ASFF Animation Preview: The Man With The Stolen Heart

The animation screenings will be one of the many highlights of the Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF), beginning next week on 8 November. In total, ASFF will be screening over 200 films across 15 different venues in the City of York, and making up that number will be the 24 short animation films. Bar Lane Studios and St William’s College will play host to these little gems of craftsmanship that include stop-motion and computer animation. In addition to this sparkling programme of animations, Myles McLeod of winning animation company, The Brothers McLeod will be leading a masterclass on how to create an animated world and explore the process of shaping characters. The Brothers McLeod have worked with the BBC and Disney, and have directed commercials for Guinness and Skittles. We take a moment to look at The Man With The Stolen Heart,one of the animations screened at ASFF.

The Man With The Stolen Heart, is a surreal animation narrated by Bill Nighy. Already featured in Raindance, Vancouver International Film Festival, Encounters International Film Festival and ECU, to name a few, this seven minute animation follows a man searching for his runaway heart. Thematically based on a voyage of self discovery and overcoming the fear of our own emotions, The Man With The Stolen Heart was written and directed by Charlotte Boulay-Goldsmith. Previous works of Boulay-Goldsmith’s include the multi award winning, The Girl With Liquid Eyes taken from her own book Topsy Turvey Tales, which is also where The Man With The Stolen Heart was taken from. Opening with a backdrop of ink soiled paper, the protagonist emerges out of this bleak world into a universe of colour and hope. Shaped in puppet form, the characters fragmentation reflects the disconnected nature of human life. The Man With The Stolen Heart will be part of Screening 2 and will appear alongside seven other short films.

Tickets for the Aesthetica Short Film Festival are available at the website, www.asff.co.uk

Credits
1.The Man With The Stolen Heart,Charlotte Boulay-Goldsmith, Humpty Dumpty Films Ltd, teaser taken from the ECU Film Festival.