Rob Munday

A National Film and Television School graduation film, Kasia Nalewajka’s unforgettable stop-motion short Pineapple Calamari is the farcical tale of a horse and its unusual relationship with its owners. Screening at festivals worldwide, including Annecy, Ottawa and Toronto, Nalewajka’s 9-minute animation has won audiences hearts with its endearing style and its inventive, emotive storytelling.

“The absurd becomes the lifeline for their tormented minds, it helps them sellotape their lives together”

Admitting that she gravitated towards this narrative because she really wanted to create a film that dealt with loss and denial, the filmmaker explained to Short of the Week, why she adopted a surreal approach to her storytelling. “I’ve always been a big fan of the absurd”, says Nalewajka, “and I felt like harnessing it would really serve this film. The characters of Pineapple Calamari are faced with situations so overwhelming, that they are incapable of confronting them. The absurd becomes the lifeline for their tormented minds, it helps them sellotape their lives together”.

Pineapple Calamari is a film that truly embodies everything I love about short film. Making me laugh-out-loud one-minute and then close to tears the next, Nalewajka’s animation caught me totally off-guard and since viewing has left me grinning inanely every time I think about it.

Currently working on a new short film, that she describes as a nature documentary about crabs, Nalewajka has ensured us that we “shouldn’t expect anything less insane than Pineapple Calamari“. Hoping to start shooting in May, here at Short of the Week we can’t wait to bask in the insanity!