hello. my name is mike ambs.

spotted via portable - the animals by angeline gragasin

Director Angeline Gragasin created The Animals with an all female executive level production team: something that is oddly and sadly a rarity in the industry. Along with Gargasin (also lead actress) was Caitlin Doughty (writer) Rachel Wolther (producer), Meredith Zielke (DP), Meredith Ries (Production designer) and Abby Walton (Costume designer). Together they have successfully and triumphantly created a short film that I so yearn for; cinematically surreal yet not unsatisfyingly short, a well written script, engaging concept complimented with this mystifying, elongated and [hypnotizing] question mark that underlies the whole film and draws you in and challenges you to keep watching and figure out this perfectly quirky narrative. I want to tell you what this film is about in one of those fantastically well rounded sentences that sums up its style and intent, but for the life of me: describing The Animals would be like trying to describe the depth and beauty of a Rothko to someone totally unfamiliar with his work. Gragasin’s film is visceral and strangely moving in this uncomfortable, jarring kind of way, it’s absurdly beautiful in its execution and it’s the best short film you will see all week (or month, or year). Undeniably, though, after watching this film you may feel a little inquisitive, a little lost. Luckily we picked the brains and spoke to this wonder director cum actress cum total badass, Angeline Gragasin. Enjoy.

There are some really strange and lovely moments in this just-released short film from Angeline - I don’t know how much of this tale is a dream or an overdose or something else entirely; but there’s a lot of choices in mood and direction here that are very charming and very different.