Maybe Elephants

Last updated
Maybe Elephants
Maybe Elephants Film Poster.jpg
Norwegian Kanskje det var elefanter
Directed by Torill Kove
Written byTorill Kove
Produced by
  • Lise Fearnley
  • Maral Mohammadian
  • Tonje Skar Reiersen
Narrated byTorill Kove
Production
companies
Release date
  • 2024 (2024)
Running time
16 minutes
Countries
Languages

Maybe Elephants (Norwegian : Kanskje det var elefanter) is a 2024 Canadian-Norwegian animated short film written and directed by Academy Award winner [1] Torill Kove. [2] The 16-minutes animated film about family and memories has been selected in various international film festivals, [3] including Annecy International Animation Film Festival [4] and Spark Animation Film Festival where the film won the Canadian Film Prize. The film is listed as part of the qualified shorts under consideration in the 2025 Academy Award Best Animated Short Film Category. [5]

Contents

The film was named to TIFF's annual Canada's Top Ten list for 2024. [6]

Plot

Three teenage sisters find themselves uprooted from their small town in Norway when their mother decides to move to Nairobi, Kenya, in an attempt to escape the dark cloud that has been following her. The film is inspired by Kove's own experiences, [7] in the same fashion as her previous short Me and My Moulton.

Release

Since its release, the film has been selected in various festivals around the world:

FestivalsAward/CategoryStatus
2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival [8] Cristal for Best Short FilmNominated
Spark Animation Film Festival [9] Canadian Film PrizeWon
Lifetime Achievement AwardWon
Animation Is Film Festival [10] - AIF [11] Short Film Grand PrizeNominated
American Film Institute Festival - AFI [12] Shorts Program : Family FriendlyNominated
London International Animation Festival - LIAF [13] Figures in FocusNominated
Bucheon International Animation Festival [14] Audience PrizeWon
Vila do Conde International Short Film Festival [15] International CompetitionNominated

Related Research Articles

<i>The Danish Poet</i> 2006 Norwegian film

The Danish Poet is a 2006 animated short film written, directed, and animated by Torill Kove and narrated by Liv Ullmann. A co-production of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and Mikrofilm AS of Norway, it has won both the Academy Award and Genie Award for best animated short film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torill Kove</span> Norwegian-Canadian animator and film director

Torill Kove is a Norwegian-born Canadian film director and animator. She won the 2007 Academy Award for Animated Short Film for the film The Danish Poet, co-produced by Norway's Mikrofilm AS and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).

The history of Iranian animation, which began in its modern form in the mid 20th century in Iran, can also be traced back to the Bronze Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animafest Zagreb</span> Film festival in Croatia

World Festival of Animated Film Zagreb, best known as Animafest Zagreb, is a film festival entirely dedicated to animated film held annually in Zagreb, Croatia. Initiated by the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA), the event was established in 1972. Animafest is the second oldest animation festival in the World, after the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodore Ushev</span> Bulgarian animator and filmmaker

Theodore Asenov Ushev is a Bulgarian animator, film director and screenwriter based in Montreal. He is best known for his work at the National Film Board of Canada, including the 2016 animated short Blind Vaysha, which was nominated for an Academy Award. He is a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France.

When the Day Breaks is a Canadian animated short co-directed by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis and featuring the voice of Canadian singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright singing the titular song.

<i>My Grandmother Ironed the Kings Shirts</i> Canadian film

My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts is a 1999 animated short by Torill Kove.

<i>Me and My Moulton</i> 2014 film

Me and My Moulton is a 2014 Canadian-Norwegian animated short film written and directed by Torill Kove. It premiered at the 2014 Annecy International Animated Film Festival on 10 June 2014. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 87th Academy Awards. Me and My Moulton won the Golden Sheaf Award for Best Animation at the 2015 Yorkton Film Festival.

Joris Oprins is an animation director. He studied at the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands. He graduated in 2003. In 2005 he worked as an animator on the stop motion children series Miffy at studio Pedri in Ankeveen. In 2007 he co-founded animation studio Job, Joris & Marieke together with Job Roggeveen and Marieke Blaauw. Job, Joris & Marieke works on commissioned work, music videos and short animated films.

Marieke Blaauw is a Dutch animator.

Job Roggeveen is a film director and writer.

<i>Blind Vaysha</i> 2016 Canadian film

Blind Vaysha is a 2016 animated short by Theodore Ushev, produced by Marc Bertrand for the National Film Board of Canada, with the participation of ARTE France. Based on a story by Georgi Gospodinov, the film tells the story of a girl who sees the past out of her left eye and the future from her right—and so is unable to live in the present. Montreal actress Caroline Dhavernas performed the narration for the film, in both its French and English language versions. The film incorporates music from Bulgarian musician and composer Kottarashky and is his and Ushev's fourth collaboration.

