‘it’s such a beautiful day’ for short films!

While you make your plans for the weekend, be sure to look ahead to next week, which will bring a special, limited engagement at the IFC Center. For two days only, Monday March 26th – Tuesday March 27th, award winning animator and 2007 Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund grantee Don Hertzfeldt will present his extraordinary animated trilogy in its entirety.

After more than five years of work, the series comes to a stunning conclusion.  “It’s Such A Beautiful Day” presents the third and final chapter in the life of Bill, a very lonely but lovable stick figure who suffers from depression with the occasional side of madness. His story is one that deserves to be discovered, and is very worth revisiting for those who already have.

Each installment feels like an entry from Bill’s diary, weaving those often overlooked, mundane thoughts and observations with some of life’s biggest questions, and quiet tragedy with subtle yet brilliant humor. Hertzfeldt’s narration is beautifully composed and delivered, giving the films an evocatively personal and literary quality. His style of animation is beautifully minimalist, combining line drawn figures with photo prints and a dash of trick photography. All of his work is meticulously captured by hand, using an antique 35mm animation stand. (As Hertzfelt recently told IndieWire, the camera is possibly soon to outlive even its own film stock.) “It’s Such A Beautiful Day” is the longest and most ambitious yet, adding more optical techniques and trick photography, as well as hundreds of individually captured prints.

Don’s painstaking process has not been without its rewards. “Everything Will Be OK”, first in the series, earned the Grand Jury Price at Sundance, while the follow up “I’m So Proud of You” received the a grant from the Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund. “It’s Such A Beautiful Day” promises continued success, and has already garnered a Best Director award at the Fargo Film Festival, among others.

Though the film is beautiful on its own, even richer and brighter than those before it, it is best appreciated as part of the whole. Each consecutive installment continues along the same timeline, but also revisits small motifs and details from those before it to create a very complete, line-drawn world. This chance to see the trilogy in its entirety is not to be missed, as is the Q&A that will follow each screening. (I loved his commentary for Rejected) Reserve your tickets now!

IFC Center presents An Evening with Don Hertzfeldt
323 6th Avenue, Manhattan
Tickets for these special events are $17.50 general admission, $15.50 seniors, $13.50 IFC Center members.
Reserve yours now!
Monday March 26 & Tuesday March 27
7:00 PM, 9:30 PM