Anna Mantzaris and Eirik Grønmo Bjørnsen's But Milk Is Important (2012)
It's a film about anxiety and fear, about the things that force us out of our comfort zones, and how good intentions don't always lead to good results. It just happens to convey all that that through fuzzy, lumpy monsters.
NOTE: This Monday short was originally posted on July 3, 2018. We are re-uploading Peter Hemminger's original Monday Shorts until further notice.
Anna Mantzaris and Eirik Grønmo Bjørnsen's 2012 film But Milk Is Important can be very cute, but that doesn't mean it's simplistic. It's a film about anxiety and fear, about the things that force us out of our comfort zones, and how good intentions don't always lead to good results. It just happens to convey all that that through fuzzy, lumpy monsters.
One of the film's biggest strengths is its ambiguity. Mantzaris and Bjørnsen take every opportunity to complicate the mood, through small gestures, sinister stings and unresolved moments. Social anxiety and similar conditions aren't often treated with so much nuance, which makes Milk all the more important.
(But Milk Is Important screened at over 100 animation festivals and picked up at least 21 awards and honorable mentions, including Best Film From An Emerging Artist at 2014's GIRAF fest. And Mantzaris has a new film making the festival rounds, which we can't wait to check out.)
syn. A man with social phobia gets followed by a naive and clumsy creature..
dir. An animated short by Anna Mantzaris and Eirik Grønmo Bjørnsen
music. Phil Brookes
sound. André Parklind
2012
AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FILM - Ottawa International Animation Festival 2013
WALT DISNEY AWARD FOR BEST GRADUATION FILM - Ottawa International Animation Festival 2013
AUDIENCE AWARD IN THE INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM: INSIDE THE MIND - London International Animation Festival 2014
BEST FILM FROM EMERGING ARTIST - Giraf - Festival of independent animation 2014
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM (+18 category) - Giffoni International Film Festival 2013
BEST STUDENT FILM - Se-Ma-For Film Festival 2013
AUDIENCE AWARD - Sweaty Eyeballs 2013
PEOPLE'S CHOISE AWARD - Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2013
AUDIENCE AWARD - Frame by Frame 2013
BEST STUDENT FILM - Athens Animfest - 2013
POST GRADUATE STUDENT JURY: BEST STUDENT FILM - Athens Animfest 2013
GOLD WINNER - Moving Image Student Category - Visuelt 2013
BEST STUDENT FILM - Animated Dreams 2013
FUTURE GLANCE - Kort på KinoKino 2013
BEST SHORT FILM - Cardiff Independent Film Festival 2014
AUDIENCE AWARD - In Short Film Festival - 2014
SPECIAL MENTION - Anibar - 2014
STUDENT SPECIAL AWARD - Anifest 2013
BEST NORDIC BALTIC STUDENT FILM - Fredrikstad Animation Festival 2012
SPECIAL MENTION - Sommets du cinéma d'animation 2013
SPECIAL MENTION BY JURY MEMBER CHRIS ROBINSON - Animateka 2013