Jan 4, 2025

Oscar Nominees Interview: Directors Hossein Moraemi and Shirin Sohani Discuss Their Favorite Shots From “In The Shadow Of The Cypress” (Exclusive Interview)

Cartoon Brew invited the makers of the 15 films nominated for this year's Academy Awards for Best Animated Short to share their favorite shots from their films and why. Each film is listed in the order in which the materials were received.

This piece features Iranian filmmakers Hossein Moraemi and Shirin Sohani's “In the Shadow of the Cypress.” [A former sea captain with post-traumatic stress disorder lives a solitary life with his daughter in a house by the sea. While his daughter refuses to give up the whale, the captain is forced to confront his own demons.

The filmmakers recently spoke with Cartoon Brew about making the short film. Below, they share their favorite shots from the film and talk about their significance: [because] our priority was the film as a whole and its overall integrity, not just certain shots. Needless to say, we did our best to make a coherent and consistent film, treating each scene as an important part of it. In addition, our resources were severely limited by economic challenges, budget constraints, and the emigration of many skilled Iranian professionals due to sanctions. We had only a few part-time animators, which was inadequate for the amount of 2D animation we needed. To ease their burden in storyboarding, we decided to minimize their average time while increasing the number of shots. Many other important scenes, which in our opinion were valuable, were too short to be presented here.

In the end, after careful discussion, we chose shot No. 218. This 24-second scene depicts the father being violently ejected by a bomb explosion. The uniqueness of this shot lies in the fact that it is distinct from the other scenes in the film in every aspect. The animation is limited, non-classical, stylized, and the colors are unique. There is more improvisational, more experimental and illustrative approach in this shot than in the rest of the film. The focus was to portray the explosion in a dramatic and surrealistic manner. To achieve this goal, it was necessary to push the limits of classical animation.

Prior to this shot, the film reveals little information about the father's past or family history. However, the rhythm and pace of the story reaches its climax in this pivotal scene. The pieces of the narrative puzzle are finally connected and reality is disclosed. In this shot, the audience learns what exactly happened to this family in the past. At the beginning of the film, the audience is initially shocked by the father's violent behavior and may even feel resentment and hatred toward him. In “Shot 218,” however, the audience is able to put themselves in the father's shoes and understand some of his emotional struggles. Why does he later pick up a gun and run toward the whale, why does he bang his head against the wall, and why does he violate his daughter? Additionally, this scene reveals the source of the blue color that surrounds the father in moments of emotional and psychological distress. Blue is perceived as a symbol of psychological problems, but other colors are not appropriate for this purpose. In this film, blue symbolically represents the father's inner turmoil.

It should be mentioned that one of our animators started scene 218 but was unable to complete it. Due to severe budget restrictions and a lack of animators, everyone was behind schedule. Frankly, we were desperate and could not find anyone to animate this shot. Initially, Hossein tried to complete the animation, but he was too busy. So we decided to take a risk and trust Mehdi Torabi, a talented member of the coloring team. Mehdi used the existing unfinished rough animation as the basis for his own illustration style for the scene. We wanted to create a unique and different atmosphere with this shot, so we decided to keep the spontaneous and unexpected elements that came naturally from Mehdi's work. Despite our lack of animation experience, Mehdi's work completely exceeded our expectations.

Last but not least, for us, the film is in a way a tribute to the Iran-Iraq war veterans, especially those still suffering from PTSD. They are often censored and deliberately ignored in the Iranian media. Shot 218 is the scene most relevant to the core message and purpose of “In the Shadow of Cypress.”

Read other works in the series: