Slom (Breakdown) is a three-minute animated film that begins with a scene of an anthropomorphic figure with an elephant head, standing before a bathroom mirror. As we sink into deeper and deeper layers of a strange organism that resembles both a nervous system and a plant at the same time, the elephant-man seems to react violently and unpredictably, creating a sort of choreography that ends in the disappearance of the character himself.

It’s a graduation film by David Lovrić, made at the Department of Animation and New Media at Zagreb’s Academy of Fine Arts. So far he has worked as an illustrator and collaborator on comic books published by several Croatian publishers, a storyboard associate and animator with several Croatian productions, such as The Flower of Battle and Hidden Talent. In 2009 he published his debut comic book titled Year of Grievances (Godina gunđanja).

He also wrote and edited Slom. The music was composed by Aufgehoben band, and additional sounds are the work of Luka Bartolić. The film was co-produced by Zagreb film and the Academy of Fine Arts, and mentored by Darko Kreč from the Academy of Fine Arts.

Slom is one of the 56 films selected for the graduation film competition at the 54th Annecy International Animated Film Festival, an A-list festival deemed one of the most important global events dedicated to animated film. This year’s edition of Annecy takes place 9-14 June 2014.

More information can be found on the official festival website. Still images from the film can be downloaded on this link.

Title image: Scene from Slom (Breakdown) by David Lovrić