阿公 A Gong (Grandpa) by Gobelins Students
French school Gobelins students Zozo Jhen, Tena Galovic, Marine Varguy, Yen-Chen Liu, Ellis Ka-yin Chan direct a journey of a 7 year-old boy's acceptance of his grandpa's death in a traditional Taiwanese funeral.
It is a fitting that a film which features traditional Taiwenese rituals should be mainly animated in 2D. The infamous petite creations of origami made exactly for the funeral ritual may ultimately find their way in the fire. Still, 阿公 A Gong (Grandpa) is careful neither to overstate sorrow nor to present just a nice ceremony.
Talking about loss in ways similar to the Oscar-nominated Negative Space (a scene with the boy and his grandfather at the funeral coffin brings comparisons to mind), 阿公 A Gong (Grandpa) explores space width rather than space fitting purposes. The boy is always against wide, mostly monochrome backgrounds, and he needs to fight (and sometimes run) to find his own reconciliation.
Alternating between wide shots and close-ups, we do capture the boy's view of a grandfather who represented the whole horizon in his eyes; the color palette can also oscillate between warm browns and colder blues. It is a sad family affair, but the film itself is a hopeful and sensitive effort overall.
A Gong, early concept art by Marine Varguy
Credits:
Directors : Zozo Jhen, Tena Galovic, Marine Varguy, Yen-Chen Liu, Ellis Ka-yin Chan
Contact :
Soundtrack : David KAMP
Production year : 2018
GOBELINS, l'école de l'image, Moïra Marguin :
Contact festivals : Miyu Distribution, Luce Grosjean -
Société de distribution : L'Agence du Court Métrage
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