‘Feast’ Director Patrick Osborne Will Debut New Short ‘Pearl’ At Tribeca

The 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, taking place from April 13–24, has announced its complete film line-up, and while animation doesn’t play a big role in their programming, they will offer the world premiere of one animated feature, and screen 12 animated shorts out of competition. Why are they not showing animation in competition like Sundance, SXSW, or Cannes — who knows?

The feature film debut will be for Nerdland, the R-rated directorial debut of Titmouse founder Chris Prynoski that we wrote about earlier this month.

On the short side, the notable premiere will be Pearl (pictured, top and below), the new short from Patrick Osborne, who directed Disney’s Academy Award-winning short Feast. Osborne made Pearl for Google’s Spotlight Stories, but like some of the other shorts created for the interactive shorts initiative, like Glen Keane’s Duet, Pearl also has a non-interactive festival version.

Osborne’s six-minute CG film follows a father and daughter on the road together, “tracing his struggles to make it as a musician and parent, and her coming-of-age and musical journey to fulfillment.” The film will debut in Tribeca’s music-driven shorts program “Rock and a Hard Place.”

Most of the other animated shorts will be screened as part of a program called “Whoopi’s Shorts,” curated by actress/talk show host (and noted cartoon fan) Whoopi Goldberg. The films in her program are as follows:

• The Orchestra, directed by Mikey Hill, written by Mikey Hill & Jennifer Smith. (Australia) – New York Premiere. In a world filled with beautiful music, Vernon always seems to strike the wrong note.
• The Loneliest Stoplight, directed and written by Bill Plympton. (USA) – New York Premiere. The life and times of a neglected stoplight.
• Lucens, directed and written by Marcel Barelli. (Switzerland) – US Premiere. The story of the first 100%, made-in-Switzerland nuclear power plant…and also the last. In French with subtitles.
• Fear, directed by Dawn Dreyer, Andrea Love. (USA) – World Premiere. Dr. Zenglo Chen was four when his parents disappeared, victims of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Through Zenglo’s own words and exquisitely crafted hand drawn and stop motion animation, Fear considers the tension between fear and safety; faith and psychology; Chinese and American; and acceptance and healing.
• Violet, directed by Maurice Joyce, written by Mark Hodkinson. (Ireland) – New York Premiere. Violet is a cautionary tale of a young girl who despises her reflection.
• The Short Story of a Fox and a Mouse, directed and written by Camille Chaix, Hugo Jean, Juliette Jourdan, Marie Pillier, Kevin Roger. (France) – US Premiere. A lonesome fox hunts a mouse, when two owls interfere with the hunt, their relationship evolves.
• I am a Pencil (Je suis un Crayon), directed and written by Joe D’Arcy. (Australia, France, Denmark) – New York Premiere. Je suis un Crayon was inspired by the three million people who marched in support of unity, peace, and freedom of expression after the Charlie Hebdo massacre. The pencil (like the artist) has an innate drive to create and will always express, irrespective of whether it is granted permission.
• Shiny, directed and written by Daniel Cloud Campos, Spencer Susser. (USA) – New York Premiere. A damsel in distress gets undressed when a man from the Mid-West puts to rest a world that’s obsessed with the priceless, also known as the shiny.

The remaining animated shorts are spread out throughout the festival’s other short film programs:

• A Subway Story, directed by Eugene Kolb. (USA) – World Premiere. Two people recount their first meeting on the New York City subway.
• I Was a Winner (Jag var en vinnare), directed by Jonas Odell, written by Jonas Odell and Richard Dinter. (Sweden) – International Premiere. Told through a mix of documentary interviews and animation, I Was a Winner shares three very different stories on the subject of computer game addiction. In Swedish with subtitles.
• Gonzo @ the Derby, directed by Michael D. Ratner. (USA) – World Premiere. In 1970, writer Hunter S. Thompson and illustrator Ralph Steadman covered the Kentucky Derby for Scanlan’s Monthly. The resulting article, “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved,” marked the beginnings of gonzo journalism. Gonzo @ the Derby looks at the article and the lasting impact on media and sports journalism.