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Hungarian director Flóra Anna Buda won the Best Animated Narrative Short Cristal at Annecy last month with her film 27, only a few weeks after taking home the prestigious Palme d’Or for a short film at the Cannes Festival in May. The 11-minute, 2D-animated short follows a young woman who lives in her dreams to escape her dreary everyday life. One night, she has a drunken bicycle accident after going to a psychedelic party on a factory roof.
We had the chance to speak with Buda via email. Here is what the talented artist told us about her thought-provoking short:
Flóra Anna Buda: I first came up with the idea back in December of 2019 when I moved out of my parent’s place at the age of 28. I was struggling with another script that wasn’t working very well and started drawing for myself. After I drew three images, I saw some sort of connection between them. I started fantasizing about making a pornographic film that is about a woman who still lives with her family at the age of 27 and how that would look. My producer Emmanuel-Alain Raynal immediately supported the idea and we started working on it right away.
When dd you start working on it and how long did it take?
I started the pre-production in 2020 January, in Viborg, Denmark on an artist residency called Open Workshop. I spent one and a half years working by myself on the script, the animatic and the design of the film. Then, we went to CICLIC residency with part of the team where production started and lasted another one and a half years. So, in total, it took three years to make this short.
Which animation tools did you use to create it?
Though I wanted to approach analog aesthetics, the film was made digitally with TVPaint and Photoshop.
What would you say was the toughest part of making your short?
Definitely the dialog, because this was the first time I wrote dialog and I really wanted to be able to write something natural, and it was a process to get into a state of mind where I could imagine realistic conversations.
What did you love best about the finished project?
Since the biggest challenge was the dialog, I must say that was the most rewarding part as well. But I also really enjoyed painting the backgrounds and making the design — and, actually, all parts of the process had periods that I really loved.
Who are your big animation heroes?
David Lynch, because he managed to start with animation, go through live action and fine art and music, and this is something that I find truly inspiring!
When did you know you wanted to work in animation?
I studied leather design and fashion when I realized my drawings are more about the movement and the character and the graphic style than the dresses. I also wanted to be a film director when I was a child, so I just came back to the original idea.
What do you hope audiences will take away from your short?
I hope it starts a conversation. I hope some will feel seen and understood, and that some will feel negatively about it and start having debates with others, so they can shape each other’s opinions.
What are you working on next?
I will keep working on understanding my past and where I come from. Currently, transgenerational traumas are one of my interests.
See more of Buda’s work at floraannabuda.com.
