“Letter to a Pig” has been nominated for an Academy Award in the animated film category.

In her debut, solo short film, filmmaker Tal Kantor employs a combination of live-action and hand-drawn animation to explore the profound and intricate theme of a Holocaust survivor addressing a roomful of students. The narrative revolves around the survivor sharing a letter composed for the pig that played a crucial role in saving his life. The film delves into the intertwining dynamics of reality, memory, and imagination, particularly through the lens of a young schoolgirl’s response to the powerful narrative.

In the interview with Animation World Network, the director, Kantor, explains “First, I prepared the concept art and storyboard. Then actors were cast and directed at a greenscreen studio, and the live-action footage was edited (by Efrat Berger) as a reference for the animation. Then the animators and I prepared the hand-drawn imagery of the characters according to their initial design and completed the frame-by-frame paintings on paper which were scanned back into the computer. In the last step, all the elements were merged in software so that they would feel like one organic whole.” (Read the full interview here)