Thursday, January 30th 2025
Like we’ve said before on this blog, we’re going through an animation bonanza period right now, with the industry and filmmakers willing and eager to explore uncharted territories – just look at the new Spider-Man and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated films, for example. This new era of animation is giving us a great number of iconic titles, and this certainly includes João Gonzalez’ ‘Ice Merchants’ from 2022.
"Surrealistic and bizarre scenarios and realities can be used as a metaphorical tool"
This award-winning animated short tells the story of a father and his son, who every day jump with a parachute from their vertiginous cold house, attached to a cliff, to go to the village on the ground, far away where they sell the ice they produce daily. Gonzalez, who also performed and composed the accompanying soundtrack, tells about the short: “Something that has always fascinated me about animation cinema is the freedom it offers us to create something from scratch. Surrealistic and bizarre scenarios and realities can be used as a metaphorical tool to talk about something that is common to us in our more ‘real’ reality”.
Born in Oporto, Portugal this isn’t João’s first approach to animation, as his previous animated short ‘Nelson’ (2019) also made some waves and it was awarded a Quirino Awards as Best Short. The success of ‘Ice Merchants’ is palpable, winning the following awards: Leitz Cine Discovery Award at the Cannes International Film Festival (2022), Best Animated Short Film at the Melbourne International Film Festival (2022), Gold Hugo for Best Animated Short at the Chicago International Film Festival (2022), Silver Spike for Best Short Film at the Valladolid International Film Festival (2022), Best Film National Competition at the Vila Do Conde International Short Film Festival (2022), Best Animated Short Subject at the Annie Awards (2023), and Best Visual Development at the Quirino Awards (2023), as well as a Academy Awards nomination in 2023 for Best Animated Short – pretty cool, huh?
‘Ice Merchants’ is a visual delight, as every frame is museum worthy thanks to Gonzalez’ efforts, from the character design to the settings, the backgrounds, the color palettes… everything just works, you know? A delight from beginning to end, 14 minutes you won’t regret investing into watching this animated short.
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All images attached to this article are not property of Lorem Ipsum and were crafted by the artists mentioned above.
