Chhaya

Debanjan Nandy's warm and emotionally strong short film Chhaya (Shadow, in Sanksrit), uses paint on glass to give his animation a feel of antiquity and a texture that you long to reach out and touch.

This idea of unfulfilled desire weds beautifully to the theme of a film, which shows the way that memories cloud the present for an old man living in a care home. The textured feel of the painted backdrops against the smoothness of the light and CG characters mirrors the corporeal and spiritual themes explored.

In the flicker of the lamplight shrine he has made to his elderly wife, the old man can feel her shadow upon him, growing in the glow. For Nandy - co-writing with Katerina Giannakou - this is not simply about nostalgia, however, but about how a memory can be simultaneously warming and destructive and how love is as much about letting go as holding close.

Nandy lets drama unfold but it is emotion that drives this story, which achieves more resonance than you expect a 10-minute runtime to allow. Special mention should also be made of the lovely sound design from Rob Szeliga - from the fizz of a struck match to the clatter of a bamboo windchime - and evocative score by Fraya Thomsen. Another fine example of animation from The National Film And Television School.