^{Credit: Shadows (Rand Beiruty)}

Last year saw the release of the live-action, feature-length documentary Tell Them About Us, in which director Rand Beiruty followed several young women in East German Eberswalde. Through this experience, Beiruty met a teenage mother named Ahlam, who fled from her home country in pursuit of a better life. Ahlam tells her story in Beiruty’s animated short Shadows, which qualified for consideration at the 98th Academy Awards with its wins at the Leeds International Film Festival and the Regard – Saguenay International Film Festival. Cartoon Contender spoke to Beiruty about the short’s conception, why it had to be animated, and working with Ahlam. 

^{Credit: Rand Beiruty}

Q: How did your live-action, feature-length documentary, Tell Them About Us, pave the way for this animated documentary short?

A: I met the protagonist of Shadows while I was researching Tell Them About Us. Through filming, I realized that this particular story is too delicate to film with a camera. That’s where animation came in. The documentary started the relationship, but animation was the best medium to tell the story.

Q: Did you ever consider approaching Shadows as a live-action short, or did animation always feel like the right route to tell this story?

A: Animation felt like the right way from the start. Ahlam’s memories don’t follow a straight line, they move between dreams and a deep-rooted sadness. Animation allowed the story to unfold like memory, not just documentation.

Q: You recorded the interviews with Ahlam between 2019 and 2021. What was that process like?

A: We conducted the first interview informally, and I thought that was it. But a week later, Ahlam called and asked to record again. From then on, it became a kind of ritual. Every few months, we’d sit down and talk with the recorder on. Even though only a small part of those interviews made it into the final film, all those conversations were essential. They helped me understand her better and allowed our relationship to grow in personal and meaningful ways. It was one of the most beautiful parts of the project for me.

Q: Did the pandemic at all interfere with the film’s production?

A: Yes, like many other projects at the time, it slowed down the process. I was invited to pitch the project at the MIFA in Annecy but everything had to be moved online. Nonetheless, we were still able to meet our French co-producers there so it wasn’t detrimental, but everything took more time.

^{Credit: Shadows (Rand Beiruty)}

Q: The colors, in particular, leapt out at me. How did your crew conceive the film’s color scheme?

A: Marta Magnuska is the lead character designer and animator, but she usually works in black and white. So for the colors and backgrounds, we collaborated with Ambre Decruyenaere. The color palette is meant to be bold, creating a contrast to the harshness of the story and reminding us that the person speaking is still a child. The color script followed Ahlam’s emotional journey through the airport, treating each space as its own emotional world. For instance, her childhood memories are painted with warm, soft tones, while the food court scene, where passengers whisper and look at her menacingly, shifts into intense reds.

Q: While this is a true story, the animation medium opens the narrative up to magical realism. What inspired you to incorporate the deer that accompanies Ahlam through the airport?

A: From Ahlam. There’s a line in the film where she says that if she hadn’t left, she would be like a deer among wolves. I thought it was striking that a fifteen-year-old would use that kind of image to describe herself. That metaphor came from her, and I integrated it into the script.

Q: Shadows has qualified for Oscar consideration with its wins for the World Animation Competition Grand Prize at the Leeds International Film Festival and the Grand Prize at the Regard – Saguenay International Film Festival. What have been some standout moments from the film’s festival run?

A: One of the standout moments was being with Ahlam at the world premiere in Venice. She had already seen the film, but watching it in a large theatre with a full audience was extremely emotional, and it was cathartic for her to realize that people from different parts of the world could connect to her story. She shared that she felt proud of herself and of the film. Her opinion matters the most to me, and knowing that she stands behind the film makes everything worth it.

Q: Have you been in contact with Ahlam since the short’s completion and distribution?

A: Yes! We’re traveling together next month to Paris to attend the Cesar nominees brunch.

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1 and 2. Available Now!