NIGHTHAWK
a short animated film by Špela Čadež
Slovenia / Croatia | Sep 2016 | 9 min
Attempting to remove an unresponsive badger from a dark road, a police patrol soon realizes that the animal is not dead but rather dead drunk. Things take an even stranger turn when the creature wakes up.
“It’s like Charles Bukowski and Steve McQueen teamed up with a badger to make a stop motion film about the tragic glaze, craze and daze of alcohol abuse.”
Chris Robinson, artistic director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival
The aesthetic in Nighthawk was created with the use of a multiplane camera set-up, achieving motion in animation with the help of oil-painted cells and paper cut-outs.
Director: Špela Čadež
Scriptwriters: Gregor Zorc, Špela Čadež
Animators: Zarja Menart, Matej Lavrenčič, Špela Čadež
Editor: Iva Kraljević
Post-production: Mario Kalogjera
Voices: Andrej Nahtigal, Karin Komljanec, Gregor Zorc
Music: Tomaž Grom
Sound design: Johanna Wienert
Producers: Tina Smrekar, Špela Čadež / Finta Film
Co-producer: Vanja Andrijević / Bonobostudio
Co-producer: RTV Slovenija
Financial Support: Slovenian Film Center, Croatian Audiovisual Center
Špela Čadež is the animation director and co-founder of Finta Studio in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Her films have received 130+ awards at festivals worldwide and were screened in competition selections such as the Sundance Film Festival, Clermont Ferrand and Annecy. A passionate advocate for analogue, Čadež has impressed with films in puppet and cut-out animation techniques.
2022 Palm Springs ShortFest
2022 Annecy Animation Festival – Jury Award (Oscar qualifying)
2022 Animafest Zagreb – Special Jury Award
2022 Anifilm
2022 ITFS Stuttgart Animation Festival – Special Mention
2022 IndieLisboa
2022 Seattle International Film Festival
2022 GLAS Animation Festival
2022 Filmfest Dresden
2022 Brussels Short Film Festival
2022 Go Shorts
2022 Mecal Pro Festival – Grand Prix
2022 Japan Media Arts Festival
2022 SXSW
2022 Tricky Women Animation Festival – Audience Award
2022 Brussels Animation Festival – Grand Prix (Oscar qualifying)
2022 Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival – Special Mention
2022 Flickerfest Short Film Festival
2021 Les Arcs Film Festival
2021 Animateka – Special Mention
2021 PÖFF Tallinn – EFA Qualification 2022
2021 interfilm Berlin
2021 Ljubljana Film Festival – Best Short Film
2021 New Chitose Airport Animation Festival
2021 Uppsala Short Film Festival
2021 DOK Leipzig
2021 BIAF Bucheon Animation Festival – Jury Award
2021 FSF Festival of Slovenian Film – Best Animation
2021 Sitges Fantastic Film Festival
2021 Guadalajara International Film Festival
2021 Ottawa Animation Festival – Best Animation Technique
2021 Sarajevo Film Festival
2021 Locarno Film Festival – Special Mention
