A Life Decision

A Life Decision

Bruce Von Stiers

Animated short films are generally comical in nature or fairly dramatic. One animated short film that falls into the latter category is Vita Nova. It is an animated drama film that is only about seven and half minutes long.

The timeframe and location for the film is post-war Germany. A man goes into a pharmacy. The man provides the pharmacist with a list of things he wants. The pharmacist is somewhat hesitant to sell the man what he wants, which apparently is poison.

There are scenes showing a person getting run over, a woman piling up bricks and impending reconstruction of destroyed buildings. There are also some remnants of Nazi flags and other reminders of war.

While the viewer might not get the motivation of the man, other than despair, we understand what he means to accomplish.

But the end of the film provides the definition of it's title, Vita Nova, which is Latin for new life. By changing the direction of the man's plan, the pharmacist might just have gave him an opportunity to start over again.

Chris Vallancourt provided the voice of the man. Roger Buehler provided the voice of the pharmacist.

Dmytro Zavora wrote the screenplay, directed it and was the film's lead animator. His previous work included Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.

The film was based on the short story, Apotheke Vita Nova, by Josef Reding.

Perhaps what makes this film so unique is that it was done with a team in Ukraine. With the war all around them in their country, they still were able to put together this film. They also had some assistance from a musical team headed up by Ayumi Yokouchi.

Vita Nova is a terrific GCI animated dramatic film. The story features a despondent man looking for a way out and someone who could possibly lead him down a different path. The story is solid and the animation is extremely well done.

The film won the Best Animation Short and Best Original Score awards at the Touchstone Independent Film Festival and has been an Official Selection at festivals such as the Olando International Film Festival. It is also an Official Selection at the upcoming Santa Clarita International Film Festival.

The film has a website where you can view the trailer for it and find out more about the film. The website is https://www.vitanovafilm.com/

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