Robin Robin (United Kingdom)
3 stars out of 5
This is the mainstream nominee, from Aardman Studios (Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run) with voices by Gillian Anderson and Richard E. Grant. And though it’s cute — a bird growing up in a mouse family! Oh and it’s Christmastime! — this is real kid-oriented and nothing particularly special. We get it, it’s OK to be different.
Boxballet (Russia)
3 stars out of 5
I was enjoying this tale of a big, beat-up, oaf of a boxer living a working-class life in a grimy apartment. On the subway one day, he falls hard for a ballet dancer (who has also gained the attention of a slimy oligarch-like pre-me-too dance instructor). And the main ballet sequence is indeed lovingly animated. But then this short just kind of… stops short, after images of Gorbachev and Yeltsin flash on-screen. Hmm, maybe Putin censored the ending.
Affairs of the Art (United Kingdom/Canada)
4 stars out of 5
This was like a 1960s/70s middle-grade illustrated book come to life/animation. Like if Judy Blume was Canadian. Our artistic narrator flashes back to her childhood with a wacky trouble-prone sister, occasionally flashing forward to her own offbeat son. It’s smart, silly, and real-feeling.
Bestia (Chile)
4 stars out of 5
This was cool and cool-looking though I must admit I had no idea what was going on. It’s stop-motion animation of a porcelain-ish stout woman who has a dog and who… does bad things. It was not clear to me what exactly she was doing. Later googling revealed it was loosely based on a real woman in the Chilean secret police who tortured people. Um, ok. Maybe some narration or text screens for us who aren’t Chilean history buffs. Still, though, very cool.
The Windshield Wiper (Spain)
3 stars out of 5
Some very good animation but I found the whole thing too self-consciously modern, without having much to say. Potential lovers keep just missing each other. (WE KNOW.) Oh, and every now and then it works out. In the end credits we learn that the short was based on the filmmaker’s travels, but I feel like he could’ve put in a bit more effort with the result being more substance, less gloss.
Jack Silbert, curator