Dec 6, 2024

2025 Oscar Short Film Candidates: - Family Portrait - Director Lea Vidakovi-

Cartoon Brew is putting the spotlight on an animated short film nominated for an Academy Award in 2025.

This article looks at the family portrait of Serbian film director Lea Vidakovi. The short was awarded an Academy Award by the Guadalajara International Film Festival for Best International Animated Short Film at the Rigomora Prize.

When the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, Andrus and his daughter were surprised by a visit from Andrus's brother, Zoltan, who came with his large family. Vidakovi- How do you deal with having their routines destroyed by the chaos provided by other humans who are living their messy lives.The answer lies in what really makes a family. The film is produced by Croatian boutique studios Adriatic Animation and Origin Tales.

Comic Brewing: While it mainly centers on family troubles in fitting each other, why was it important to pin your movie to that time and place that your movie also links deeply with the exact moment in history?-

Lea Vidakovi.: I felt it was the last golden age of my hometown, which was once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it still lived the glory and beauty of those remnants After the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, everything went downhill and crumbled unstoppable. Even today, it feels like a long one-way journey into the abyss. The breadth of that era is deeply reflected in each miniature, and all stylistic choices are made to emphasize this. It is this profound sense of helplessness of a kind of nostalgia mixed with melancholy that fills those miniature interiors, emanating from the tension between stillness and movement.

What was it that forced me to connect with you and direct a film about this story or concept-

I was born in Yugoslavia (present-day Serbia) Every time I return to my hometown, I am just impressed by all the beautiful architectural (social and cultural) ruins from the Austro-Hungarian era. But this "art Nouveau" city, which once bloomed, does not stop its collapse, and it is very painful to experience. In my film, I wanted to depict the last moments of the golden life of a noble family before what was to come. Recent events in the world have made this concept an even more relevant and bitter topic. This family represents all families who face both internal conflicts as well as external forces beyond control.

What did you learn through the experience of making this film, production wise, filmmaking wise, creatively, or on the subject-

This was the first co-production I worked with a large team in three countries. I'm not alone, so I've learned that I can let go a little bit. I am truly grateful to all team members for their professional contributions and dedication. I learned so much from each of them and at every level – whether it's in terms of craft, creativity, planning, or relationships. I've also found that topics that I initially thought were specific to a particular time and place can actually resonate beyond those boundaries. Troubled families read the same across all continents and cultures.

Can you explain how you developed a visual approach to cinema - why did you settle for this style/technique-

I'm fascinated by the power and visual density of stop-motion animation. The crafted miniature world has a unique ability to tell stories without telling them, just using objects that convey a certain atmosphere and carry their own history. This was especially suitable for the film because the quality of light and space often hides the story and requires this particular form of narration. I spent a lot of time exploring the light of various paintings, especially those by Danish Intimist painters like Hammershøi, Ilsted and Hølsøe. Finding a really old villa in a village in northern Serbia is about how to study space and light and how to recreate the house, the most important character of the film, the house acts as a mirror for everything that happens in it and beyond.