The brief narrative of the film traverses a world of fantasy and magic. It takes us into a little girl's reveries as she preoccupies herself with her toys. Through the images that come to be conjured on screen before you, surreal ideas of childhood and daydream are further engaged with, ensuring that beyond a child's story of wonder, there is also a sense of dreamy nostalgia awaiting the adult viewer. As our young protagonist moves from one fantastical scene to another, progressing upon her adventure, the audience is allowed to participate in her journey. A fairy tale of a dark evening is brought to life in the process, further allowing you a moment of a fantastical escape, much like the little girl. The film eventually becomes a sincere endeavor to weave together notions of memory, images of childhood and the residue of dreams that is left behind. The animation follows a sombre palette to further drive its message home, leaving you with a simple, direct story of an evening of adventure and dreams.

Once There Was a Girl | Short Film Nominee

Ichor, which simply means the blood of gods, ensures that the film has led the viewer by hand to its core intentions right at the beginning with its very title. Ichor also has a link to human wounds, which is employed further in the narrative when the protagonist asserts his own knowledge of wounds. In terms of the story, what begins as a losing battle for him and his fellow-soldiers in the nineteenth century eventually comes full circle in the twenty first. The narrative strives to bring in adventure, action, fantasy and drama to further embellish its story. Our protagonist is a man who has known loss and personal tragedy. Consequently, when he finds himself staring directly into the face of death in the form of a blood-sucking being who has killed all his companions, there is little that makes him flinch. He is ready to embrace his end, and yet, life has something else in store for him. The story further invokes Mary Shelley and the inspiration she drew from the myth of Prometheus for her masterpiece, Frankenstein. The film endeavors to invoke a conversation on life and death, on loss, love, tragedy, and more explicitly, one's idea of the nation. It is well-intentioned and sincere, almost theatrical in its performances and character developments. However, if the same theatricality could have been replaced with a little more effortlessness, it would have benefitted the film more.

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