BAFTA Awards is this Sunday, February 18 at 1:00PM CST
The short film premiered at Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Palme d'Or for Best Short Film.On December 21st 2023, the film was shortlisted for the 96th Academy Awards in the category of Best Animated Short Film. In January 18th, 2024, Wild Summon was nominated for BAFTA Awards in the British Short Animation category. Also, in January 2024, filmmakers Adam McKay, Kevin Messick, Guy Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman came aboard as executive producers of the film.
Here's more about the short film "Wild Summon" from Co-director Karni Arieli:
1. What is the genesis of your short animated film “Wild Summon.”?
So, Wild Summon was born out of a mix of the fact that we [ Karni & Saul] are filmmakers who like to deal in fantasy. We like to deal in meaningful topics like eco topics and our society and interaction. We love to be in water and we have children too, so we wanted a proactive, positive message.I think all of those together led us to Wild Summon. You never really know, but it was a crossover of those things. We pitched it to the BFI, when they were commissioning projects. We said we wanted to become fish, we wanted to be fish. And then we started making Wild Summon.
2. Was “Wild Summon” the original title or were there other titles?
It was always the title. It kind of came to us as a brainstorm. I guess it's an obvious now, but sometimes titles are really tricky. What we like was that it played on the mix between it being a nature, eco fantasy film to it being the call of nature and the way that humans are very much like animals and vice versa. So, it's the call of nature as well as being the Wild Summon. It seems pretty good now, but when you think about it, it comes from nowhere.
3. Could you talk about your experience working with Saul Freed and Jay Woolley?
Well, Saul Freed is my partner, were husband and wife team duo. We have been directing for 20 years and we have two boys. Our eldest was also the air D.O.P. Our youngest was also on production, he's nine now. Jay Woolley was a producer, but he didn't come with us on the shoot. He was in Bristol and he's the overview producer, who came onto the project.
Because it was lockdown, it was a very intimate, kind of oddball project, where we had to go on location as a family. As soon as lockdown was eased, we traveled to Iceland and went on this road trip to film all the locations. We were the D.O.P.s ourselves. We produced it ourselves. We did all the animation ourselves. Saul made the music himself. The V.O.P. was Marianne Faithful, of course, which we recorded back here. Jay dealt with the things that were back in Bristol, that was sort of separated in a way.
Saul and I are very used to working with each other. Sometimes we say four eyes are better than two. Two hearts are better than one, but sometimes we're not sure. Obviously, we're a stronger team by being a collective duo. We can stick to ideas and back each other up, when we're having moments where we're insecure.
3. What has been the best compliment you heard about “Wild Summon.”?
I think people say that they are really moved emotionally and that they feel they've been on a journey. We had a diver who was involved in eco films and she said she felt like she was underwater and on this journey of survival with the female salmon.
I think that empathy and connection is what we're really looking for, and that was really meaningful to us. So, towards the Oscar race when we were in the short list, we got some comments by people like the two directors of "My Octopus Teacher" and the team from "Spiderman Verse", Spiderman films, and some other filmmakers' hyper-object and kind of tieve. And all of these people, I think, were mentioning just how moving it was and how they connected to the character and going on this journey made them think in a different way about the eco message and about the journey of animals and nature, how interconnected we all are.
4. What message would you want the audience to grasp after viewing “Wild Summon”?
Probably the same things that are as a nature and not a separate being that we are nature and therefore imagining ourselves as salmon is crucial because there's a knock on effect. Salmon like the canary in the mine. If they die off, there's this knock on effect of 50 species dying off, including trees and rivers. It's a warning sign that things aren't okay. We've already lost all of the salmon in the UK or most of them and we only have them in Scotland and Nordic countries. So there's definitely a warning signal coming from nature and Mother Earth and we need to listen carefully.
5. Are you considering making “Wild Summon” into a feature-length animated film?
Yes, both animated feature length and a series. We're working on development as we speak.It seems the obvious now that we've sort of got the proof of concept and we've made the first shot and tapped into this idea of flipping the narrative for empathy and figuring out how to make it, which wasn't easy, it took us three long years and a lot of effort and focus to kind of create this hybrid creature.So, yes, we're definitely wanting to develop it.
6. A huge congratulations on getting a BAFTA nomination for Best British Short Animation for “Wild Summon”, who are you excited to meet or see at the ceremony?
