Lost & Found, Oscars bound?

AFTER receiving the AACTA Award for Best Animated Short in December, Lost & Found – a thought-provoking stop-motion film co-directed by Melbourne-based Andrew Goldsmith and Bradley Slabe – was shortlisted for the Academy Awards for Best Animated Short. It is one of 10 films to make the cut, with final nominations to be announced on January 22.

The dialogue-free short, which traces the journey of a knitted creature who sacrifices himself to save his loved one, has received a multitude of other awards including Best Short Film Production of the Year at the Screen Producers Australia Awards, and Best Animation and the Major Award at the AWGIE Awards.

“This is a story about two characters that will never give up on each other,” said Slabe, who also wrote the script. “Whether audiences align with their decisions or nor, that’s a question for them and their beliefs about love. And we’re stoked that the film is sparking that conversation.”

The knitted creatures’ perseverance in the face of great obstacles may chart the co-directors’ own journey in producing a challenging – and often taxing – stop-motion film.

“At times, it definitely felt like a four-year unravelling of our souls. But we adore the idea that we gave everything to this film and crossed the finish line battered and frayed,” Goldsmith commented. “Now that it’s out there, the response has completely vindicated our efforts and it’s slowly putting us back together for the next one, stitch by stitch.”

Lost & Found is also in the running to win the Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject, which will be announced in February.

SOPHIE DEUTSCH