Australian director Isabel Peppard has taken home the top Animated Prize at this year’s Cinequest Intl. Film Festival in San Jose. The win makes the short eligible for a Best Animated Short Oscar nomination.
Butterflies had its world premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival on August 11, 2012 before being invited to Sitges International Film Festival in Spain, one of the worlds top horror and fantasy film festivals. Sitges programmers described the film as “A short destined to become an instant stop motion classic.”
The stop-motion short tells the tale of a young artist (voiced by Rachel Griffiths) who struggles to make a living by selling drawings to passersby. A businessman (voiced by Nicholas Hope) recognizes her talents and offers her a paying job. The prospect seems inviting but the reality threatens to kill her imagination. The short interweaves Claire’s childhood memories with her contemporary life and nightmares, emerging as a gothic fairytale presented in Peppard’s bleak but beautifully ornate handcrafted world.
Here’s the short’s trailer:
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