Well, last time we were nominated for the BAFTA, I kissed Tim Burton. We really loved Tim Burton. We loved dark animation, you see. And we love Miyazaki. But obviously, I'm a big fan of all the female actresses that are nominated in all the films and all the female directors as well. So, I'm kind of rooting for the underdogs and the experimental always, as well as like the female leads. That's always important to us. In the end, we say to our kids, it's not about the recognition or the award. It's about the journey. We did this film as a family and that was really crucial to us. It's already been premiered in Cannes and getting into the BAFTA. We really just wanted to be seen and to make a lot more stories about eco topics that might make a difference.
7. Where were you when you discovered that “Wild Summon” was nominated for BAFTA Awards?
We were watching it on the screen. We were waiting. Last time we were nominated for the BAFTA. I was on the toilet and we didn't know what BAFTA was. So, this time we were ready. We sat with our eldest and we were watching when we got in. It was really exciting.
8. “Wild Summon” was nominated for Palme d’Or for Best Short Film at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, could you tell us your experience at the event?
Well, that was really surreal. It's a very high brow posh event. But it's also an event that really respects filmmaking and directors. It was a wild ride. We took our two kids. We all dressed up in our best clothes. We tried to clean up from Bristol. Looking a bit rough around the edge, working in our studio in the Back Garden. We just really celebrated the short films with all the other short films. There's only 10 or 11. People are like looking over your shoulder at the biggest stars at the feature films. But it feels like such a privilege to go there and be showcased that, you know, you can't complain or feel jealous at all.
It's just like an amazing ride. It was super fun and super great to just like watch all the films there as well. The features too. And I got to say hi to Jane Fonda, shook her hand.There's a lot of interesting things that happen there.
9. Which filmmakers do you admire or inspired your work?
I mean, we've (Karni & Saul) got so many. It's hard to mention. One of my favorite films is Orlando by Sally Potter. We love The Cowboys by Phil Milloy. We love all of the Miyazakis. We're big fans of Attenborough nature films. We love dark sort of comics, Edward Goury, sketchy, black and white illustration. We love Tim Burton. I love a lot of female-directed narrative films. We watch a lot of films with our kids as well.
We really like Totoro, of course, Princess Manana Nocki, Spirited Away. Belleville Wanda Vu is a big favorite. I guess the oddball films that are quirky, but really beautifully made and sometimes funny and dark.
10. Which novel/novella/short story/ article have you read that you would like to adapt into an animated short or film?
We're adapting another short story by Will Self. We already made one of his shorts into a film, called Flightopia, about a man connecting to the insect in his house and creating a relationship with them, which doesn't end well. So, we're looking at him again. We also like other writers, usually on the spectrum of dark meets fantasy.
11. If you could sit down with any three people in the world and have a chat with them, who would they be and why?
I think, probably a couple of female filmmakers or amazing female sort of survivors in the industry, like maybe... Barbara Streisand, I'm listening to her autobiography now, would be fun. Maybe Miyazaki, Edward Goury, or Phil Milloy, Sally Potter, Sam Taylor Wood, Sophia Coppola, Maybe Greta Gerwig. Attenborough, I'd love to sit down with him. That would be amazing. He'd be super inspiring. Obama, Michelle Obama, maybe Hillary Clinton. Anyone who's like in charge of change, but also a revolutionary, and possibly a lot of artists, especially dark artists and female and underdogs.
12. In one word how would you sum up your overall experience with “Wild Summon”?
A wild ride.
13. Could you give a sneak peek about your next project?
Well, development of Wild Summon, obviously. Then the Will South project, and possibly other IP that people have offered us since we were canned-premiered. We've had a lot of talks with production companies, and we're really keen to do either a long, or four more series. No more shorts for a while.
14. Last question, which film do you predict would win BAFTA for Best Film?
I really love Yagos films. I haven't watched Poor Things yet, but it looks like a winner to me. But, I would also want to opt for, like, the foreign and the female lead. So I have seen Past Lives. That's incredible. Barbie is superb, but I don't think it's nominated either. And obviously, I think Jonathan Glazer, his feature film would be really important, and great if it won, because The Zone of Interest is about a film about the time of the Holocaust and Second World War. I think it's a really important film. I haven't watched that either yet, but it's on my to-do list before we get to the BAFTAs. But he's a great filmmaker, and I'm sure he's got a good chance at that.