A brilliant animation demonstrating just how connected we are by New York City-based motion designer and illustrator Yuval Haker. “Covid Loop” is a comic panel that shows separate vignettes linked together through each character’s contagion. As Haker explains his process:

“Creating a micro-world with its own set of rules helped determine narrative and action. The comic strip is a self-imposed limitation. With these hard boundaries in place, the characters could ‘break the rules’ — flow between panels and take control of their frames. Ex. the lifter uses the comic divider for weight lifting, the punk’s frame turns into a phone, etc.

During the animatic phase, I used a red square to keep track of where the main action was happening. Even when the viewer’s attention shifts to the next panel, the characters left in the “inactive scenes” keep themselves busy by sipping coffee, coughing, etc.”

Story, Illustration, Direction: Yuval Haker
Animation: Arthur Guttilla, John McColgan, Yuval Haker
Music: Micha Gilad
Sound Design: Arjun Sheth
Special Thanks: Joelle McKenna

This video was submitted by Yuval Haker and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

Another intimate profile from London-based filmmaker and photographer Bertil Nilsson (previously featured here). The fourth instalment in Nilsson’s Figures series highlights renowned dancer and choreographer Emma Portner (previously featured here). Shot on 8mm with NYC/Coney Island as backdrop, Nilsson delves into issues of physical and mental health as well as the relationship between dance and Portner’s other artistic outlets. His own visual approach included scratching and drawing directly on the film negative, as Nilsson explains further:

“Just like I compose my photographs, I’m drawn to a symmetric 4:3 frame with a lot of organic texture. With the addition of sound and moving images, I can further explore the contrast between stillness and movement, and shape the idea of a filmic portrait — a figure…. The challenge of being open; to experimentation, and thus failure, growing and finding something unexpected is what the series means to me. I take a few ingredients — words, face and physicality — and mix them together through my lens to see what it reveals. I think it’s key to keep the production process intimate to achieve this.

A portrait for me is always the artist’s interpretation of their subject, it can never even aspire to encapsulate the entire truth of another. But my hope when creating these films is to reflect an aspect of my subject’s truth at a particular moment in time. A pattern is emerging in the stories I’m drawn to tell, so if there was central idea of the series, it would be that vulnerability is strength.”

Director & Producer: Bertil Nilsson
Editor: Anna Meller
Sound Design & Mix: Angel Perez Grandi
Film Lab: On8Mil
Film Scanning Operator: Aleks Golis
Camera Equipment: Du-all Camera
Production: Duktiga
Thanks to Bret Pfister

This video was submitted by Bertil Nilsson and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

A lovely portrait of Kinngait, Nunavut by Canadian filmmaker Adrijan Assoufi (previously featured here). Located just off Baffin Island, with a population of 1,400 people, Kinngait faces many of the same challenges as other remote Northern communities. While “Iqiannguq” — a word meaning bored in Inuktitut — is often heard echoed by the town’s young people, this next generation is also finding creative and resourceful ways to express themselves!

A film by Adrijan Assoufi
Cinematography: Tyler Anderson, Patrick Thompson, Adrijan Assoufi, Alexa Hatanaka
Voices: Lily Parr, Matt Kunuk, Patrick Thompson, Alexa Hatanaka

This video was submitted by Adrijan Assoufi and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

Love the mix of visuals in this self-directed video for Sam Tudor’s track “Everybody’s Keeping Their Word.” Tudor and his brothers were raised at a remote forest research centre in Interior BC called Gavin Lake Camp. Although they now live and work in cities, the brothers and their collaborators frequently return to the camp to make work in different mediums. It has become a quiet hub for creativity, and in this sense, the EBKTW video is an archival piece. In shooting it, Tudor wanted to capture the eerie yet warm nature of the place. The cast are all non actors and community members who were willing to be in the film. The shooting process was guided by the environment, with a heavy focus on documentation and improvisation.

