Launching as a Vimeo Staff Pick, Ewa Smyk’s laureled graduation film from the National Film and Television School (U.K.) Homebird has made its online premiere. Produced entirely in a paint-on-cel technique, the film is a moving, dialog-free story about believing in yourself as you move forward in life, while embracing your past.
The online debut follows successful international festival run that landed the film on the Academy Awards and BAFTA longlists and totted up more than 20 awards and special mentions, including a Silver Screen Young Director Award (2022).
“I’m so extremely excited to be able to finally share this story with everyone,” said Smyk. “I believe it will resonate with anyone who’s left home to make their mark on the world. Constantly being exposed to amazing and diverse art, it’s so hard to remember that there is a place for every voice in the creative industry — if you can just stay true to yourself, and stay hopeful, your work will find its people.”
Synopsis: Homebird’ tells a story of a young artist, Nina, who moves to a new city. Struggling to succeed in the creative field, she soon finds herself retreating into the rose-tinted memories of the village she left behind.
The foundations of the film were created in hand-drawn 2D animation combined with 3D-modeled and hand-drawn backgrounds; the elements of each frame were then painstakingly painted on acetate using marker pens and acrylic gouaches. In the end, Homebird required thousands of hand-painted images and over two years to complete.
Smyk directed and animated Homebird and wrote the film with Ralph Mathers. Leah Bathany Jones was producer, Pep Bosch i Calvo was cinematographer, Amy Pettipher was editor, Iasonas Houssein was production designer and Tatiana Borges Alvares Sances was sound designer. The original score was created by Ukrainian composer Natalia Tsupryk.
Homebird‘s notable accolades also include awards from the Galway Film Fleadh (Best International Animation Short), GLAS Animation Festival (Family – Special Mention) and Indy Shorts (Animation Short Audience Choice Award and Grand Prize). The film also screen in competition at Berlin, Cinanima, Encounters, Anim’est and Bucheon, among 80-plus festival selections.
Smyk is an animation director and art director, graduated from Central Saint Martins and NFTS (MA Directing Animation). Her commercial portfolio includes an animated sequence for the BBC’s This Is Joan Collins. She is a recipient of the Młoda Polska grant (Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland), Mars and Flare BBDO Scholarship and the John Brabourne Award.
See more of Smyk’s work at ewasmyk.com and head over to Vimeo to watch Homebird in full. (Watch the trailer below.)
