Introduction::Dermot Corrigan
Our selection of the most interesting Irish short animated films offers a unique collection of animations that examine universal human questions and are inspired by contemporary globalized society, or conversely, they focus on animated form and possible spectrum of its variations.
Having dealt with the traumas of the past and the conception of national identity with respect to European integration, Irish animated film makers have slowly turned to universal and transnational themes, thematizing the current events both in their country and abroad.
The film From an Evil Cradling by Keith Foran and Andrew Kavanagh is based on the seventh chapter entitled "Music" from the book of the same name by Brian Keenan. In a voice-over commentary, the author accompanies the hallucinatory despair of a Beirut hostage, robbed of his basic human rights and looking for comfort in fantasy and memories.
Badly Drawn Boy by Alan Shannon thematizes the very technique of the combined film, mixing live action and animation passages, while each of the environments is aware of the difference of the other one. Roy, as an animated figure – what is more, badly animated – has suffered all his life for being born into a live action family, having to cope with his existential depressions.
A similar type of play can be found in Declan de Barry's A Day in the Life of Richard, a first person complaint of a giant walking penis whose complaints stem from being rejected and ostracized by the majority of society. Within the Irish historical context, the film gains a special quality; one of mockery of puritan Victorian morals because questions of the body and sexuality have long been a taboo for the unshakeable hegemony of the catholic church.
Kateřina Surmanová
SCREENED FILMS
FIFTY PERCENT GREY dir. Ruairi Robinson | Ireland | 2001 | 3 mins
FROM AN EVIL CRADLING dir. Keith Foran, Andrew Kavanagh | Ireland 1999 | 8 mins
THE CRUMBLEGIANT dir. John McCloskey | Ireland | 2007 | 5 mins
AGRICULTURAL REPORT dir. Melina Sydney Padua | Ireland | 2004 4 mins
BADLY DRAWN ROY dir. Alan Shannon | Ireland | 2006 | 22 mins
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF RICHARD dir. Declan de Barra | Ireland | 2007 | 2 mins
CARTE DE VISITE dir. Paul O´Flanagan | Ireland | 2006 | 4 mins
PILGRIM dir. Matthew Darragh | Ireland | 2006 | 3 mins
DICK TERRAPIN dir. Damian O´Connor | Ireland | 2005 | 7 mins
CHARRED AND FEATHERED dir. Rory Byrne | Ireland | 2007 | 7 mins
BEFORE SUNRISE dir. Kealan O´Rourke | Ireland | 2005 | 6 mins
BUILDING A HOUSE dir. Emmet O´Neill | Ireland | 2006 | 5 mins
DEAD MURPHY dir. Stephen McCollum | Ireland | 2006 | 3 mins
FLYBOY dir. Kealan O´Rourke | Ireland | 2007 | 3 mins
THE RED BALL dir. Alan Holly | Ireland | 2007 | 3 mins
MONOLITH dir. Matthew Horan | Ireland | 2008 | 5 mins
DEMON dir. Eoin Ryan | Ireland | 2005 | 10 mins
BORDER CONTROL dir. Riana McKeith | Ireland | 2008 | 3 mins
FROM DARKNESS dir. Nora Tworney | Ireland | 2002 | 9 mins
GRANNY O'GRIMM'S SLEEPING BEAUTY dir. Nicky Phelan | Ireland | 2008 | 5 mins
