The 2011 OCD Animation Festival
back to all news » August 1, 2011The 2011 OCD Animation Festival took place Friday July 29, from 1:30pm – 3:30pm San Diego, CA at the 18th Annual International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Conference. The films were scouted and organized by John Spottswood Moore and the program was coordinated by Fred Penzel, PhD. The event went off with a hitch. The films played to a packed house.
All the films were selected because of their quality and because of the portrayal of obsessive compulsive disorder done through the important art of animation.
The following films screened:
Flick
By Robert Darwen
TRT: 3:28
Link to video
A short animation about a young boy with obsessive compulsive disorder and how his eccentric daily rituals actually affect his much loved grans life, or does it?
Link to Robert Darwen
Leaving By Numbers
By Peter Hewitt
TRT: 2:17
Link to video
A short animated documentary about obsessive compulsive disorder.
Article about this film in the festival
Like Me Only Better
By Martin Pickles
TRT: 5:23
***VOTED SECOND PLACE WINNER FOR AUDIENCE FAVORITE***
Link to video
Like Me, Only Better is a laconic comedy about Neuroses, Catholicism and Prozac.
A man called Clive tries to become a better person and to overcome his various Obsessive Compulsive disorders. The film establishes a link between his Catholic upbringing, his childhood imagination and his adult phobias and compulsions.
Link to Martin Pickles’s work
On The Level
By Michael Rutter
TRT: 2:24
***VOTED SECOND PLACE WINNER FOR AUDIENCE FAVORITE***
Link to video
All Bean Maxwell wants is for the picture on his foyer wall to hang level. But will his dedication to the little details cause him to lose sight of the bigger picture?
Link to Michael Rutter’s work & blog
Number Obsessions
By Katie Walton
TRT: 2:29
Link to video
A short animation about obsessive compulsive disorder in the workplace magnified by numbers and the stress of deadlines.
Link to Katie Walton’s work
Obsessive Compulsive
By Isabela Dos Santos
TRT: 1:43
Link to video
It’s a hard life for a horse, especially one with OCD. This short stop motion animation is a cute portait of a horse living with OCD.
Link to article about filmmaker
OCD + me = 5
By Kendra Mattozzi
TRT: 3:25
***VOTED FIRST PLACE WINNER FOR AUDIENCE FAVORITE***
Link to video
A peek into Kendra Mattozi’s life with OCD. It’s a wild ride, would you want to join in?
Link to Kendra Mattozzi’s blog
OCD Brain
By Tamás Komoróczky
TRT: 1:13
Link to video
A brief but informative look at the way the human brain of person with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder functions.
Link to Tamás Komoróczky’s work
OCD Plate
By Katriona Skinner
TRT: 0:22
Link to video
A short experimental animation about how someone with OCD plays with the food on his/her plate.
Link to Katriona Skinner’s work
All In Your Head
By John Spottswood Moore
TRT: 3:50
Link to video
Mark was five minutes early to the bus stop when he found the stray nickel. While many would consider this luck, or Karma, or providence…. Mark was terrified. In this short animated tale, our young protagonist takes us through the mindset of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Ultimately, we find that to some people,the little things can seem like the end of the world.
Push
By Edeline Bernal
TRT: 1:48
Link to video
A creative rant on open doors and drawers and how leaving them ajar can keep certain people up at night.
Link to Edeline Bernal’s work
The Perfect Park
By Leon Sooi
TRT 5:00
Link to Video
The protagonist of The Perfect Park, a Perfectionist, is obsessed with parking his car perfectly. Equipped with measuring tools and gadgets, he demands from himself the highest standards in the art of parking. But perfection is relative the surrounding environment. How can one park perfectly in an imperfect car park?
Touch Wood
By Vivienne Jones
TRT: 6:00
Link to video
A unique look at the nature of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, based on themes arising from real life interviews. The action takes place over one night where we see a man preparing for bed. However instead of falling asleep he spends the time checking and rechecking lights, doors and clocks, obsessively securing the house for his night’s rest. Stylistically the animation highlights the divide between the character and his attempt to control his increasingly malevolent environment. The film explores the uneasy balance between the man’s desire to control his life and the compulsions that try to possess him.
