Grotesque, Gorgeously Crafted ‘Melk’ Makes Animation History At Locarno

Belgian filmmaker Filip Anthonissen’s beautifully deranged animated short Melk has won the Pardino d’Oro Arts3 Foundation for Best International Short Film at the 79th Locarno Film Festival. According to Miyu Distribution, Melk is the first animated film to win Locarno’s Pardino d’Oro for Best International Short Film, as far as can be told from the available records.

It was also selected as Locarno’s Short Film Candidate for the next edition of the European Film Awards.

Written and directed by Anthonissen and produced by Brecht Van Elslande for Animal Tank, Melk is the KASK Ghent graduate’s first professional film. Set in a remote 19th-century village, it follows an elderly woman searching for her adult son after he disappears following a drunken incident. Her unsuccessful search takes a darker turn when the devil seems to arrive, and chaos breaks out.

To score a prize like the Pardino d’Oro at a festival with the pedigree of Locarno, a film needs to be exceptional. But the term falls short of capturing how singular Melk is. Its logline might raise an eyebrow, but the synopsis barely scratches the surface. Aesthetically, the short is hideously beautiful, at times grotesque enough to inflict physical discomfort on the viewer, but rendered with a level of craftsmanship and visual imagination that makes it impossible to look away.

The festival’s Pardi di Domani jury described the film as “a wonderfully strange, masterfully crafted and deeply moving portrait of how far we can go for the love of a parent,” praising the way it transforms “a small family tragedy into something dark, ironic, and almost mythological.”

Miyu Distribution co-founder and CEO Luce Grosjean said the victory reflects animation’s growing presence at major international festivals:

After the success of 27 by Flóra Anna Buda, which won the Palme d’Or in 2023, it is a joy to see animation keep winning more and more space with festival programmers and in the hearts of juries. And the fact that they are both clearly animation for adult audiences shows us how the medium can continue to push the boundaries of incredible storytelling for all cinema lovers.

Having successfully made its world premiere at Locarno, Melk will now make its way to Toronto for its North American premiere in the Strange Cuts program.