old Theo finds solace in a mysterious beached whale that appears in his seaside town while his parents plan their divorce, blending childhood grief with ecological wonder.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Divorce-grief whale animated with mocap and brush-stroke filters during COVID. Saw this exact film already, multiple times, in slightly different fonts.
An earnest pandemic-era animation about childhood grief with a brush-stroke pass that mimics children's drawings; the craft is sincere but the aesthetic register sits closer to commercial illustration than the Le Guin-tradition wonder it reaches for. Tender but slight.
11:12 with Palm Springs Shortfest and Short of the Week selections, plus the full credit block of producer, character designer, sound designer, additional animator. The brush-stroke texture pass over After Effects puppet rigs is the visible compromise that makes pandemic-era remote animation feel handmade rather than slick.
Reviews
One of those deceptively layered films that burrows its way into your psyche — exploring the wounds of early childhood trauma, the fear of abandonment, and the erosive effects of climate change, saturated with the dreamy veneer of magical realism.
Festivals
- Palm Springs International ShortFest 2023