Rob Munday

Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Superbia, a strange but beautiful land where strict rules divide the societies of women and men. Combining a rich and vivid aesthetic with an abstract, inventive narrative, Luca Toth’s 15-minute dialogue-free film is an explosion of colour, life and sound that blend together to form an organic piece, unlike any you would have seen before.

Portraying a world where men are decent and delicate and women strong and sturdy, Superbia looks to challenge the preconceptions surrounding gender roles that still exist in today’s society.

“The characters and storylines rely on the biology-based reasoning and restrictive traditional gender roles still determining today’s societies”, Toth explains in a Director’s statement. “The film reflects on the absurdity of many of our prevalent and often seemingly irrefutable views on gender roles passed on by traditions, in a sarcastic and surreal manner”.

Driven by a rhythmic, tribal soundtrack, though Superbia’s disorienting storyline might be hard to follow at times, it’s a film that’s easy to lose yourself in. Described by French film critic and artistic director of the Cannes Semaine de la Critique (where Superbia premiered) Charles Tesson as “an orgy of colors against the backdrop of joyful bacchanals”, there’s a hedonistic feel to Toth’s short you can’t help but revel in.

Luca first grabbed our attention with her distinct style back in 2013, when her RCA film The Age of the Curious proved an unforgettable watch. A dreamlike tale that follows three teens on a journey into their inner wildness when they decide to peek under the hair of God, it was clear to us upon first viewing that this was the work of an animator we had to keep an eye on.

Five years later and we’re excited to be featuring the work of Luca on our site again. Superbia is on the very edges of what we usually curate on S/W, it’s abstract narrative might be a bit much for some of our viewers, but we pride ourselves on our platform for championing fresh and exciting filmmaking voices and there’s no denying Toth is exactly that.

Already completed a new film, which she describes as “much better” than Superbia, we can’t wait to see what wonderful world her new short transports us to.