Watch above and click here to check out Tudor’s previously featured videos!

Directed, Edited & Produced by Sam Tudor
Cinematography by Jeremy Cox
1st AC: Sarah Genge
Colour: Sam Gilling
Music: Sam Tudor

This video was submitted by Sam Tudor and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

A rural Bulgarian family fights to keep a millenia-old demon chasing festival alive in this beautifully shot documentary short by London-based filmmaker Daniel Ali (previously featured here) and cinematographer Jacob Schühle Lewis. Kukeri is the name for Bulgaria’s ancient pagan traditions that take place at the end of January in the country’s remote mountain regions. The Kukeri believe their ritualistic performances dispel the evil spirits of winter which might otherwise bring ill fortune to the villages and surrounding areas.

Directed, Cinematography, Edited & Coloured by Daniel Ali & Jacob Schühle Lewis
Music Composition: Tim Laing
Sound Design/Mix: Bal Sound, Mustafa Bal
Location Producers: Stoyan A. Tsvetkov, Film Fixers
Translation: Radi Konstantinov

This video was submitted by Daniel Ali and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

Nice video for Brooklyn hip-hop collective SPACE CADE7S by Los Angeles-based cinematographer Jake L. Mitchell. The debut track is about embracing the risks and rewards of chasing your passion and highlights the range of styles and instrumentation of the seven member group.

Featuring:
Malachi Elijah
Lord Keo
Yassky
Groovy E
Rico Luichiano
Mike Brightly
Jeremy Hayden

Directed, Shot, and Edited by Jake L. Mitchell
Steadicam Op: Edwin Cabrera
Production Assistant: Chris “Crita” Martin
Stills: Spencer Brown
Colorist: Ryan Berger
Photo Re-toucher: Austin Quintana

This video was submitted by Jake L. Mitchell and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

A wonderfully silly micro-short about a girl suffering from an ingrown toenail by Brooklyn-based filmmaker Henry Kinder (previously featured here). Despite her attempts to relax, she finds it difficult to think of anything else.

Catherine: Kit Zauhar
Writer & Director: Henry Kinder
DP: Owen Smith-Clark
Editor: Matt Hixon

This video was submitted by Henry Kinder and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

An uplifting animation by directors Siewmay Khoo and Jay Septimo. Made in collaboration with special-needs enabling organization, Superhero Me, “One More Time” sheds light on how members of their community have experienced the pandemic and subsequent lockdown as well as their hopes for the future:

“COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the world, with no end in sight. As Superhero Me’s mission of fostering a more inclusive Singapore is dependent on bringing children with and without special needs together, this pandemic – and the isolation it brings – has brought struggle and newfound resilience to our children, caregivers and captains. Additionally, we want to remind each other to look forward to the next time we can meet again without fear, through this short film created during Covid-19 quarantine period by a team from Singapore, The Philippines and US.”

Superhero Me Voices:
Javier Yeo
Rinn Chan
Sun Meilan
Koh Jia Jin
Joyce Teo

Directors: Siewmay Khoo & Jay Septimo
Script: Jean Qingwen Loo (from Superhero Me)
Assistant Animator: Helgil Siega
Sound Design & Music Composing: Sono Sanctus

This video was submitted by Siewmay Khoo and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

Nice homage to flat track motorcycle racing by directors + jacksonkarinja (previously featured here). Shot with the Vancouver Flat Track Club in Pemberton, BC, “Chasing Silence” captures the unique juxtaposition of the noise of a race and the actual headspace of the racer:

“We’ve always been passionate about motorcycles and racing, but the feeling of being on the track can be pretty tricky to describe. In some ways the track is loud, fast and abrasive. But for the rider on the track, it’s a calm focus that drowns out all distractions and suspends time. Our friends run a flat track series outside Vancouver and invited us to come up to camp and race. We asked if we could shoot it, and this is what came out of it. We hope it gets the feeling across. And we hope we can race it next year!”

