Screening as part of “Animation August“!

These are not your childhood cartoons. Celebrate some of the boldest and most visionary works in modern animation during Animation August at Enzian!

Launching the program is 2-time Academy Award® nominee Don Hertzfeldt’s World of Tomorrow Trilogy (2016–2020), a profound and darkly funny meditation on memory, technology, and the fragility of the human experience. From Japan, Masaaki Yuasa’s Mind Game (2004) explodes onto the screen with fever-dream energy and unrestrained psychedelic imagination, pushing animation’s limits in both form and philosophy. Rounding out the lineup is Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass (2024). 20 years in the making, this haunting new dreamscape from the Brothers Quay—masters of stop-motion surrealism—is a gothic, ghostly descent into the subconscious. Join us for a collection of films that promise to challenge, mesmerize, and linger long after the credits roll. Please note, this animation program is not intended for children and contains adult themes and content.

Unleash your inner “Ani-Maniac” and see all three films with a discounted series pass!

World of Tomorrow Trilogy (with “On Memory” and “Rejected”):

World of Tomorrow
Academy Award Nominee, Best Animated Short, 2016
A little girl is taken on a mind-bending tour of the distant future.
2015, 16 minutes

World of Tomorrow Episode Two: The Burden of Other People’s Thoughts
Emily Prime is swept into the brain of an incomplete backup clone of her future self.
2017, 23 minutes

On Memory
Musing on the nature of memory, Don Hertzfeldt recounts stories about a kiss from The King, a floating child in a backyard and a giant foot.
2021, 10 minutes

World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime
Emily Prime is visited by another genetic copy, Emily 6 from an even-more distant future, who enlists the youngster’s help to restore her deteriorating clone mind by exploring each others’ psyches.
2020, 34 minutes

Rejected
Academy Award Nominee, Best Animated Short Film, 2001
A collection of short advertisements which the animator was asked to create but, upon viewing, were immediately rejected.
2000, 9 minutes

About Don Hertzfeldt: Don Hertzfeldt is an acclaimed independent animator, writer, and director known for his surreal, darkly comic, and emotionally resonant films. Emerging in the late 1990s with cult shorts like Billy’s Balloon and Rejected, Hertzfeldt quickly gained a reputation for his minimalist stick-figure style and bold narrative experimentation. His later works, such as the sci-fi opus World of Tomorrow, showcase a blend of hand-drawn animation, philosophical depth, and inventive storytelling. A two-time Academy Award nominee and winner of over 250 other awards, Hertzfeldt continues to push the boundaries of the medium outside of the studio system.