Rob Munday

Nominated for a ‘Best Short Film, Animated’ Oscar at the 2000 Academy Awards and winner of over 40 prizes from around the world, including a ‘Grand Prix’ at Annecy and a ‘Palme d’Or’ at Cannes, Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby’s 10-minute film When the Day Breaks could easily be seen as one of the most revered animated shorts of the last 20-years. A tale that centres around the impact of having to face-up to your own mortality, Forbis and Tilby’s short still feels as relevant and distinct as it did 15-years ago.

Watching When the Day Breaks it’s hard not to be reminded of George Orwell’s seminal novel Animal Farm. Both stories focus on animals behaving like humans and both stories resonate long after they end, due to how relatable they are. Orwell’s novel may tackle grander themes (not surprising considering it’ll take you a lot longer than 10-minutes to read), but just like Animal Farm there’s an ageless, universal quality to Forbis and Tilby’s short that gives its narrative a complexity that forces its viewers to reflect on their own place in society.

Creating their distinct look by shooting on hi-8, transferring to VHS, printing out frames via a video printer, photocopying these prints onto paper, drawing/painting on top of these copies with pencils and oil sticks and then transferring to 35mm (production info from interview with Lois Siegel), you can start to understand why it was another 12-years before we saw another short from the creative duo. But with their latest collaboration Wild Life also earning an Oscar nomination, it’s easy to see why this filmmaking pair is so well thought of in the short film community, despite their output not being the most prolific.