<i>The Physics of Sorrow</i> 2019 Canadian film

The Physics of Sorrow is a Canadian animated short film, directed by Theodore Ushev and released in 2019. The film explores themes of memory, time, displacement, and identity through the fragmented reflections of a nameless protagonist who recalls his childhood in post-communist Bulgaria and his subsequent emigration to Canada.

<i>Threads</i> (2017 film) 2017 film

Threads is a Norwegian-Canadian animated short film, directed by Torill Kove and released in 2017. Based on Kove's own experience as an adoptive parent, the film depicts a woman who catches a thread in the sky which carries her to a baby girl. The woman rears and remains connected to the girl through a red thread of love and emotional connection. This lasts until the girl is a young woman old enough to go seek her own thread of connection to a baby of her own.

Mum is Pouring Rain is a French animated short film produced by Laïdak Films written by Hugo de Faucompret and Lison d'Andréa and directed by Hugo de Faucompret. Released in 2021, it won the Jury Prize in the Special TV category at the Annecy international animated film festival the same year. The film was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for the 94th Academy Awards but ultimately was not nominated.

<i>Black Slide</i> 2021 Israel / United Kingdom film

Black Slide is a 2021 Israeli/British animated short film directed by Uri Lotan. The 11-minute short has been presented in a number of film festivals, including the Annecy International Animated Film Festival and the Indy Shorts Film Festival. Black Slide also won the Audience award for Best Short Film at the 2022 British Animation Awards and is now qualified for the 95th Academy Awards in the eligible films under the category Best Animated Short Film.

<i>The Flying Sailor</i> Animated short film inspired by real events

The Flying Sailor is a 2022 Canadian independent animated short film directed by Oscar-nominated directors Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis. The film debuted at the 2022 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and has received several nominations and awards, including a nomination for Best Animated Short Film at the 95th Academy Awards, and winning the award for the Best Canadian Film at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.

<i>Christopher at Sea</i> 2022 American film

Christopher at Sea is a 2022 animated short film directed by Tom CJ Brown. The 20-minute short is a queer drama about identity and self-discovery and it premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it received a nomination for the Venice Horizons Award. The film has been featured in a number of international film festivals, receiving accolades such as the Bucheon International Animation Festival, and is now qualified for the 95th Academy Awards in the eligible films under the category Best Animated Short Film.

<i>27</i> (film) 2023 French film

27 is a 2023 French-Hungarian animated short film directed by Flóra Anna Buda.

Who Loves the Sun is a Canadian short documentary film, written and directed by Arshia Shakiba and released in 2024. An exploration of life in Syria, the film profiles Mahmood, a man who is working for the region's makeshift oil refineries that have been set up to keep the Syrian economy going in the face of the Syrian civil war.

References

  1. Amidi, Amid (2015-01-15). "Torill Kove Celebrates 'Me and My Moulton' Oscar Nomination with An Animated Film". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  2. Wolfe, Jennifer (2024-06-12). "Exploring the Gap Between Reality and Memory: Torill Kove's 'Maybe Elephants' (Extended Interview)" . Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  3. "US festival premiere of Torill Kove's Mikrofilm/NFB animated short Maybe Elephants. SoCal audiences get three chances in October to see Oscar winner's latest". WebWire. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  4. Robinson, Chris (2024-06-04). "10 Shorts You Won't Want To Miss At Annecy 2024". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  5. Magazine, Animation (2024-10-25). "Oscar Watch: The Long List of the 2024 Animated Short Award Contenders" . Retrieved 2024-12-11. Maybe Elephants - Norway, Canada - Directed by: Torill Kove - Qualified by exhibition
  6. Carlos Diaz, "Canada’s Top Ten: TIFF Celebrates the Best in Cinema for 2024". That Shelf, January 8, 2025.
  7. Bobrowska, Olga (2024-07-17). "Mood Bathing. A Conversation with Torill Kove". Zippy Frames. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  8. "AWN Exclusive: Torill Kove's 'Maybe Elephants' Trailer". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  9. Skwigly (2024-10-10). "Award winners announced for 2024 SPARK ANIMATION Festival". Skwigly Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  10. Zahed, Ramin (2024-10-14). "Making Cinematic Memories at L.A.'s Animation Is Film Festival" . Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  11. Patta, Gig (2024-10-24). "Maybe Elephants | Torill Kove on Animated Short Film of Family Life in Nairobi - Animation Is Film 2024". LRMonline. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  12. "AFI Announces Full Lineup – Here, Juror #2, Maria and More". Awardsdaily. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  13. "LIAF 2024: Figures in Focus: Wanderlust (15) + Screentalk". London International Animation Festival. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  14. "BIAF 2025. 10.24 ~ 10.28 BUCHEON INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL 1". www.biaf.or.kr. Retrieved 2024-12-06.
  15. "Maybe Elephants". www.festival.curtas.pt. Retrieved 2024-12-06.