Between Bears

Beautiful, bizarre, ethereal, captivating - some of the many adjectives which I could attach to this exquisite piece of animation by Eran Hilleli.  A graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem this short has the measured pace and confident design of a mature animator but was in fact Hilleli's recent graduation thesis piece.  As such this makes the animation even more notable.

The music, too, specially composed for the film by Ori Avni and performed by him and Daniela Spector is beautifully nuanced and perfectly balanced - being just the right combination of memorable but non intrusive.

It would be giving the story away if I were to go in to it in any detail here, but suffice it to say that Between Bears is a piece from which you can take what you want and read in to it what you will.  There is a mystery here which needs not be solved but instead pondered.  If you want your animation to be Disneyfied then this may not be for you - or if you are expecting exploding planets or angry aliens (which, OK, may be what you get on Kuriositas on your average day) then this may not appeal.

If, however, you are in a contemplative mood then go away, prepare a beverage of your choice, light up if you smoke and take this is.  Simply gorgeous.