R&A Shorts: Uncanny Valley

Alongside portraying mundane realism, film is also capable of other kinds of expression. This doesn’t mean, however, that it has nothing to say about our everyday life. The Uncanny Valley shorts screening shuttles from animation to video games and from a holiday paradise to absurd comedy, but humanity is what shines through all the films.

In the short film Tourists, the business trip of an old married couple transforms into an epic survival story, where they not only have to fight for their lives, but also for the existence of their long-term relationship.

In the twistedly absurd comedy, I Walked Through the Wall, a mother who is taken for granted and tortured with never-ending domestic work learns to walk through walls. The concept of the short film is reminiscent of the horror blockbuster Backrooms.

Eliza, working in a holiday paradise, can’t get a smile on her face. Is that a problem? At least the staff and customers seem to think so. The short film Free Eliza (Notes on an Anatomical Imperfection) dives deep into the mind of the protagonist and reveals the prejudices people have about each other.

In the animation God Is Shy, a distressing old woman interrupts a couple’s alone time during a train trip and winds up telling a horrendous story, which might involve the knowledge to understand the entire universe.

The screening’s ending film might be called Normal Planet, but there is nothing normal about the film’s unique 3D animation. The viewer travels into the depths of the internet and its digital museums through a fish’s point of view. The film’s fascinating imagery imitates the visuality of VR chats and video games.

Juho Lipponen (translated by Vilja Hynynen)