The Boy Who Cheated Death
2024 · 5m · France
Directed by Pipou Phuong Nguyen
Genres: animation, drama, fantasy
Tones: melancholic, tender, whimsical
An 8-year-old boy embarks on an imaginative journey across space and time, using every trick he can think of to hide his dying mother from Death. A poignant meditation on mortality and the fierce, unyielding power of a child's love.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Five minutes of mixed-media animation scored to Great Gig in the Sky about a kid hiding mom from Death — and the page summary only gives me the trailer, not the film. Sounds technically wild, emotionally on the nose.
Nguyen's multi-technique animated approach (2D, 3D, papercraft, felt) scored to Pink Floyd reaches for the syncretic ambition of Michael Dudok de Wit, though the page summary only offers a trailer. Promising rather than proven from this glimpse.
Only the trailer is online (29 seconds, still festival-touring), so I can't judge the cut — but stitching 2D, 3D, papercraft, fabric, and felt into five minutes scored to 'Great Gig in the Sky' is the kind of ambitious mixed-media swing that usually means the director knows exactly what each medium is doing. Reserved excitement until I can see it.
Reviews
In less than five minutes, this beautifully crafted short film takes audiences on a poignant and imaginative journey through multiple realities, delving into the fight we are all doomed to lose – the inevitability of mortality.
The different animation styles used throughout help give this film emotional weight, combining 2D, 3D animation as well as stop animation, along with great sound design.
Festivals
- Festival du Film Merveilleux et Imaginaire 2024