Playing Ghost (Bianca Ansems, 2011) : UK

Review by Bethany Burns. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Arlington Theater.

Playing Ghost, an animated short film directed  by Bianca Ansems, is the dreary story of how a mother and daughter cope with the loss of their husband/father.  While the mother is lost within her depression, her 5 year old daughter  Amy looks around the house for magical ways to reconnect with her deceased father.

When the film opens, mother is sitting inside in her bedroom staring down at two pairs of slippers, one pair that obviously belong to a man.  Amy is outside burying a male doll in a show box in the ground.  She pulls the box back out of the ground, and puts a doll that resembles herself into the box, buries it again, and walks inside to find her mother. Amy finds her mother crying in her bedroom, wearing two different slippers on each foot. She sits down on the floor in front of her  mother and hands her a brush.  When mother sees the picture Amy is drawing of their family all together she cannot control the overwhelming sadness that overcomes her, and begins to cry

Confused by her mothers disconnected behavior, Amy tries with no avail to get her mothers attention by doing things like playing  with the stove. When these attempts fail Amy walks into the garage, opens up the standing freezer and jumps inside.  Upon entry Amy looks over and she has found herself laying next to her father on the ground in a cold icy land. He looks over at her, winks and closes his eyes again. When Amy realizes where she truly is, and that she is starting to freeze she begins to bang on the lid. It takes a moment but her mother hears her cries and comes to her aid.

Back in the kitchen Amy throws a sheet over her head and walking around like a ghost. Mothers spirits are slightly lifted by her daughters attempts to gain her attention, and she smiles and plays with her daughter for a moment. Amy stumbles out the front door still covered by the sheet, playing like she is a ghost.  Outside Amy walks around the front yard and proceeds to fall into a water hole. While floating down into the dark abyss, Amy’s father swims up to her and  gives her his last big squeeze.  Mid embrace Amy’s mother comes out and pulls her from this watery grave, and brings her inside. As this short comes to a close mother has realized she needs to care for her daughter despite her overwhelming depression over her lost husband.

This film was made with stop motion puppets, built over a 3 month period. It was shot frame by frame using 3 puppets, and 7 sets. It was shot on a Canon 40D and was edited on Dragon Stopmotion software. The films premier was in the United Kingdom at Rushes Soho Shorts, and has shown at the London International Animation Festival, Montreal World Film Festival, Anima Mundi, and now at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

It is a simple film , with a simple message: Never forget your lost loved ones, but in your grief make sure not to neglect those who may need you in life.  It was beautifully shot, and choreographed. You can see the distinct detail in everything from the bags under the mothers eyes to Amy’s hair blowing in the wind outside.  The emptiness in her mothers dark black eyes pierces you to your core. Anyone who has experienced the loss of someone close to them might find themselves welling up by the end of this 10 minute film.