Microcosmos. A Cabinet of Curiosities
An animated suite in five movements that transforms urban decay and personal mourning into a visual refuge.
Through the singularity of the small, and exploring the urban skin through the ephemeral traces of Valencia's street art, Microcosmos is an experimental documentary animation that immerses us in the collection of existence.
-
Maria Lorenzo HernandezDirectorFelina, Urban Sphinx, Impromptu
-
María LorenzoWriter
-
Enrique MillánProducerFelina, Urban Sphinx, Impromptu
-
Project Title (Original Language):Microcosmos. Un gabinete de curiosidades
-
Project Type:Animation, Documentary, Experimental, Short
-
Runtime:9 minutes 4 seconds
-
Completion Date:October 31, 2025
-
Country of Origin:Spain
-
Country of Filming:Spain
-
Shooting Format:Digital
-
Aspect Ratio:1,85:1
-
Film Color:Color
-
First-time Filmmaker:No
-
Student Project:No
María Lorenzo Hernández (Alicante, 1977) is one of the most prominent figures in experimental animation in Spain. Her short films have been exhibited and awarded internationally in more than 40 countries, including her nomination for the Goya Awards 2016 for La noche del océano (2015). The essence of her work lies in formal experimentation, where different artistic disciplines (music, drawing, photography, and cinema) merge to explore unconventional aesthetics and narratives. Through this cluster of languages, Lorenzo constantly investigates the potential of rhythm and movement in animated cinema.
My creative process stems from a personal obsession with the collection of the ephemeral. Every piece of urban art—from the grand mural to the small sticker—that I encounter in my city, Valencia, or during my travels, is captured and archived, becoming a digital relic in my own Cabinet of Curiosities.
In this short film, this personal inventory comes to life and is structured around three key figures who represent the dichotomies of the Microcosmos: Pedro Mecinas, painter of nature and the volatile; Israel Nicolás, painter of the mysterious and the magical; and Manuel Lorenzo (1940-2025), my father, cabinetmaker of the infinite, whose craftsmanship anchors the ephemeral nature of urban art to tradition and the enduring.