A man is shot and can only survive as a head and a body who exist independently from one another. The forgetful body desperately collects souvenirs, while the head is lost in a series of illusions. Actions contradict thoughts as the two take divergent paths. It is only through destruction that the two find a means for reunification.
ROLE: Writer, Director, Animator
FILM CREDITS
ROLE: Writer, Director, Animator
FILM CREDITS
FESTIVALS:
Golden Gate Award Best Animated Short - San Francisco International Film Festival 2009, Tom Berman Award Most Promising Filmmaker - Ann Arbor Film Festival 2009, Slamdance Film Festival 2009, Comic Con International Independent Film Festival (San Diego) 2009, AFI Fest - Los Angeles 2008, Seattle International Film Festival 2009, San Francisco International Film Festival 2009, Ann Arbor Film Festival 2009, Independent Film Festival of Boston 2009, Cannes Short Film Corner 2009, LIAF - London International Animation Film Festival 2009, Melbourne International Animation Festival 2009, Kracow Film Festival (Poland) 2009, Animanima (Serbia) 2008, KROK International Animated Film Festival (Ukraine and Russia) 2008, PANORAMA INTERNACIONAL DE CINE INDEPENDIENTE (Madrid, Spain) 2009, Glasgow Short Film Festival (UK) 2009, Cucalorus Film Festival 2009, San Diego Asian Film Festival 2009, l'Alternativa 2009 - 16th Barcelona Independent Film Festival 2009, HollyShorts Film Festival 2009, Moving Image Film Festival (Toronto) 2009, St. Louis International Film Festival 2009, Calgary International Film Festival, 2009, Festival Internacional de Jovenes Realizadores de Granada (Spain) 2009, Gate City Womens Film Festival, 2008, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, 2009, ONFILMFest 2009, Fargo Film Festival 2009, Arizona International Film Festival 2009, Machine Project 2008, Cal Arts Animation Showcase, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and others.
DVDs:
STASH DVD Magazine, Issue #64, Best of LIAF (London International Animation Festival) 2009
PRESS:
In a graphic style that successfully melds free-form, sketchy expressionistic lines and textures and others representing clinical diagrams and symbols, we see the process of a soldier being shot and wounded. But Lee presses forth a bold parable, where the patient's head is being amputated. Body and head independently wander and ponder until their wary reunion.
-Tony Reveaux, CineSource Magazine, May, 2009
They come along every so often, and I just don't know what I'm supposed to make of them. Evelyn Lee's "Kanizsa Hill" is an animated experimental film about a man who gets shot and the resulting damage causes the hospital to sever the head completely. The rest of the short involves a headless body in hospital garb wandering around collecting souvenirs while the severed head sits next to a talking tree. Oh, and there are little spinning Pac-Man looking circles that create Kanizsa triangles when animated. Indeed.
Visually, the film is brilliant. Lots of different animation styles, from line work to some interesting
crayon sketches to that stop-motion looking live-action herky-jerk you see in music videos
every once in a while. For that alone, it is worth your time to check out. If, however, you want me to tell you want it means... um, body without head is into acquiring things, head without body is into pondering things, body with head is into destroying things. Oh, and we see things that aren't necessarily there in an attempt to make sense of our surroundings. The end?
4 stars
- Mark Bell, Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice (2008-11-04)
The viewer is carried through in a dream-like narration that is often attempted by filmmakers and rarely succeeds. Kanizsa Hill is the exception to this trend; the (dis)connected narrative flows perfectly, causing just the right levels of clarity and wonder.
- Jesse Hawlish, SLUG magazine, January 19, 2009
The story of a man's detached head unfolds in wave after wave of fantastically fresh and innovative drawing styles and collage techniques.
- Paul Sbrizzi, Gallery Host, Co-Chair Shorts Programming, Slamdance Film Festival
It is such unique story-telling that you should at least give it a go. You may just be surprised.
- Shane Morton, Indie Express, November 5, 2008
In “Kanizsa Hill,” a man literally loses his head. Problem is, he can only survive now as an independently existing head and body. Los Angeles-based Evelyn Lee’s animated film, created with a variety of dynamic drawing and collage techniques, is sure to be a visual adventure.
- Kasia Pilat, Metro International, Celebrating Independents’ day, April 21, 2009
Employing an eclectic blend of drawing and animation styles, the symbolic tale of cloistered minds and bodies careers from hyperrealism to colorful, impressionistic fantasy, and from dark comedy to philosophical musing.
