Selection

Screening: Professional Competition 9
United Kingdom 2022
Duration: 05:18
Directed: Samuel Jon Poyser, Bethan Coolin
Screenplay: Bethan Coolin
Production: Samuel Jon Poyser, Bethan Coolin
Dialogue Language: English

An unnamed narrator recounts his pursuit of an animal that appears mysteriously one night on the beach. Pearl Dog is the first short film to be created using a hybrid technique which sees each frame of film painstakingly reinterpreted using artificial intelligence similar to the traditional animation process of rotoscoping. This process balances the intentions of the filmmaker with the transformative power of machine learning algorithms. Written in the style of a traditional gothic horror poem, Pearl Dog tell the story of an unnamed narrator recounting his pursuit of a dog that appears mysteriously one night on the beach. Actor Conor Charlton lends his voice to the role, as the narration and animation form a juxtaposition of old and new, resulting in a strange, haunting and dreamlike work.