Baltimore-based duo is honored in the Short Film (Animated) category for this moving stop-motion film about a man and his father.
Tiny Inventions, the directorial duo represented in the US by Noble, has been nominated for a 2018 Academy Award® for their touching animated short film, “Negative Space.” The film was one of five nominees in the category of Short Film (animated).
An adaptation of a Ron Koertge poem about a man reminiscing about bonding with his father over a properly-packed suitcase, the stop-motion short has screened at festivals around the world. To date, “Negative Space” has won 52 prizes (including 25 Grand Prix or Best Animated Short awards) and played in over 131 festivals. In addition to its nomination for Best Animated Short Film at the Academy Awards®, it was also nominated for Best Animated Short Subject at the Annie Awards and was pre-selected for the Académie des arts et techniques du cinema in France.
To view Tiny Inventions’ work, go to http://nobleanimation.com/directors/tiny-inventions/. For more info on the film and the filmmakers, go to http://oscar.go.com/nominees/short-film-animated/negative-space. To view the trailer, go to https://vimeo.com/205982517.
The Baltimore-based directing team – comprised of filmmakers Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata – are known for their unique mixed-media style of animation. Since beginning their collaboration in 2007, Tiny Inventions has also produced commercials, music videos, PSAs, comics and interactive games, as well as four independent shorts. Their films have screened in festivals around the world, including Sundance, the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival and the Annecy Animation Festival, and have received over 110 international awards.
Their work for ad agencies and brands, according to Noble Founder and Executive Producer Mark Medernach, includes spots and web shorts for Ralph Lauren, Ben & Jerry’s and Orajel. “We’re thrilled Max and Ru have achieved this great honor in being nominated for an Academy Award,” Medernach comments. “Presenting creative talents of this caliber is what Noble is all about; we look for directors who are master storytellers and know how to use animation in all its forms to engage and enthrall audiences. That’s clearly the case with Tiny Inventions.”
In making “Negative Space,” the directors created by hand a multitude of items seen in the packing process, everything from miniature shirts, slacks, belts and shoes, all of which go a long way in showing the unspoken bond that the film’s central character achieves with his dad. These items move across the screen in an orderly procession that underscores the reserved precision of the father character. In packing these suitcases, the son is finding an activity to share with his father, even though it’s often done in isolation.
“Negative Space” runs 5:30 in length and was the result of the directors’ strong connection with the Koertge poem it’s based on, which goes by the same title. It clicked especially strongly with Kuwahata, whose father was an airline pilot who travelled often. The directors mined their own childhood memories of various objects, textures and banal routines to portray the small things that make up a large part of life.
The film was pitched prior to production to the CICLIC Animation Center, a production residency located in Vendôme, France. Once approved, Tiny Inventions teamed up with a French animation company, IKKI FILMS, and co-producer, Manuel Cam Studio, to realize the project over a nine-month period.
Noble is represented on the East Coast by Carolyn Hill and Amanda Rosenberg of Carolyn Reps, in the Midwest by Katy Richter and Heather Guillen and on the West Coast by Kevin Batten and Crystal Bedford.
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“Ǝvolution” Comes Full Circle At The Chelsea Film Festival
The Chelsea Film Festival, running from October 16th through October 20th, 2024, at Regal Cinemas here in Union Square, is set to host the East Coast premiere of Ǝvolution, a thought-provoking experimental micro-short film that proves big ideas can come in small packages and in perfect circles.
In just 1 minute 16 seconds, this cinematic gem by Award-Winning Director Romina Schwedler, with original music by Argentine Composer Ignacio Montoya Carlotto, explores a cycle as old as time: life leads to progress, progress leads to destruction, and destruction, well, leads back to life. But is this vicious circle unbreakable? Ǝvolution suggests the answer is yes, unless we decide to open our eyes.
Inspired by the overwhelming number of recent events that threaten human existence, Ǝvolution, possibly the shortest film in this 12th edition of the festival, plays out entirely through the symbolism of circles, cleverly illustrating —in the blink of an eye— the repeating patterns of history, and confronting viewers with the uncomfortable truth that our so-called “progress” may, in fact, be guiding us to our own ruin.Premiering at the Regal 14 Union Square, New York City, on October 18, 2024, at 11 a.m., Romina Schwedler's micro-short, featuring Leah Young with cinematography by Alan J. Carmona, will be sure to spark conversations longer than the film itself! Forcing viewers to reconsider the true meaning of evolution, not just as a biological process, but as a reflection of our collective journey as humans.
With a string of festival appearances across the globe, including CineGlobe at CERN (Switzerland/France), Oscar®... Read More