Link to Vivienne Jones
Mirrorman
By Alex Amelines
TRT: 1:06
Link to film
Mirrorman is a two-way mirrored view into the manufactured world of an obsessive compulsive disordered self-existence. Based on that every morning twilight moment – when we drift in and out of dreamlike stasis and consciousness in front of the bathroom mirror, Mirrorman himself is embedded indefinite.
ON/OFF
By Avgousta Zourelidi
TRT: 1:31
Link to video
A humorous take on the effects of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) in the everyday life situations of a young woman.
Link to Avgousta Zourelidi’s work
Junk Palace
By Lyon Forest Hill
***VOTED THIRD PLACE WINNER FOR AUDIENCE FAVORITE***
Link to trailer
Homer and Langley Collyer were two of the world’s most infamous hoarders. Packed floor to ceiling, their New York brownstone became a labyrinth of tunnels and traps. They were utter recluses who might have passed away into obscurity were it not for the bizarre circumstances of their deaths. Using elaborate paper puppets, Junk Palace takes you into the Collyers’ strange world and imagines what life was like for these unique individuals.
Once Again (Sneak Peak)
By John Spottswood Moore
Link to video
A short experimental documentary recalling the filmmaker’s struggles with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Link to Indiegogo Campaign
Additional Films
The following shorts did not screen at the festival but were top picks.
Over and Over (and Over) Again
By Andy Glynne
TRT: 3:34
Link to video
Discover how an everyday routine like leaving the house for school can become the worst nightmare for a teenage boy… Or how numbers can take over a young mind to the point of driving behaviour and influencing unwanted actions… With Danny’s testimony we gain a revelatory insight into the struggles of some teenagers suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder.
Link to Andy Glynne’s work
Obsessively Compulsive
By Andy Glynne
Link to Video
Steve describes how whenever he thought of Saddam Hussein he thought that he was contributing to the conflict in the Gulf. Walking, talking, eating, and drinking – all these actions had to be completed in the absence of an intrusive thought about Saddam, otherwise he would have to repeat the action again and again and again. A rare glimpse into the struggle for those faced with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Recommended Feature Films about OCD
Mary and Max (Animated)
by Adam Elliot
Link to trailer
A tale of friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary, a lonely, eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max, a forty-four-year old, severely obese man living in New York.
Dirty Filthy Love
by Adrian Shergold
Link to Trailer
A man’s life falls apart as a result of his affliction with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Tourette’s Syndrome in this touching and funny tale.
I have Tourettes, But Tourettes Does Not have Me
By Ellen Goosenberg Kent
Link to trailer
Children with Tourette’s Syndrome, ages 6 to about 14, candidly describe what it’s like to have Tourette’s, a poorly understood neurological disorder. They show what their tics are like, talk about difficulties with school, social isolation, embarrassment, and feeling misunderstood and even unwanted due to the inherited condition they have no control over. The DVD has extras that explain Tourette’s Syndrome, both from the viewpoint of the children and that of experts, as well as where to get more information about Tourette’s.
As Good as It Gets
By James L. Brooks
Link to trailer
Melvin Udall is a sarcastic writer who lives alone in an apartment, eats at the same restaurant each day, is afraid of germs, and generally hates people. His neighbor, Simon, is a gay artist whose dog is constantly becoming entangled in Melvin’s life annoying Melvin and giving rise to much anti-homosexual sentiment on his part. Carol is a waitress at Melvin’s usual eating spot who is trying to take care of an asthmatic son and has to suffer Melvins obnoxious behavior. However, the door to Melvin’s self-awakening is opened by Simon’s dog who Melvin has to watch after Simon is brutally mugged. He comes to love the dog and respect Simon, and to see that Carol’s son receives much-needed medical care.