- Arizona Film Festival
A beautifully animated, head-scratching mind trip of a film that’ll leave you wondering, “What
the hell did I just watch?” (In a good way.)
- Phil Yu, Programmers’ Recommendations, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
Golden Gate Award Best Animated Short - San Francisco International Film Festival 2009, Tom Berman Award Most Promising Filmmaker - Ann Arbor Film Festival 2009, Slamdance Film Festival 2009, Comic Con International Independent Film Festival (San Diego) 2009, AFI Fest - Los Angeles 2008, Seattle International Film Festival 2009, San Francisco International Film Festival 2009, Ann Arbor Film Festival 2009, Independent Film Festival of Boston 2009, Cannes Short Film Corner 2009, LIAF - London International Animation Film Festival 2009, Melbourne International Animation Festival 2009, Kracow Film Festival (Poland) 2009, Animanima (Serbia) 2008, KROK International Animated Film Festival (Ukraine and Russia) 2008, PANORAMA INTERNACIONAL DE CINE INDEPENDIENTE (Madrid, Spain) 2009, Glasgow Short Film Festival (UK) 2009, Cucalorus Film Festival 2009, San Diego Asian Film Festival 2009, l'Alternativa 2009 - 16th Barcelona Independent Film Festival 2009, HollyShorts Film Festival 2009, Moving Image Film Festival (Toronto) 2009, St. Louis International Film Festival 2009, Calgary International Film Festival, 2009, Festival Internacional de Jovenes Realizadores de Granada (Spain) 2009, Gate City Womens Film Festival, 2008, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, 2009, ONFILMFest 2009, Fargo Film Festival 2009, Arizona International Film Festival 2009, Machine Project 2008, Cal Arts Animation Showcase, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and others.
DVDs:
STASH DVD Magazine, Issue #64, Best of LIAF (London International Animation Festival) 2009
PRESS:
In a graphic style that successfully melds free-form, sketchy expressionistic lines and textures and others representing clinical diagrams and symbols, we see the process of a soldier being shot and wounded. But Lee presses forth a bold parable, where the patient's head is being amputated. Body and head independently wander and ponder until their wary reunion.
-Tony Reveaux, CineSource Magazine, May, 2009
They come along every so often, and I just don't know what I'm supposed to make of them. Evelyn Lee's "Kanizsa Hill" is an animated experimental film about a man who gets shot and the resulting damage causes the hospital to sever the head completely. The rest of the short involves a headless body in hospital garb wandering around collecting souvenirs while the severed head sits next to a talking tree. Oh, and there are little spinning Pac-Man looking circles that create Kanizsa triangles when animated. Indeed.
Visually, the film is brilliant. Lots of different animation styles, from line work to some interesting
crayon sketches to that stop-motion looking live-action herky-jerk you see in music videos
every once in a while. For that alone, it is worth your time to check out. If, however, you want me to tell you want it means... um, body without head is into acquiring things, head without body is into pondering things, body with head is into destroying things. Oh, and we see things that aren't necessarily there in an attempt to make sense of our surroundings. The end?
4 stars
- Mark Bell, Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice (2008-11-04)
The viewer is carried through in a dream-like narration that is often attempted by filmmakers and rarely succeeds. Kanizsa Hill is the exception to this trend; the (dis)connected narrative flows perfectly, causing just the right levels of clarity and wonder.
- Jesse Hawlish, SLUG magazine, January 19, 2009
The story of a man's detached head unfolds in wave after wave of fantastically fresh and innovative drawing styles and collage techniques.
- Paul Sbrizzi, Gallery Host, Co-Chair Shorts Programming, Slamdance Film Festival
It is such unique story-telling that you should at least give it a go. You may just be surprised.
- Shane Morton, Indie Express, November 5, 2008
In “Kanizsa Hill,” a man literally loses his head. Problem is, he can only survive now as an independently existing head and body. Los Angeles-based Evelyn Lee’s animated film, created with a variety of dynamic drawing and collage techniques, is sure to be a visual adventure.
- Kasia Pilat, Metro International, Celebrating Independents’ day, April 21, 2009
Employing an eclectic blend of drawing and animation styles, the symbolic tale of cloistered minds and bodies careers from hyperrealism to colorful, impressionistic fantasy, and from dark comedy to philosophical musing.
- Arizona Film Festival
A beautifully animated, head-scratching mind trip of a film that’ll leave you wondering, “What
the hell did I just watch?” (In a good way.)
- Phil Yu, Programmers’ Recommendations, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
