Category: Encounters

A short animation about a submariner who meets an astronaut. A sweet tale of friendship about being different in the same way.

Great little animated short. Colour! is dialogue-free, but uses colour and music to illustrate the daunting experience of being the odd-one-out from a child’s perspective. It tells a story about race, but strips it back, without dialogue to articulate the historically- and socially-laden topic, to just the way it makes you feel. The main character…

Wonderful animated short. The Girl Behind The Mirror tells the story of a young trans girl who is struggling with her fears about living as her authentic self. It starts with her hiding in her room, frightened of the reactions of the adults around her. A girl appears in the mirror, calling out and comforting…

Whimsical animated short about a water tower called Theo who will not stop crying. He has a wee pal who tries to cheer him up and take him on adventures with his dog, but wherever they go they are met with hostility as Theo’s tears flood those around him. A fun and silly little romp…

Beautiful little animated short. We see through the eyes of a child exploring the world around them, innocent of the day’s perils, labours and life-changing events. Lovely painted style of animation and evocative sound design.

A wee person prays in a temple when a spirit appears and shows the interconnected nature of life. Beautifully animated with a gentle score.

Cute little kids’ cartoon about a scrap paper man cutting himself out a birthday party. Sweet.

I really liked this short animation, thought it was funny and sweet. But in the Q&A afterwards, there was a variety of interpretation of it that was surprising. Largely dialogue-free, Flamingo Pride focuses on one grumpy and withdrawn curmudgeon in a flock of queer flamingos, who sulks all through the Pride party. He clocks a…

A great wee short film about the power of drag. Not many stories focus on drag kings, so it’s nice to see this for a change. Sarah is running in the Queen of Sheppey pagaent, like her older sister and mother before her. Everything is pink dresses and big teeth. I love the sense of…

Lotus Lantern is a dreamy, musical short animation about the filmmaker’s identity as queer and Chinese. Suffused with song, objects and symbols, the short film follows pieces of their identity like a string of pearls. Entrancing.