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Want to Break Your Brain? Watch ‘A Mind Sang’

An experiment in perspective and parallel storytelling, ‘A Mind Sang’ is a hypnotic visual journey that blurs the boundaries between life and death.
A Mind Sang
By  · Published on July 5th, 2020

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There are some things animation is capable of that live-action cannot replicate. It is difficult to imagine A Mind Sang in any other format.

In the short film, a woman sees how similar her child’s life will be to her own. Peering into impressionistic inkblots and pen strokes, the prophecies unfold at the same; interwoven scenes, with more than one meaning, materializing one after another. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on an illusion, the vision changes, and the camera reveals another dimension of the story that was only visible from a different angle. Evoking themes of transformation, rebirth, and perspective, images blur together in quick succession: cats, babies, faces, lips, hips, and hands. As detailed in Vimeo’s blog post (the film won the Staff Pick Award at the 2020 Annecy International Animation Film Festival), the film began as twenty drawings by director Vier Nev that represented “different cultural representations of birth and identity.”

The short certainly benefits from multiple viewings but this much is clear: even if you lose the thread, the effect of the thing is damn mesmerizing. And although the film gives the viewer time to discover each illusion, let’s just say we’re grateful for the pause button.

You can watch A Mind Sang here:


Who made this?

A Mind Sang (A Mãe de Sangue) was directed and animated by Vier Nev. Nev is a multidisciplinary artist based in Portugal. You can check out his official website, here. The original music is by Yanis El-Masri. The sound effects are by Francisca Dores and Henrik Ferrara. Recording and sound production was overseen by Guilherme Correia and Miguel Serrão served as the music and recording assistant.

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Based in the Pacific North West, Meg enjoys long scrambles on cliff faces and cozying up with a good piece of 1960s eurotrash. As a senior contributor at FSR, Meg's objective is to spread the good word about the best of sleaze, genre, and practical effects.