Experiencing Interruptions?

MIRA

Ready to quit her dreams of becoming a celebrated accordionist after busking day after day for an isolating swamp metropolis that isn’t listening, young Mira finally gets a taste of recognition one evening when she meets Lore; a charismatic and successful performer who takes an interest in Mira’s talents.
Giving into her charm and status, Mira finds herself playing hostess to the mysterious and talented singer as Lore’s self-serving behaviors make her increasingly more uncomfortable in her own home. Mira’s desire for recognition from this elevated musician leaves her blinded to Lore’s hidden intentions until her apartment begins changing around her and her anxieties start to spiral out of her control. Her inability to confront and remove the ever-dangerous Lore proves to have monstrous consequences once Lore shows her true sinister nature; that she is not the musical ally that she initially presents to Mira but a water demon who needs to scavenge and carve out a place for herself by taking advantage of others.
After Mira tries to escape, Lore cruelly adheres her to her beloved accordion, encasing her arms to the instrument’s keys and sewing her lungs into to the accordion bellows. She must keep playing the instrument in order to breathe. Mira, entrapped by this demonic entity, is left with her home and sense of self forever changed.

  • Eva Louise Hall
    Director
    The Weathering (2019)
  • Eva Louise Hall
    Writer
  • Vanessa Severo
    Key Cast
    "Mira"
  • Jessica Paige
    Key Cast
    "Lore"
  • Ava Armstrong
    Key Cast
    "Young Mira"
  • Calvin Arsenia
    Musical Direction and Sound
  • Erica Marie Mancini
    Composer (Mira's Theme)
  • Eva Louise Hall
    Animator
  • J Ashley Miller
    Audio Mastering
  • Mira Taliaferro
    Animation Assistant
  • Christine Dong
    Lettering and Design
  • Theodore Bunch
    Fabrication Assistant
  • Christine Dong
    Fabrication Assistant
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short
  • Genres:
    Surrealist Horror, horror, short narrative, animated short, stop motion, animation, psychological horror
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 5, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Sony Future Filmmaker Awards 2024
    Culver City, CA
    United States
    N/A
    Shortlist / Finalist
  • Fantastic Fest 2024
    Austin, TX
    United States
    September 20, 2024
    Texas Premiere
    Winner: Best Animated Short (Drawn and Quartered)
  • SCAD Savannah Film Festival 2023
    Savannah, Georgia
    United States
    October 21, 2023
    Southeast Premiere, Georgia Premiere
    Winner: Shorts Spotlight - Best of Show, Winner:Best Shorts Spotlight: Horrors in Plain Sight
  • Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2024
    Tokyo
    Japan
    June 17, 2024
    Academy Award Qualifying Competition - Animated Short
  • Atlanta Film Festival 2024
    Atlanta, GA
    United States
    Academy Award Qualifying Competition - Animated Short
  • Vancouver International Film Festival 2023
    Vancouver BC
    Canada
    October 5, 2023
    World Premiere / Canadian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Boston Underground Film Festival 2024
    Calgary, MA
    United States
    Official Selection
  • Fantaspoa 2024
    Porto Alegre
    Brazil
    April 22, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Santa Fe International Film Festival 2023
    Santa Fe, NM
    United States
    October 22, 2023
    New Mexico Premiere
    Academy Award Qualifying Competition - Animated Short
  • ANIMAGE 2023
    Recife
    Brazil
    October 8, 2023
    Brazilian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • ANIMAC International Animation Film Festival 2024
    Lleida, Catalonia
    Spain
    February 16, 2024
    Catalan Premiere
  • Curtas Festival do Imaxinario 2023
    Vilagarcía de Arousa, Galicia
    Spain
    October 30, 2023
    Spanish Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Thomas Edison Film Festival 2024

    Academy Award Qualifying Competition - Animated Short
  • Salem Horror Fest 2024
  • Kansas City Underground Film Festival
Director Biography - Eva Louise Hall

Eva Louise Hall is an animator, filmmaker, fabricator and performer in the United States working in both commercial and fine art contexts. She received awards for her short film 'Mira' at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, winning both "Best Horror" and "Best in Show" in the Shorts Spotlight category. She was recently honored by Sony and Creo Arts with an invitation to Sony Pictures Studios this Spring as a shortlisted filmmaker for the 2024 Sony Future Filmmaker Awards. In addition to the creation of her independent films she teaches as an Assistant Professor of Animation at the Kansas City Art Institute.

Mira is Eva Louise Hall’s most recent stop motion story within more than a decade-long career working with puppets and animation. Other notable projects include The Weathering (2019) and Pluck (in production).

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

After premiering at Vancouver International Film Festival, 'Mira' was honored at 2023 SCAD Savannah Film Festival with awards for both Best in Show and Best Horror Short in the Shorts Spotlight category. Recently the film won best animated short at the 2024 Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX. I was invited to Sony Picture Studios as one of 30 filmmakers chosen out of over 5,000 to be shortlisted for the 2024 Sony Future Filmmaker Awards.

Mira is a film about abusive creative relationships – how artistic aspirations and kindness can be weaponized through the sinister motivations of those in positions of power.
This story touches on themes of celebrity, abusive individuals and relationships, self-sacrifice and the loss of power and control. I am making this film out of a love I have for accordions, sea monsters, animation and surrealist horror film. In bringing this story to life I also wanted to express my personal experience in dealing with how horrific it feels when someone, through their abuse of others, can turn something you love more than anything into a living nightmare.

I made the majority of this film between January of 2020 and the Fall of 2023. It is a film that, like my character Mira, has endured unexpected hardship and tremendous obstacles in the pursuit of creative accomplishment. The overwhelming support I received in developing and in the completion of this film, however, has ensured a much happier ending for its production.

Through the contemplation of the dark and horrific it is my hope that we may expand our understanding and capacity for cultivating beauty and kindness.