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CITYWALK

A poetic and absurd short stop motion film about shame, sorrow, power – and an unexpected kind of comfort.
A woman walks through the city, carrying an unusual physical attribute. It's strange, maybe shameful – but it’s there, unapologetically.
When a man appears with a troublesome dog, an absurd confrontation unfolds. Her body reacts. A tear is shed. Something once a source of discomfort becomes unexpectedly useful.
CITYWALK is a grotesque and tender urban dream sequence – blending stop motion performance, gender politics, and surreal slapstick into a visceral one-minute journey.

  • Malin Dahl
    Director
    May You Live, Homecoming
  • Malin Dahl
    Writer
    May You Live, Homecoming
  • Johnny Wernersson
    Producer
    May You Live, Homecoming
  • Malin Dahl
    Producer
    May You Live, Homecoming
  • Malin Dahl
    Key Cast
    "Anna"
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short
  • Genres:
    Experimental, bodyhorror, Stop Motion, Feminist, Animation, urban, art house, absurd
  • Runtime:
    1 minute 47 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 15, 2025
  • Country of Origin:
    Sweden
  • Country of Filming:
    Sweden
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Flipbookfilm festival
    Skjope
    North Macedonia
    August 7, 2025
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Punkfilmfest Berlin
    Berlin
    Germany
    October 20, 2025
    Official Selection
  • Sinstro
    Fortaleza, Cerá
    Brazil
    October 22, 2025
    Official Selection
  • Bmore Horror Fest

    United States
    October 23, 2025
    US Premiere
    Honorable Mention
  • Uppsala International Short Film Festival
    Uppsala
    Sweden
    October 25, 2025
    Swedish Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Lund Fantastic Film Festival
    Lund
    Sweden
    October 26, 2025
    Official Selection
  • Bizarroland Film Festival
    Orlando
    United States
    December 12, 2025
    Official Selection
  • Wasteland Film Festival
    California
    United States
    September 25, 2025
    Official Selection
  • Cardiff Min Film Festival
    Cardiff
    United Kingdom
    January 18, 2026
    Official Selection
  • Los Angeles Fantasy Fest
    Los Angeles
    United States
    November 20, 2025
    Nominee
  • Freak on Camera: International Fantastik Film Festival
    Godella
    Italy
    November 27, 2025
    Official Selection
  • Lovely bones cinema fest
    Rom
    Italy
    January 17, 2026
    Official Selection
  • BUT Film Festival
    Breda
    Netherlands
    August 26, 2025
    Official Selection
Distribution Information
  • Backa Studios
    Distributor
    Country: Sweden
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Malin Dahl

A passionate filmmaker with a love for exploring the discomfort and rawness that often lie beneath the surface of everyday life.
Malin Dahl was born outside Örebro, Sweden, and has been a filmmaker since graduating from art school.
She is a director, screenwriter, and producer, and runs the production company Backa Studios AB, which has produced feature films, short films, documentaries, and animated films since 2009.
Her latest feature film, May You Live, premiered at Göteborg Film Festival and will be released in Swedish cinemas in october 2025.
Malin’s films are continuously shown around the world.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

CITYWALK began with a simple but loaded image: a woman carrying something unusual, something that might be considered shameful – but she lets it exist, unapologetically. The film is a poetic and absurd exploration of the body, shame, and care, where the grotesque becomes both disturbing and unexpectedly healing.

I wanted to create a story that plays with taboos around the female body, without explaining or justifying them. Instead, the body acts – wordlessly, physically, instinctively. At the center is a female body with an attribute that provokes embarrassment, but also proves to be functional, even helpful. The absurd meets the tender.

The film moves between feminism and slapstick, between body politics and play. It gently pokes at how shame is coded differently for men and women: the man who feels awkward crying, the woman who feels awkward “hanging.” I'm interested in what happens when we twist these rules – about how we’re supposed to look, behave, or feel – using humor, movement, and animation.

Working in stop motion allowed me to explore rhythm and embodiment in a tactile, physical way – every motion is deliberate and charged. I see CITYWALK as a small, concentrated confrontation with bodily control. But also as a warm, slightly ridiculous wink to the things we all carry – the things that chafe, but maybe also save us.