"Hippos" Eligible for Oscar Nomination

Hipopotamy (Hippos), photo courtesy of Fumi Studio

Hipopotamy (Hippos), a short film directed by Piotr Dumała and co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, received the Grand Prize at the Ottawa International Animated Film Festival. The award makes the Polish animation eligible for an Academy Award® nomination.

Hipopotamy (Hippos)

A group of women and children is bathing in a river. Then the men arrive. One of them, the alpha-male, feels encouraged to approach one of the women. Her rejection results a violent reaction. This turns into a brutal, albeit beautiful, dance of naked bodies, silently reflected in the smooth surface of the water. Dumała’s film, inspired by the rituals of hippos, illustrates the confrontation of the sexes, and the unusual dialogue of human bodies based on taking advantage of the opponent’s weaknesses.

A Film Supported by the Polish Film Institute

Hipopotamy (Hippos) was produced by Warsaw-based Fumi Studio. The film was written and directed by Piotr Dumała. Music was composed by Alexander Balanescu. The film was co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.

Awards in Poland and Abroad

The award at the Ottawa festival marks yet another international win for Hipopotamy (Hippos). To date, the film has received the Silver Hobby-Horse award for Best Animated Film at the Krakow Film Festival, the Grand Prix at the Countryside Animafest in Nikosia, special mention at the AnimaFest in Zagreb, and the Wojciech Juszczak Special Prize at the Animator festival in Poznań.

The festival website is available at: www.animationfestival.ca.

The Fumi Studio website is available at: www.fumistudio.com.

Paulina Bez

Translated by Karolina Kołtun