In Feb., the Institute of Contemporary Art screened the Oscar-nominated animated short films from this year. The event required visitors to purchase separate tickets to enter. The theater filled up long before the screening started, with audience members eager to watch the animated shorts. After reading the program, we knew these “cartoons” were going to make us emotional. With a little bit of knowledge of stop motion techniques, we were excited to see the marriage of deeper storytelling with techniques that are generally associated with children’s films. What we weren’t expecting was the level of complexity in the stop motion films. The animations created frames that mimic camera movement. The figures’ building techniques were also extremely intricate. Each film had a different animation technique, serving its own purpose.
“Hair Love” was the first film screened at the event. Zuri, the protagonist of the film, is getting ready for her big day. The audience isn’t aware of what the big day is, but we know she has to look good for it. This is when we’re introduced to her father, who struggles to do her hair. In recent years, representation in popular culture has become much more inclusive of minorities. “Hair Love” (and most of the short films nominated) is a perfect example of this increased representation. The film sheds light on the reality of styling African-American hair. It is not often highlighted in mainstream TV shows or movies, and there have been many ways in which African hairstyles have been discriminated against, specifically in the workplace. There is a societal expectation that frizzy means untamed, and therefore unprofessional.
“Hair Love” also speaks to a father’s role in his daughter’s life. In the beginning, Zuri is shown watching a YouTube video of a hair tutorial. It is later revealed that the YouTuber is her mother, who is not present in the scene. My initial thought was that she died, and the father was still figuring out how to do the tasks that Zuri’s mother had done before. BuzzFeed produced a video showing African-American fathers attempting to style their daughters’ hair. Even within this lighthearted video, it’s clear that there is a specific culture and vocabulary used when talking about African hair. Hyperbole was used to depict the “monstrosity” of Zuri’s hair in a boxing match between her hair and her father. When her father finally buckles down to style Zuri’s hair, the audience realizes the “big day” was picking up Zuri’s mother from the hospital. She is shown with a wrap on her head, covering her baldness. This added a whole new element to the narrative. There was an initial shame in Zuri’s mother, but Zuri quickly encouraged her to embrace her baldness as beautiful. “Hair Love” won best short film at the Oscars.
“Kitbull” tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a street cat and an abused pitbull. The film starts out by introducing the audience to a skittish, black cat that lives in a messy backyard. A pitbull is introduced by being thrown into the backyard by his owner. As the story develops, the pitbull and the cat befriend each other and eventually make an escape from the cruel dog owner. While the film was a cute, feel-good animation, it also highlighted a lot of issues that translate to the patterns of humanity. Pitbulls by nature are not aggressive dogs, but humans breed and train them to be. When the pitbull returns after being forced into a fight, the cat is intimidated by its defensive behavior because it is coded as aggressive. It backs away and doesn’t want to play anymore. This alludes to the way humans judge based on appearances. There are themes of separation throughout the film (barbed wire separating the pitbull and cat, the house separating the animals and humans, a fence separating the animals from the outside world). It’s easy for humans to live with this separation without question. “Kitbull” demonstrated the good that can come from breaking those boundaries. After making the escape, the cat is the first one to expose itself to pedestrians on the street. A woman (who was shown in the beginning reaching out to the cat) attempts to feed it. At first it’s not sure if it can trust the woman, but it quickly warms up to her. When the pitbull appears behind the tree, the woman backs away. It takes the cat showing that it trusts the pitbull for the woman to lean towards the dog. These actions demonstrate the vulnerability it takes to trust someone who is “other.” In the end, the pitbull and the cat are adopted by this woman and her partner. Another significant detail is that the family is a distinctively diverse one. The woman is African-American, her husband could be Asian, and the black cat and pitbull found a home where they are accepted.
“Daughter” portrays the interactions between a father and daughter through flashbacks. The 15-minute film has no dialogue, but through camera movements, lighting, sound effects, and plotline, “Daughter” delivers a powerful message that hits home. The animation starts off in a hospital, with the father in a hospital bed and his daughter standing next to him. The audience can already see the relationship between the two of them is uneasy and awkward. They exchange quick glances at each other before looking away. When a bird flies through the window and the daughter picks it up, she thinks back to the past when she went to her father for comfort after finding an injured bird. After seeing that her father does not want to reciprocate affection, she daydreams about hugging her father but wakes up hugging the wall. There were several moments where they both felt unconditional love for each other, but couldn’t express it due to unforeseen circumstances and miscommunication. The bird represents their need for affection. Each time a bird appeared, the father or the daughter yearned for each other.
