Los Angeles theater-goers will have a unique opportunity to see an original, internationally acclaimed feat of animation when Away opens November 29. Presented by Subliminal Films, the dialog-free feature is written, directed and produced by award-winning Latvian filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis.
Away is told in four chapters, and centers on a young boy who has mysteriously crash-landed on a strange island. Pursued by a dark spirit, he makes his way through shimmering deserts and lush forests with the help of a small bird acting as his guide. Zilbalodis, in his early 20s, worked on the film entirely on his own for three and a half years — including writing, design, modeling/rigging, animation and even the music composition.
The film will have a same-day streaming release on Vimeo and Amazon Prime Nov. 29. Visit www.subliminalfilms.com/away.html for more info.
Away has played in and been selected for major animation festivals around the world, including the Ottawa Int’l Animation Festival, Animafest, Turku and the newly combined Dutch event Kaboom. The film was awarded the Contrechamp prize at Annecy this summer.
Zilbalodis discovered a fascination for filmmaking at an early age watching classic films. He has made seven short films in various mediums, including hand-drawn animation, 3D animation and live action, often mixing their characteristic aesthetics. His previous short films include Rush (2010), Aqua (2012), Clarity (2012), Priorities (2014), Followers (2014), Inaudible (2015) and Oasis (2017).
