World of Tomorrow I + Beach Rats

World of Tomorrow I, Don Hertzfeldt, USA, 2015, 16'

This is one of the most award-winning, influential, and unforgettable short films in recent years, and it is possible that you have never heard of it. Maybe you have, but in an age of an over-abundance of information 3.0, sometimes diamonds go unnoticed. Having received more than 50 awards, including Sundance's Grand Jury Prize, SXSW's Best Short Film, the Annecy International Animation Festival's Audience Award, the Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival's Best Short Film award, and an Oscar nomination, Rolling Stone magazine, to cite another of the era's indie temples, wrote that this work was among the ten most important pieces of animation in the history of cinema. And it is.

Emily is a happy, innocent child that one day receives a visit from her future self. It is a third-generation clone who lives 227 years after her. From this meeting, a cosmic journey to the future begins in which we discover the secrets of the world that awaits us. Yes, the Simpson's also predicted this in that episode where Homer crossed through space-time to reach the human world. But this, like the most transcendent Matt Groening, is also pure poetry, humour, and infinite sadness.

Don Hertzfeldt is the independent animation director par excellence, one of those people who can draw, write, compose music, and distribute their work. Using doodles that look like an infant's first drawings, the North American director has known how to create a world of his own; works that begin as anecdotes overflowing with humour that have been loaded with transcendence over the years. Hertzfeldt is a philosopher. Yes, he may be one of those slightly delirious ones, but he's still a philosopher. Adored by critics since his trilogy grouped under the title It’s Such a Beautiful Day, this carte blanche to the Americana festival will let us discover the two well-known pieces that comprise World of Tomorrow.

Beach Rats, Eliza Hittman, USA, 2017, 95'

Teenagers. Teenagers and sex. Teenagers, sex, and friendship at the Coney Island amusement park. Teenagers and the roles that teenagers play: imposed sexuality vs. desired sexuality. Teenage doubt. Frankie is a tough, muscular guy with a gold chain who takes selfies and meets with his friends at Coney Island, acts like a badass, and meets a girl named Simone. Frankie also surfs gay dating sites and walks at night with his hood up, hiding in the sex cruising woods near the beach. It's all filmed on 16mm: the bodies, the neon lights, the gazes.