“Love Thy Neighbour” is a short 10 minute animation that is planned to be released in December of 2020. This short poetic animation has an interesting story behind its creation. The tale goes that its creator, Nisha Kapoor, woke up one day and went on to write 14 poems before the day was done, with the 14th poem becoming the narrative content that drives this animation.
“Love Thy Neighbour” is a thriller with elements of horror. The trailer is different than any other trailers out there. It is exactly the first minute of the film in animated form, with an exposition that leaves us wanting more. What is interesting is that the film’s entire script is in the form of a narrative poem.
Kapoor’s filmmaking journey has begun recently. She was never trained as a professional in filmmaking or animation. She is, however, an awad-winning UNESCO affiliated visual artist. She began her filmmaking journey on her phone, animating 9 short films in one day, going on and winning two international awards at film festivals. In the festival circuit, Kapoor’s works were noticed by South African producer Deidre Jantjies, the founder of Na Aap Productions which is backing “Love Thy Neighbour”. The two hit it off during the festival, and the collaboration for “Love Thy Neighbour” began from there.
The trailer begins with an attractively haunting verse: “he went on a killing spree, because priceless was better than living free”, with fast and violent cuts depicting dark and cramped settings and situations such as when the murderous man with a bloodied mallet in his hand stands over his victim. The animation comes with old-fashioned two-dimensional visuals that fair well with the horrific folk-style poetry that ensues. An old man, his neighbour, watches this man in suspicion knowing that he is up to no good. A visual trick that may symbolize the old man’s wisdom is that at first glimpse, we see bright white lights fill the frames of his glasses before he pulls them down gently. We are introduced to him as if to tell it is him who may become the hero of this tale, a witness with an assertive suspicion on his face that tells us he is willing to take action to settle what’s right from wrong. Well, we’ll just have to wait and see.
The trailer brings home some good old nostalgic memories from a series that aired on Canadian broadcasting airways from the late 90’s to the early 2000’s. Canadians may remember YTV’s “Freaky Stories”, which was a series based on short animated films depicting myths and legends told as scary bed time stories or horror campfire tales. The difference being that “Love Thy Neighbour” is in poetic language, and the bloodshed may not be suitable for younger audiences whereas “Freaky Stories” had a milder dose of gore and violence. From its trailer, we know that “Love Thy Neighbour” will be a bloody affair, after all, “the splinter of blood, bathed him good,” so says the narrator in the film.
With what the trailer shows, the film in its entirety seems like it may resemble Tim Burton’s short, “Vincent”. The 1982 short film featured stop-motion animation, narrated in poetic form by legendary horror actor Vincent Price, telling the story of a 7 year old boy, Vincent, who delves way too deep into the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe and performances of Vincent Price himself. The film is in black and white, and benefits from the genius of Burton’s design and direction, as well as Disney’s backing in production. But on a general “feel” scale, the similarities between Kapoor’s film and “Vincent” aren’t too hard to spot. For those interested in short animations, “Vincent” is highly recommended. Having said that, Burton’s film is still intended for younger audiences, with enough thrill to tickle the spiders in adult bellies. Kapoor’s work seems more fitting for audiences consisting of adolescent youth and young adults.
The trailer for the film has won “Best Trailer” at the Hollywood Blood Horror Festival, Venice Shorts, Romie International Movie Awards, Phoenix Monthly Short Film Festival, and it won Best Animation at the 1-Minute Film Festival in 2020. The animation is done by Josh Roypin and Tauriq Isaacs. Just based on the recognition and attention it has received for its trailer, there is no doubt that Nisha Kapoor and Deidre Jantjies are going to be rewarded more for their efforts when the entire film is finally released in December of 2020.
By: Darida Rose
© 2020. UniversalCinema Mag.