This year’s Dark Toons program is a showcase of all of the strange and twisted storytelling only animation can offer. Cross into new worlds, both beautiful and bleak, traversing the psychedelic hallucinations of a far-off hospital patient. Witness a whimsical nun’s reawakening, a love affair ripped to the bone, and spiral out with one man’s cursed act of selflessness. These animated shorts are sure to surprise and rattle you—you won’t want to miss them.
The Films
Flutz
Ryan McCown | US | 8
I rivalry between two figure skaters and their coaches. And a witch.
In Dreams
Josh Shaffner | US | 17
In Dreams is a sci-fi animated dark comedy about end of life care and a confrontation with the infinite. A burn victim is tended to by a futuristic hospice service and given a powerful medication allowing them to move through time and space in search of fulfillment and closure.
The Lovers
Carolina Sandvik | Sweden | 10
A relationship horror and unromantic comedy about a couple forced to deal with escalating bodily transformations.
Martyr's Guidebook
Maks Zontkowski | US | 11
Tony always puts others first, even as a child sharing cake. He helps strangers and lives with a literal angel who influences his extreme kindness. When Tony's selflessness backfires, he must learn to balance altruism with self-care.
Nun or Never
Heta Jäälinoja | Finland | 11
The nuns are living melted together in happy harmony. When one nun finds a man in the garden, the harmony breaks and she loses the rhythm with others. When her dreams do not come true, she finds out that everyone in the community has their own hidden universe.
The Posthuman Hospital
Junha Kim | US, South Korea | 6
The film showcases medical records of posthuman patients in an imaginary hospital through experimental digital images.
[S]
Mario Radev | UK, Poland, Bulgaria | 13
[S] is an artwork that exposes the lifespan of infinity. The film delves into an immersive loop of organic forms, reflecting on the entangled nature of life and art.
Smell of the Ground
Olivia Rosa | Poland | 8
The film is an adaptation of the poem "There will come soft rains" by Sarah Teasdale. It depicts the end of the Anthropocene epoch and the beginning of a new one.
Sweet Like Lemons
Jenny Jokela | UK, Finland | 6
Sweet Like Lemons is a visual reflection on getting out of a harmful relationship and moving on. The title is a play on the saying “when life gives you lemons make lemonade”, only in this case there is no lemonade to be made but the lemons still taste sweeter than what you left behind.
