Private Project

Shadow

Logline:

A little girl wants to show her drawings to her family who is infatuated with a sedentary lifestyle.

UNIQUENESS:

This short animation is made remotely in the cloud during the pandemic using technological innovation under the theme of COVID-19. 55 artists from more than 9 countries volunteered to make this innovative short animation remotely from their homes for 6 months of a period during the COVID-19 pandemic around the world.

Synopsis:

A family consist of a father, mother, brother, sister, and the youngest daughter is home quarantined during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ulaanbaatar. There is no warm atmosphere nor live interaction within the family even though they are under one roof. No one pays attention to the youngest member. Suddenly, the power goes out. It upsets everybody because their activities got cut off. A loud cry of the youngest one wakes everyone from their limbo. Gerelee, the little girl gets excited to look at the shadows created from the candlelight. But when the power comes back, shadows disappear from the wall bringing the cold atmosphere back again.

  • Azzaya Munkhbat
    Director
    Mountain Cat, Khökhö
  • Azzaya Munkhbat
    Writer
    Mountain Cat, Khökhö
  • Bayra Bela
    Writer
    Marco Polo, The Power, Attrition
  • Tuguldur Bayarmaa
    Writer
    Amitaba, Wrong Turn
  • Bayarsaikhan Bayannemekh
    Writer
    No Return, Cloud Rider
  • Bayra Bela
    Producer
    Marco Polo, The Power, Attrition
  • Mandakh Gantugs
    Producer
    Waiting for the Barbarians, Insane Mother, The Children of Genghis
  • Sainbayar Davaakhuu
    Producer
    Wife
  • Joachim Zell
    Producer
    1917, Mulan, Alita: Battle Angel, Blade Runner 2049
  • Oyun-Erdene Jigmeddorj
    Key Cast
    "Gerelee (voice)"
  • Sondor Bat-Od
    Key Cast
    "Gerelee (voice)"
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 11 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 22, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Mongolia
  • Country of Filming:
    Mongolia
  • Language:
    English, Mongolian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Azzaya Munkhbat

Azzaya Munkhbat is a Mongolian film director and actress, who studied Film Directing at the Mongolian National Film School. She is a member of the Hollywood Professional Association. She is well-known for her lead role in an award-winning short film "Mountain Cat". “Mountain Cat” was officially nominated for the ‘Palme d’Or – Best Short Film’ category at the Cannes Film Festival in 2020. The film also got nominated for numerous prestigious film festivals including Sundance Film Festival’s ‘Short Film Grand Prize’ category, Toronto International Film Festival’s ‘Short Cuts Award’, London Film Festival’s ‘Short Film Award’ and Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival’s ‘Shorts and Animation Competition’ categories in 2020. “Mountain Cat” won the ‘Best Short Film’ award at the Busan International Film Festival in 2020.

Some of her directing credits include 20 episodes of VOO Original mini-series “Search”, “Return” short film - which won the ‘Best Short Film’ awards at the Mongolian Academy Awards in 2016 and “No Tears” short film - which won ‘Third Place’ at the “Double Check” short film contest organized by the Embassy of Canada to Mongolia and Lantuun Dohio NGO.

In 2019, she worked as the program manager at the “Hollywood In Mongolia” 1st International Film Artists Festival under the auspices of the President of Mongolia and published a magazine called “Mongolian Cinema” as part of the festival.

In 2021, she directed and co-wrote the short animation "Shadow" in association with the Hollywood Professional Association.

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Director Statement

We are living in the age of technology. Even though it saves us a lot of time and allows us to work and live with each other promptly, it also has the disadvantage of gradually destroying our live human relationships. If you notice, the majority of the time when we are together with our beloved ones, we tend to forget to feel each other in real life. However, in the social world, we try to portray an image that we love them. We have much more time now to be with our family during the COVID-19 pandemic, which allows us to reflect on ourselves to change our human relationships. Shadow short animation is created to give a self-reflection to remind ourselves that the feeling of live human relationship is such a precious thing in our life. Thus, we – who get unconsciously overwhelmed by the social world – should wake up from this limbo, be present and love each other.