This is just one of the many fun submissions we’ve received in the past week. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

A wonderfully effective visualization of the way waves of depression can descend in moments of solitude by director Helen Takkin from Tallinn, Estonia. Watch above and see full credits below!

Starring
Henessi Schmidt
Meelis Veeremets
Kadi Põder

Production Company: Get Shot Films
Director: Helen Takkin
Producer: Kadi Freja Felt
Line Producer: Aili Maarja
Cinematographer: Meelis Veeremets ESC
Production Designer: Kamilla Kase (Set Set Studio)
Gaffer: Ville Penttilä
Sound Designer: Indrek Soe
Stylist: Angela Aadusoo
MUAH: Piret Kaljuste
Stunt Coordinator: Roman Neso Laupmaa (Ghost Division)
Title Design: Bagel & Lurch
1AD: Oskar Lehemaa
B-cam: Martin Venela
Focus Puller: Erik Õunapuu
2AC: Rasmus Kosesson
Electrician: Laur-Erik Ruus
Electrician: Mehmet Burak Yılmaz
Sound Operator: Siim Skepast
Picture Vehicle Mechanics: Värks Tuba
Utility Stunts: Marko Laaban
Safety Diver: Egert Kamenik
SFX Water: Saku Pääste
Art Department Assistant: Enelin Estelle Grau
Production Assistant: Kadi Põder
Production Assistant/Photographer: Kevin Kohjus
Catering: Siim Pinnonen & Ats Pinnonen (ÖKU Foodtruck)
Camera & lighting equipment provided by High Voltage

Music from Musicbed:
Kaina “A Way For Us”
Roland Lewis “Repudium”
#musicbedchallenge

Thanks to:
Laura Killandi, Õismäe 10 Housing Association, Haabersti City Goverment, Location Unit, Marek Hanson, Kopli Couture, Liis Orav, Siim Nikopensius, Triin Valvas, Karlis Jaunzems, Kullar Viimne, Alvar Kõue, Henri Savitski, Jan Viljus, Peter Hacker, Steffen Hacker

This video was submitted by Helen Takkin and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

Beautiful video for Berwyn’s track “Trap Phone” by London-based director Brock Neale-Roberts (previously featured here). Produced by Agile Films, the song explores the love between two people — one inside the bubble and the other outside of it — with a prepaid cell phone being their only point of contact. The video was shot all over Romford with Berwyn and his friends at places that hold a special significance for him.

Directed by Brock Neale-Roberts
Rep: OB Management
Prod Co: Agile Films
EP: Hayley Williams
Commissioner: Dan Millar
Label: Colombia / Joel Quartey
Produced: India Bradshaw
PA: Camilla Morris
DOP: Spike Morris
Focus Puller: Jerry Pradon
Thermal Cam: Tanmoye Khan
Gaffer: Helio Riberio
1st AD: Ato Yankey
Runner: Christian Brown
Art Director: Louis Simonon
Locations: Mark Rolfe
Transport: @protourvans
Kit: @weareshift4
Edit: Beth Roberts
Colourist: Alex Gregory @ The Mill
Sound Design: Alex Wells

This video was submitted by Agile Films and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

A powerful look at the effects of war by Toronto-based filmmaker Dominique van Olm (previously featured here). Even after 100 years, the people of North Eastern France are still dealing with unexploded munitions from the First and Second World Wars. The task of seasoned minesweeper Guy Momper and his team of De-miners is estimated to take another 300 years to complete. Watch “Zone Rouge” above and check out some behind-the-scenes images from the shoot below!

Producer: Darren Snowden
Director: Dominique van Olm
DOP: Mike Rilstone
Field Producer: Pierre-Eliott Buet
Editor: Pauline Decroix
Composer: Dillon Baldaserro
Sound Design: Evan Jerred
Colourist: Connor Fisher

Dominique van Olm’s Website

Dominique van Olm on Vimeo

Dominique van Olm on Instagram