Miscommunication is a theme that is prevalent throughout this film. The father didn’t hug her back because his hands were dirty from washing the dishes and preparing dinner, but she believes her father doesn’t care about her. In another scene, her father puts lipstick on his cheeks to blend into a parade that was going on. He tries to do the same on his daughter’s cheeks but she wipes it off and runs into a train before the door closes. The daughter was frustrated but looked out the window to see if her father was looking for her before the train leaves. She couldn’t find him. The film cuts back to the hospital, but the father is nowhere to be found. The daughter runs out of the room and finds him being carried on a stretcher. They embrace and the scene transitions back to when she tried to hug him the first time. This time, her father hugs her back. The last scene has warmer lighting, showing an alternate reality of how their relationship could have been with fluid communication. The lack of dialogue can be connected to miscommunication. This film reminded me of my relationship with my dad. He never showed physical affection but as I grew older, I realized that the intentions behind his actions were his way of saying “I love you.”
“Sister” depicts a story of sibling relationships. A brother recalls his childhood, starting with when his sister was born. Throughout the film I found myself relating to the brother a lot. The sister would annoy the brother whenever she got the chance, and the brother would fight back. It’s the sibling rivalry that most people can relate to. From switching the TV channels back and forth to fighting over a toy, you never wanted your sibling to win. Despite this, at the end of the day they are still family and you love them no matter what. The sister accidentally breaks something and blames it on the brother. The brother receives a beating for it, but does not try to prove his innocence to keep his sister safe. When the brother loses a tooth, the sister tells him to bury it in soil. Day by day, the two of them water the “seed” and hope that it will grow. Even though the brother knows a tooth tree is never going to sprout, he enjoys the time he spends with his sister. Sibling rivalry has its ups and downs. Personally, I related to the film because I remember the times when I got angry with my little brother because he would copy every little thing I did. Yet, as I watched him grow, I would do anything for him — even give him the bigger piece of food. China used to have a one-child policy from 1979-2015, which meant each family could only have one child in the household. Many mothers had to abort or dispose of their second child. The surprising twist in the film was that the sister never existed. The whole story was about how the brother thinks of what life would be like with a little sister. This is something kids without siblings can relate to as well. How different would life be if you had a sibling growing up next to you?
“Mémorable” is a visual representation of a neurodegenerative disease. The film is in French, but even without subtitles is extremely meaningful. It depicts an older couple and how their lives change as Louis, a painter, becomes less and less cognitive. The way the film is animated allows the audience to experience the disintegrating world as Louis sees it. “Mémorable” sheds light on the sad reality of someone slowly losing themselves. Louis keeps mistaking everyday items for other things. He even has suicidal tendencies, holding a hairdryer up to his head thinking it was a gun. When he is caught making a cognitive error, he attempts to use humor to mask his lapse in judgement. What is beautiful about this film was that you don’t need to understand the dialogue to understand what is happening. The cinematography is breathtaking in the way that it is able to transport the viewer to another world. Texture is also used to convey Louis’ disintegration. The craft behind the details of this film are captivating and really draw the viewer into the film. It allows the audience to be empathetic and understand what Louis sees, but also what his family around him sees. There is a scene in which his family comes to visit, but their bodies are disfigured and fragmented. They comment that he is still his usual, humorous self and it seems like they aren’t concerned when they leave. This displays how successful the filmmakers were in drawing the viewer into Louis and his wife’s world — I forgot that the people around him couldn’t see this disease as clearly. The whole film was tied together with a mesmerizing soundtrack which evoked sadness, but also appreciation in the viewer. As Louis became less and less functional, his interactions between his wife became disconnected and he could no longer recognize her. While these instances are morbid and quite disheartening, Louis’ figure becomes increasingly colorful, suggesting that his mind is becoming more vibrant.
Each piece had its own message, which impacted each viewer differently. It was eye-opening to be able to experience such raw emotions from films that were all under 15 minutes long. These films demonstrate the power of art in different styles and embody such intricate narratives. The diversity in representation was also something that stood out. The nominees were from around the world, and their stories were shared with communities other than their own. The creators of “Sister” pointed out that they didn’t expect their story to be appreciated by people who weren’t from China. Matthew A. Cherry, the writer and director of “Hair Love” pointed out that their team created this film to increase representation and awareness of The CROWN Act, “a law that prohibits discrimination based on hair style and hair texture.” “Hair Love” and the rest of the Oscar nominees demonstrated the power of using a creative platform to communicate such important issues internationally.