The Astronomer's Sun

The Giants

September 1970 •Czech

A blue dwarf and a red dwarf get into a vicious argument. Each ultimately calls upon a matching giant to protect them, with unexpected results.

Home of the Heart

December 2021 •French

Omid is an Iranian immigrant who came to France with his family. One evening, in the street, he is attacked and stabbed in the heart. But Omid gets back up! At the hospital, the diagnosis is blunt: he has no heart. Did he leave it behind in Iran?

Pigtails

October 2015 •Japanese

The earth shook. The sea roared. And then… There is a small house solitary standing by the seaside. A young girl has been living there alone since that fateful day. Mail is no longer delivered, but even this morning, she’s hanging out the laundry as usual. She’s unaware that all around her, the clothes pegs are quarreling, the pillow argues with the umbrella about the outside world, and the new toothbrush is unsuccessfully trying to charm the grumpy older ones. Do objects exist to be used until they are consumed or broken? Are they afraid of being thrown away once their life cycle is complete? A delicate story of hope in a cruel and gentle world after an unnamed disaster.

The Sad House

July 2013 •Spanish

The story of a family told through objects found in junk shops and flea markets.

Carmen Torero z „Carmen-Suity”

July 1996 •Polish

Utterly astounding, iridescent sand animation from Aleksandra Korejwo based around Bizet's Carmen.

La Danse Macabre

December 1990 •Polish

A beautifully fluid sand animation inspired by Camille Saint-Saëns' piece, 'Danse Macabre.'

Refrigerator Art: My Family

Invalid date •English

Animated with crayon drawings, Refrigerator Art is a series of shorts based on the adventures of a little boy named Billy, and his all-American dysfunctional family. The films are educational and heartwarming, teaching kids that having an alcoholic or psychotic parent isn’t just normal, but also utterly hilarious.

Rip Wack

January 2005 •English

Two stoners get in trouble with authority.

The Making of Here Comes Dr. Tran

January 2004 •English

Behind the scenes of the animated short film.

The Hunting Season

August 1935 •English

There is peace in the forest and among all of the animals there, including a pair of ducks who befriend Molly Moo-Cow. A pair of hunters come on the scene, go hunting and hurt the ducks, so it's Molly to the rescue.

Hell's Bells

October 1929 •English

The demons of hell play music for Satan, whose delight turns to wrath when an insubordinate refuses to become food for Cerberus.

Little Boy Blue

July 1936 •English

The Big Bad Wolf stalks Little Bo Peep and steals one of her sheep. She enlists Little Boy Blue and a dancing scarecrow to assist her and her mischievous black sheep in rescuing it. Singing, dancing, hilarity and impalement ensue.

Super Rhino

March 2009 •English

This short begins with the star canine and his owner Penny in peril from "The Man with the Green Eye", trapped within his fortress protected by overwhelming defenses, tied up and suspended high above a bottomless pit that's surrounded by fire. So Penny's father transforms Rhino into a super hamster to save the day.

Clown and His Dogs

October 1892 •French

Short film of 300 individually painted images.

A Good Beer

October 1892 •French

Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man

May 2000 •English

A child is born. We see underwater swimmers representing this. He is young, in a jungle setting, with two fanciful "instincts" guiding him as swooping bird-like acrobats initially menace, then delight. As an adolescent, he enters a desert, where a man spins a large cube of metal tubing. He leaves his instinct-guides behind, and enters a garden where two statues dance in a pond. As he watches their sensual acrobatics of love, he becomes a man. He is offered wealth (represented by a golden hat) by a devil figure. In a richly decorated room, a scruffy troupe of a dozen acrobats and a little girl reawaken the old man's youthful nature and love.

Self Discovery

February 2024 •English

A short documentary on the creation of the Pixar SparkShort "Self".

The Hunter

June 2012 •English

In this stop motion sand animation, a lone hunter undertakes a search for a missing boy deep in the snow covered mountains. THE HUNTER premiered at SXSW in 2012, has featured in competition at over 50 international festivals and won several awards including the AFI/ AACTA in 2013.

The Land of Oz

February 2015 •English

Dorothy and Princess Ozma, the rightful ruler of the Land of Oz, find themselves at the mercy of the villainous King of the Skeezers, while trying to stop a war between his kingdom and the neighboring kingdom.

Un Chien Andalou

June 1929 •French

Un Chien Andalou is an European avant-garde surrealist film, a collaboration between director Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali.