Darkness and light, as seen by VIFF’s favourite Buddhist erotist. Part of the TOKYO LOOP animation anthology produced by ImageForum Japan.
Social & External
Amina, a young woman (17) is pregnant and afraid to give birth. For a consolation and advice she goes to older women but their stories scare her even more.
For an imaginary friend, living an imaginary life, there's nothing worse than being forgotten.
The tragic tale of two unlucky amphibians and a series of escalating blunders that ends their flirting for good.
Krazy Kat gets falsely arrested for cheese burglaries.
As Pacworlders excitedly decorate for Berry Day, Pac is saddened about missing his parents as he receives a picture ornament of them from his Aunt Spheria. The teens reminisce of their childhood Berry Day as they enjoy Christmas eggnog. Since Berry Day is one of the happiest days of the year, Betrayus launches a plan to get rid of the day by capturing Santa Pac and his Round Deer and to possess the gifts and Berry Day decorations. All Pac wants for Berry Day is to see his parents Sunny and Zac and is overjoyed when they arrive. But, his parents tell him they want to see the tree of life in the secret location which is forbidden. Are these Pac’s real parents or are they a trick from Betrayus and Dr. Slimestein? Let’s hope Berry Day can be merry after all.
A duo of street performers learns how sound and picture work together to create amazing cinema experiences.
An egg desperately tries to prevent being hatched. In this animated short from the Canada Vignette series, learn how societies in evolution are often in danger of self-destruction.
The allegorical story of two humanized birds - father and son, who usually walk the earth and fly only in case of danger. The two birds are out for a leisurely stroll, playing music together and taking selfies until a hungry cat attempts to spoil their fun. After several unique and imaginative evasive maneuvers, the birds pelt the cat with apple bombs. The film is one of the jewels of the cartoon: the Czech tradition, Disney anthropomorphism and innovative pre-electronic music score.
This animated short by Norman McLaren is a publicity message for a war bond campaign. Symbols, a stick man and lettering are drawn directly on 35mm film stock and synchronized with a brass band rendition of Sousa's march "The Thunderer."
Follow a day of the life of Big Buck Bunny when he meets three bullying rodents: Frank, Rinky, and Gamera. The rodents amuse themselves by harassing helpless creatures by throwing fruits, nuts and rocks at them. After the deaths of two of Bunny's favorite butterflies, and an offensive attack on Bunny himself, Bunny sets aside his gentle nature and orchestrates a complex plan for revenge.
Experimental art / moving image film by Tony Donoghue.
It's the story of an old couple having a normal conversation ... well, more or less normal. The Wrong Krauses is a Filmakademie (Ludwigsburg-Germany) first year project from 1994.
PSA directed by Piotr Karwas.
Dave Borthwick's award winning film made while a student at Bristol University's RFT course in 1977.
It’s the story of an encounter: a caged bear who can’t sing meets a little bird who can’t fly but who can sing beautifully. Their friendship will be mutually beneficial and together they will overcome their disabilities.
One winter, a ravenous ogre terrorizes the land of King Balthasar. Meanwhile, a blizzard is brewing in Léon’s heart. Braving the cold, this adopted bear cub runs away from home. Léon has many an adventure during his travels. He befriends a hedgehog and an elephant, confronts an ogre, and sets Princess Molly Gingerbread free. His courage and integrity eventually lead him back to his family. In the end, the cub earns everybody’s respect.
A lonely man lives with his pet on a small island and longed to get to 'other people.'
In bed, late on a sleepless night in the depth of winter, Eujin finds a small dust kid. She decides to do the cleaning she has been putting off for so long. Cleaning every corner of her room, she keeps finding other dust kids here and there, and starts clearing them up one by one. Just when she thinks she has cleaned her room and the dust kids are all gone now, she comes face to face with another one… When I am at home alone, I sit silently and mull over many things. As I think, my brain fills with pointless worries and anxiety. That’s when I start to clean my room. As I clean busily, wash the dishes and do the laundry I’ve been putting off, my anxiety disappears naturally.
A trippy pop-art collage of phallic objects, naked women and American icons, most notably Elvis Presley.
Short film to a song of love lost and rediscovered, a woman sees and undergoes surreal transformations. Her lover's face melts off, she dons a dress from the shadow of a bell and becomes a dandelion, ants crawl out of a hand and become Frenchmen riding bicycles. Not to mention the turtles with faces on their backs that collide to form a ballerina, or the bizarre baseball game.
Across different eras, a poor family, an anxious developer and a fed-up landlady become tied to the same mysterious house in this animated dark comedy.
Heart set on becoming a princess, Lisa Simpson is surprised to learn being bad might be more fun.
A hand drawn animated short by Studio Ghibli.
Chip and Dale are starving in their tree home when they notice a plentiful supply of acorns on an island in a lake. To get to the island, they borrow a miniature model ship of Donald's to sail on. The irate Donald, however, doesn't appreciate them stealing his ship and makes several attempts to get it back and thwart their scheme to get to their acorn paradise. Chip and Dale are, of course, always one step ahead of Donald.
This short film continues the adventures of the title character as he tries to retrieve his elusive acorn.
A traveler is confronted by spirits in an abandoned shrine; a story of honor and firefighting in ancient Japan; a white bear defends the royal family from a monstrous red demon; ragtag soldiers battle a robotic force in futuristic Japan.
Two recap specials that focus on Team Urameshi's matches in the Dark Tournament and four separate volumes focusing around one of the main characters; Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, or Kuwabara.
Donald's doing a little tree surgery when he spots Chip 'n' Dale gathering nuts. He saws off the branch outside their hole and paints it with tar, which Dale gets stuck in. Then Donald has a little fun with the long-handled pruning shears.
Mater is a matador fighting a herd of bulldozers in Spain. When Lightning McQueen enters the story, the bulldozers begin to chase him due to his red paint.
The seven short films making up GENIUS PARTY couldn’t be more diverse, linked only by a high standard of quality and inspiration. Atsuko Fukushima’s intro piece is a fantastic abstraction to soak up with the eyes. Masaaki Yuasa, of MIND GAME and CAT SOUP fame, brings his distinctive and deceptively simple graphic style and dream-state logic to the table with “Happy Machine,” his spin on a child’s earliest year. Shinji Kimura’s spookier “Deathtic 4,” meanwhile, seems to tap into the creepier corners of a child’s imagination and open up a toybox full of dark delights. Hideki Futamura’s “Limit Cycle” conjures up a vision of virtual reality, while Yuji Fukuyama’s "Doorbell" and "Baby Blue" by Shinichiro Watanabe use understated realism for very surreal purposes. And Shoji Kawamori, with “Shanghai Dragon,” takes the tropes and conventions of traditional anime out for very fun joyride.
Two minions working in a bomb lab get competitive.
Cis and Duo discuss leaving the real world while during a samurai sword fight. Part of the Animatrix collection of animated shorts set in the Matrix universe.
On Motunui, Maui tries to catch a fish with his magical fishhook, only to be comically foiled by the ocean.
When Day, a sunny fellow, encounters Night, a stranger of distinctly darker moods, sparks fly! Day and Night are frightened and suspicious of each other at first, and quickly get off on the wrong foot. But as they discover each other's unique qualities--and come to realize that each of them offers a different window onto the same world-the friendship helps both to gain a new perspective.
Pikachu and the gang learn responsibility, teamwork as well as cooperation during their Summer vacation at Pokemon Island.
Naruto faces off against his old pupil Konohamaru in a tournament during the chuunin entrance exams.
On an idyllic beach in the Pacific Northwest, curiosity gets the better of a young raccoon whose frustrated parent attempts to keep them both safe.
While looking for her cat, a young woman and some kids find an abandoned building where strange things happen and the rules of physics don't always apply. Part of the Animatrix collection of animated shorts set in the Matrix universe.
Mater the tow truck travels from country to country as he retells his infamous but unbelievable stories.