Above the Clouds Above the Clouds

Vivien Hárshegyi‘s Above the Clouds, an award-winning Hungarian student film that screened at Annecy, Ottawa, Zagreb, Animateka, and numerous international festivals, playfully explores the joys, jitters, and groans of love, both past and present.

With glazed eyes and a rapid heartbeat — the telltale signs of love (or perhaps an anxiety attack; the two can feel quite similar) — a young woman, fearful of falling in love again, inevitably does just that. Yet, overwhelmed by her emotions, she flees from her newfound amour, retracing the ups and downs of her first love along the way.

The film’s vibrant array of bold, bright colors, and its playful, exaggerated animation style create a surreal and over-the-top experience that hilariously captures the excitement and fears of falling in love again — something to which we can all relate.

Hárshegyi was born and raised in Budapest where she still lives. She graduated form Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME) where she got both her BA and MA degrees in animation. Her previous film was Narcissus (2015), also made at MOME. She is currently working on her latest short film, Margareth, about a woman who distracts herself from the joy of life by creating her own dark reality.

Above the Clouds was produced by József Fülöp at MOME.

Chris Robinson

Chris Robinson is a writer and Artistic Director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF). Robinson has authored thirteen books including Between Genius and Utter Illiteracy: A Story of Estonian Animation (2006), Ballad of a Thin Man: In Search of Ryan Larkin (2008), and Japanese Animation: Time Out of Mind (2010). He also wrote the screenplay for the award-winning animation short, Lipsett Diaries.