The Role
From the Archives
•
Animation, Short Films, 03-Mar-2025
A cook is offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to act in a film. “The Role,” directed by Paolo Chianta, is a hand-drawn animated film that traces a quiet man’s foray into an unfamiliar world. After discovering that he bears a striking resemblance to their father, a pair of siblings ask the cook to play their father in a film. Without giving it much thought, the man decides to go for it, quitting his job and moving with his children to the city. The kids love the vibrant city life but the former cook struggles in his preparations to play the charismatic father, particularly after the siblings have a change of heart. With its ballpoint pen etchings, the film is stylistically and tonally similar to Chianta’s previous short, “Tap Runner” which we featured in 2022. Both films are rendered with a humble, melancholic quality and enriched by metaphorical potency. -KA. Director: Paolo Chianta. Cast: Paolo Chianta, Lilah Vandenburgh. Writer/Producer/Animator/Music: Paolo Chianta. Co-Producer: Lilah Vandenburgh.
https://www.nobudge.com/videos/tap-runner
Up Next in From the Archives
-
Girl, Removed
A young woman impulsively travels to New York City alone, ignoring her mother's calls throughout the trip. Directed by Anahita Amirshahi. Cast: Ellena Eshraghi, Denton True, Gina Nicole Brown.
-
Bridges
A simple, restrained story of an afternoon with a babysitter, well-acted and carefully crafted. Actress Joslyn Jensen is eminently watchable as Elizabeth, the sitter, as she was in the excellent 2011 film, "Without." Director Christopher Bell presents an uncommon combination of the hyper-real and...
-
Georgia's Line
Georgia spends each winter living in a commune in the woods, but when her daughter and granddaughter return home to Vermont, her role in the family unit comes into question. Jo Dery directs “Georgia’s Line,” a quiet character study on family, built with vivid specificity and sense of place. Georg...
