This programme is part of the event Europe’s Finest Hours. Please visit the main page to reserve your spot for this programme.
Young animators from Estonia and Lithuania will take us along to explore grand themes such as personal responsibility, free will and rationalism during the screening of three short animation films. After the screening, Anna Eijsbouts (animator, programmer for the KABOOM festival, and a teacher at animation at the Utrecht School of the Arts), will speak with the makers in Talinn and Vilnius and the audience.
Sierra (Estonia 2022, 15,55 min), director Sander Joon, producers Aurelia Aasa and Erik Heinsalu. Sierra is the first Estonian animation on the Oscars shortlist. In total, the film has won 50 awards.
Young generations seem to have trouble finding their place in life since they are subject to constant pressures from the outside world. In this movie, the obsession of a father with rally turns his kid into a car tire. Sierra looks at toxic masculinity through dark irony, while pulling us into the surreal car racing world. Loosely inspired by the director’s childhood, this animated black comedy includes fragments of a stop motion film animated by the director’s father.
Tarp laiko ir laidynės / Between Timid and Timbuktu (Lithuania 2024, 3,4 min) by director Saulius Juknevičius (a student at Vilnius College of Technologies and Design) is a short philosophical film, based on Kurt Vonnegut’s novel “The Sirens of Titan”, which was published in 1959 as a fantasy paperback. Using the stop-motion paper-cut collage, Saulius explores the purpose of human life through space and time. The film deals with the question of free will and characters being stripped of it.
In Natos / Music Sheet (Lithuania 2024, 2,12 min), director Rebeka Salomėja Kavaliauskaitė (a student at Vilnius College of Technologies and Design) tells the story of a rabbit, locked in a black room, forced to play from sheet music. The film stands out for its unique atmosphere and distinctive style. Rebeka: “I grew up in a creative environment, which pushed me to choose design studies, relevant nowadays. Animation caught my attention because this field in Lithuania is still quite fresh and promising.”
Rebeka’s “Natos” won the best student film category at the international “Tindirindis” Animation Film Festival and at the 65th Lithuanian Republic Amateur Film Festival.
About the Speakers
Sander Joon uses animation to create surreal worlds with a dash of humour. His films have previously travelled to festivals such as Annecy, DOK Leipzig, Ottawa, GLAS, and more. He teaches animation at the Estonian Academy of Arts, where he has received a Master’s in animation. He has animated a music video for Tommy Cash and participated in a popular commercial for Rick and Morty. Sander also worked as a 2D artist for the multi-awarded film The Old Man Movie (2019). His previous short Sounds Good (2018) won awards from Stuttgart, Fredrikstad, SUPERTOON and PÖFF Shorts. Sierra was the first Estonian animation shortlisted at the Academy Awards and has received more than 50 international awards.
Anna Eijsbouts is an award-winning Dutch animation director and animator specializing in puppet and cut-out stop-motion animation. She is a member of the board of DAMD, the Dutch Union for Animator and Motion Designers, a programmer at the KABOOM Animation Festival and a lecturer at the Utrecht School of the Arts. Anna graduated with an MA in Animation from the Royal College of Art in 2012 after completing a BA in Animation at the Utrecht School of the Arts in 2010.
