Stop-Motion Whiz Anna Mantzaris Returns To Short Filmmaking With ‘Please,’ Drops Trailer Ahead Of Zagreb Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)

Swedish animator Anna Mantzaris is returning to short filmmaking with Please, a stop-motion comedy about intimacy, neediness, and the human desire for connection, and we’ve got an exclusive first look at the trailer.

The film, which stars Stellan Skarsgård as Winston, will premiere this week at Animafest Zagreb ahead of a screening at Annecy later this month.

Please marks Mantzaris’ first original short since 2018’s double-billing of Enough and Good Intentions, the latter of which established her reputation for sharply observed cringe comedy rendered through tactile stop-motion animation. She also directed the Emmy-winning Apple short Fuzzy Feelings.

Part of Mantzaris’ distinctive appeal comes from her use of felt-covered puppets, which give her films a uniquely vulnerable and handmade quality. Speaking with us in a 2022 feature on the material, she explained her affinity for felt:

I like it because it gives a soft touch to the characters, and it allows me to keep a simple style without the characters feeling stiff or harsh. It sort of humanizes them and softens them up, I think. It’s also a quite easy and quick technique, compared to casting things in silicone and resin, etc. The only downside is that it’s hard to clean when it gets dirty.

Her new nine-minute film unfolds as a series of loosely connected vignettes that follow characters searching for affection, validation, and acceptance. Explaining the project further, Mantzaris says:

I believe that, at our core, we all want to be connected and seen. I was interested in how we perform ourselves to find love, and in the self-help culture that tells you to filter away negative emotions, such as feeling needy or pathetic. I wanted to let those feelings exist instead of fixing them.

The Swedish, French, Czech, Norwegian, and Finnish co-production was produced by Apparat Filmproduktion AB and co-produced by Passion Paris Production, Arte, Film i Väst, SVT, Mikrofilm AS, and Kuli Film, in association with YLE and Böhle Studios. International sales and distribution are handled by Miyu.

Alongside Skarsgård, the voice cast includes Molly Nilsson, Jonatan Unge, and Ika Nord.