The Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival is proving animation is the future when it comes to entertainment. The 17th edition, happening from September 23 to October 1 at TCL Chinese 6 Theatres, unveiled its stacked selections of animated short films, including the world premiere of basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal’s HeadNoise.
Headnoise, produced and co-written by Shaquille O’Neal, examines the internal and external pressure to succeed as told through childhood friends Rashaun and Damon, two talented basketball players from the same inner-city neighborhood. The short is also co-written and produced by playwright Donnie F. Wilson (Tearing Down Cabrini-Green) and Michael Parris (Shaq vs., Shaquille O’Neal Presents) under the Jersey Legends Productions banner.
Other screening standouts include Spencer Susser‘s Save Ralph in partnership with Humane Society International (HSI), with voiceovers from A-listers Taika Waititi (JoJo Rabbit), George Lopez (The George Lopez Show), Zac Efron (The Greatest Showman), Olivia Munn (The Newsroom), Ricky Gervais (The Office U.K.) and Pom Klementieff (Guardians of the Galaxy); Felix Kiner‘s The Broken Candle with Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip) and Eugenio Derbez (How to Be a Latin Lover); Demi’s Panic from renowned animator and Academy Award nominee Bill Plympton; Grammy-nominated artist Jordan Asher Cruz (a.k.a. Boots) and Jennifer Goodridge‘s No Future Here starring Cleopatra Coleman (The Last Man on Earth); as well as Oscar nominee Erick Oh‘s Namoo, among others.
The full list and schedule of animated shorts include:
Friday, September 24, 12 p.m. PST: Adult Animation
- Boxbalet – Anton Dyakov
- BusLine35A – Elena Felici
- Death and the Lady – Geoff Bailey & Lucy York Struever
- Demi’s Panic – Billy Plympton
- Eternal Igloo – Mostafa Keshvari
- Headnoise – Rafael Jiménez Mesa & Alejandro Álvarez
- Lines – Claire Fleming
- Namoo – Erick Oh
- No Future Here – Jordan Asher Cruz & Jennifer Goodridge
- Only a Child – Simone Giampaolo
- Save Ralph – Spencer Susser
- Step into the River – Weijia Ma
- The Cat – Mary Apick
Tuesday, September 28, 12 p.m. PST: Kids Animation/Family Films
- Astronaut Spaceman – Patrick Tiberius Gehlen
- A Tiny Tale – Sylvain Cuvillier, Chloé Bourdic, Théophile Coursimault, Noémie Halberstam, Maÿlis Mosny & Zijing Ye
- Beyond the Fog – Xue Feng & Han Xu
- Beyond the Line – Jinuk Choi
- Dwarfo-psychosis – Emily Pascal
- I Am a Pebble – Mélanie Berteraut, Yasmine Bresson, Léo Coulombier, Nicolas Grondin, Maxime le Chapelain & Louise Massé
- I’m a Vampire (Soy Un Vampiro) – Sofia Garza-Barba
- NAY NAY TOO BOMB – Marie Alyse Rodriguez
- Social Fitness – Anna Pakman
- Souvenir – Cristina Vilches Estella & Paloma Canonica
- The Broken Candle – Felix Kiner
- The Crossing – Théo Atangana, Bastien Delbes, Delphine Espiasse, Myles Jackson, Evangelos Kapsopoulos, Guillaume Lambolez
- The Home Office (The Making of Cartoon HQ) – Dani Bowman
- There You Are – Rui Huang, Rong Deng, Yu Yang, Adam Morina, Randen Banuelos, Guangdi Jiang, Yuwei Lin, Mengyuan Guo, Alysha G. Bermudez, Nia Baker, Demetri Bouzos, Aubrey Isaacman, Lazybeam, DiipSilence & Michelle Ma
- Vuela – Carlos Gómez-Mira Sagrado
For tickets to the in-person celebration, visit www.hollyshorts2021.eventive.org.
For tickets to the virtual festival, visit https://bitpixtv.com/orders/checkout?c=1262399.
