Homebird
Struggling to make it in a big city, a young artist finds herself retreating into the rose-tinted memories of the village she left behind.
Homebird is an NFTS graduation short animation created entirely in paint on cel technique. It was included in the Academy Awards® and BAFTA longlists, and won Silver Young Director Award.
Festivals & Awards
2021: Indy Shorts International Film Festival, Indianapolis, US — Grand Prize for Animated Short (Oscar® qualifying) & Animated Audience Choice Award / Galway Film Fleadh, Galway, Ireland — Best International Short Animation / Encounters Film Festival, Bristol, UK / IndieCork, Cork, Ireland / Calgary International Film Festival, Calgary, Canada — Jury Prize for Student Animation / Animest International Animation Film Festival, Bucharest, Romania / OFFline Film Festival, Birr, Ireland — Best Animation / Kerry International Film Festival, County Kerry, Ireland / Bucheon International Animation Festival, Bucheon City, South Korea / Banjaluka International Animated Film Festival, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina / Spark Animation Festival, Vancouver, Canada — Student Shorts, Runner Up / Cardiff International Film Festival, Cardiff, UK / St. Louis International Film Festival, St. Louis, US / Lake County Film Festival, Lake County, US / Cinanima, Espinho, Portugal / Sweaty Eyeballs Animation Festival, Baltimore, US / Manchester Animation Festival, Manchester, UK / Interfilm Berlin International Short Film Festival, Berlin, Germany / Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF), Tallinn, Estonia (panorama) / Shorts That Are Not Pants Film Festival, Toronto, Canada / St Andrews Film Festival, St Andrews, UK — Best Animation / Animateka International Animated Film Festival, Ljubljana, Slovenia (panorama) / Bogoshorts: Bogotá Short Film Festival, Bogotá, Colombia (special programme)
2022: British Shorts Film Festival, Berlin, Germany / Animac, Lleida, Spain / Tricky Women/Tricky Realities, Vienna, Austria / Fargo Film Festival, Fargo, US — Honorable Mention / MONSTRA Lisbon Animation Festival, Lisbon, Portugal / Athens ANIMFEST, Athens, Greece / On The Pulse Short Film Festival, Belfast, UK / Russian Indie Film Festival, St. Petersburg, Russia — Best Animation / Roanne Animation Short Film Festival, Roanne, France / Sarasota Film Festival, Sarasota, US / Go Short, Nijmegen, the Netherlands (focus programme) / Filmfest Dresden, Dresden, Germany / GLAS Animation Festival, Berkeley, US — Family Special Mention / Brighton International Animation Festival, Brighton, UK / Busan International Short Film Festival, Busan, South Korea / Animayo, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain / Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, Stuttgart, Germany (special programme) / Anifilm, Liberec, Czech Republic / Parish Festival of Independent Film, Jersey, Channel Islands / Cactus International Children’s and Youth Film Festival, Aosta, Italy / Zlín Film Festival, Zlín, Czech Republic / In the Palace International Short Film Festival, Pernik, Bulgaria / Animafest Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatian (special programme) / Southside Film Festival, Bethlehem, US / Young Director Award — Silver Screen / Palm Springs International ShortFest, Palm Springs, US / ShorTS International Film Festival, Trieste, Italy — Shorts TV Award / St Albans Film Festival, St Albans, UK / Insomnia International Animation Film Festival, Moscow, Russia / Anibar International Animation Festival, Peja, Kosovo / Picture’s Up! Film Festival, Los Angeles, UK / Cortocircuiti Short Film Festival, Bari, Italy — Best Animated Student Short Film & People’s Choice Animated Short Film / dotdotdot Open Air Short Film Festival, Vienna, Austria / San Antonio Film Festival, San Antonio, US / Asterfest Film Festival, Strumica, Macedonia / 2D & 3D Animation Film Festival, Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi, Italy / La Guarimba International Film Festival, Amantea, Italy / São Paulo International Short Film Festival, São Paulo, Brazil / Festival Internacional de cine de Norte de Santander, Cúcuta, Colombia — Best International Short Animation / Animafilm International Animation Festival, Baku, Azerbaijan / Albuquerque Film & Music Experience, Albuquerque, US /Deep Focus Film Festival, New York, US / Tallgrass Film Festival, Wichita, US — Honorable Mention / Villa de Leyva International Film Festival, Villa de Leyva, Colombia / Azyl Shorts, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia / Bolton International Film Festival, Bolton, UK / BendFilm Festival, Bend, US / Animatou Geneva Animation Film Festival, Geneva, Switzerland / Corto e Fieno Rural Film Festival, Lake Orta, Italy — Special Mention / Sharjah International Film Festival For Children & Youth, Sharjah, UAE / Osnabrück Independent Film Festival, Osnabrück, Germany — Student Short Film Audience Award / FILMETS Badalona Film Festival, Badalona, Spain / Warsaw Animation Film Festival, Warsaw, Poland / Evolution! Mallorca International Film Festival, Palma de Mallorca, Spain — Best Experimantal Short Film / REX Animation Festival, Stockholm, Sweden / Northern Wave International Film Festival, Rif, Iceland / International Film Festival Etiuda & Anima, Cracow, Poland / ŻubrOFFka International Short Film Festival, Białystok, Poland — 1st Prize at ANIMATION.PL Competition / Fish&Films Festival, Granville, France / Los Angeles Animation Festival, Los Angeles, US — Silver for International Design
2023: Happy Valley Animation Festival, State College, US / O!PLA Animation Festival, Poland — Golden Bundle Award / Camp d’Elx Rural FilmFest, Elche, Spain / Galichnik Film Festival, Galichnik, Macedonia
Reviews & Press
This film is an example of how seemingly everyday images can be handcrafted to tell a truly compelling sophisticated story of growing up and leaving home while still staying true to yourself and your roots.
— OFFline Film Festival
Elegant, modest movie with tasteful “claire-ligne” visuals about finding peace within yourself on the transition from rural to urban life, the past and the present, full of romantic Eastern European nostalgia.
— jury statement, GLAS Animation Festival
We’ve chosen to award this film for its poetic and direct story and ability to talk to everyone. With its expressive storytelling, this film is a reminder of the importance of self- belief whilst fully embracing own background and identity. Extensively, it’s also a beautiful poem that talks of the richness and beauty of all diversities.
— Shorts TV jury statement, Trieste ShorTS International Film Festival
Process
initial character sketches
background design, colouring test
colouring example
photographing coloured cels
NFTS Crew
Directed and Animated by Ewa Smyk
Producer – Leah Bethany Jones
Writers – Ralph Mathers & Ewa Smyk
Cinematographer – Pep Bosch i Calvo
Editor – Amy Pettipher
Composer – Natalia Tsupryk
Sound Designer – Tatiana Borges Alvares Sanches
Production Designer – Iasonas Houssein
CG Artist – Valerie George
Colourist & Online Editor – Marco Valerio Caminiti
Production Manager – Beatriz Honorio
Voice Actors – Laura Greenwood, Brian Ward, Natalie Beran
Production Coordinator – Tian Boyce
Production Assistant – Catherine Lynn
