Rising Hope

Director: Milen Vitanov

Short film • 3D animation • 10:00 min • © Milen Vitanov & Film University Babelsberg 2012

Rising Hope, who used to be the fastest horse in the world, suddenly turns into a loser. With the help of a new friend − a jack-of-all-trades hound − he finds hope and himself again.

Joshu was a famous Chinese Zen Master. One day a troubled monk approached him, intending to ask the Master for guidance. A dog walked by. The monk asked Joshu, "Does that dog have a Buddha-nature or not?"
Rising Hope, the main character in this short, is a famous racehorse. When he gets in trouble, a dog walks by. Well, I don't know what master Joshu answered about the dog in his story, but I'm sure that the dog in this movie has a Buddha-nature of a kind. He shows Rising Hope how to escape from the pressure to perform and how to find his own bliss.

  • Credits

    Direction: Milen Vitanov

    Rigging, rendering, r&d, fx: Dennis Rettkowski

    Screenplay: Milen Vitanov, Vera Trajanova

    Animation: Milen Vitanov, Lars Krüger, Stefan Klauss, Martin Freitag, Nikolai Neumetzler, Michael Herm

    Director of photography: Olaf Aue

    Editing: Martin Reimers, Jens Prausnitz

    Sound design: Michał Krajczok

    Music: Stefan Maria Schneider, Marian Mentrup

    Cast: Sebastian Schulz, Felix Freese

  • Awards & Festival

    Awards

    Special Pulcinella Award "Cartoons & Sport" on the Cartoons on the Bay 2012, in Rapallo, Italy

    Best Animated Film, Young Jury Award at Rhode Island International Film Festival 2012, USA

    Audience Award for Best Short Film at The 24 hours of Nuremberg International short film festival 2012, Germany

    Award of the Junior Jury for Best Short Film at Capalbio Cinema International Film Festival 2012, Italy

    Best Film at the Animacam at International Animation Festival 2013 Ourense, Spain

    The Klassefilm Junior Audience Award at Holland Animation Film Festival 2013, Utrecht, Holland

    Audience Award for Best Children's Film at Plein la Bobine Film Festival for Young People 2013, France

    Kurzfilmpreis der Murnau-Stiftung at Murnau Short Film Prize Wiesbaden 2013, Germany

     

    Festivals

    Berlinale Berlin International Film Festival 2012, Germany

    Atlanta Film Festival 2012, Atlanta, USA

    Cartoons on the bay "Pulcinella Awards"  2012, Rapallo, Italy

    AniFest Int. Festival of Animated Films, 2012 Teplize, Czech Republic

    Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film ITFS 2012, Stuttgart, Germany

    Palm Springs ShortFest 2012, Palm Springs CA, USA

    Zlin International Film Festival for Children 2012, Zlin, Czech Republic

    SICAF Seoul Int. Cartoon and Animation Festival 2012, South Korea

    Hamburg Animation Award 2012, Germany

    Anima Mundi Anima Mundi Animation Festival 2012 Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil

    Curtas Vila do Conde 2012, Vila do Conde, Portugal

    Encounters Film Festival 2012, Bristol, UK

    Rhode Island International Film Festival 2012, Rhode Island, USA

    BUSTER Film Festival 2012, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Viborg Animation Festival 2012, Viborg, Denmark

    Carrousel international du film de Rimouski 2012, Rimouski, Canada

    Luxor Egyptian & European Film Festival 2012, Luxor, Egypt

    Milwaukee Children's Film Festival 2012, Milwaukee WI, USA

    Anim'est Internation Film Festival 2012, Bucharest, Romania

    KROK Int. Animation Film Festival 2012, Ukraine

    Klik Animation International Festival 2012, Amsterdam, Holland

    Milwaukee Film Festival 2012, Milwaukee, WI USA

    Animateka Int. Animated Film Festival 2012, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Int. Children’s Film Festival Filem’on 2012, Brussels, Belgium

    DOK-Leipzig International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, 2012, Leipzig, Germany

    Clermont-Ferrand 2012, France

    24 Hours of Nuremberg Int. Short Film Festival 2012, Germany

    Short Film Festival Lünen 2012, Germany

    Schlingel Int. Film Festival for Children and Young Audience 2012, Germany

    Anima - Brussels Animation Film Festival 2012, Belgium

    Anilogue Int. Animation Film Festival 2012, Ungarn

    Max Ophüls Preis 2013 2012, Germany