"Tie" by Alexandra Ramires has just received the grand prize of the short animation competition at the 56th edition of the Chicago International Film Festival, taking place from October 14 to 25.
The short animated film by director Alexandra Ramires, co-produced by Bando à Parte (Portugal) and Providences (France), is animated from drawings in graphite and graphite powder and explores the encounter of two characters who seek to adapt themselves in an attempt to fit into established patterns.
The jury, who awarded "Tie" the "Gold Hugo", the most important prize in the festival's short animation competition, justifies the award with the following impressions: "Two figures wander a landscape, that is either prehistoric, or post-apocalyptic, they are souls disconnected from their corporal bodies, in ways that only animation can visualize. They are perhaps sole survivors, but their disconnection also reflects a more pervasive disconnect with mind and body, brain and heart, that humankind has wandered into. A beautiful inverted palette of black and white, pulls us in immediately and a great deal of quiet keeps us there. For it’s perfect melding of beauty and horror.”
This is Alexandra Ramires' first solo film after co-directed "Drop by Drop" with Laura Gonçalves. "Tie" was shown in competition at TIFF and received the Animation Award at Curtas Vila do Conde and the Grand Prix at Animatou Festival, Switzerland.
Alexandra Ramires has a degree in Painting in Fine Arts in Lisbon. She had her first contact with animation cinema at Sardinha em Lata production company and worked in the animation studios of Bando à Parte production company in Porto, developing technical and artistic work for films by other authors. Currently, he develops his individual and collective work in the BAP Cooperative, of which he is a founding member.
In its 56th edition, the Chicago International Film Festival adopted a hybrid format, with virtual screenings and drive-in, with a programming of over 50 feature films and nine short programs.
