Filmmaker Statement

‘Red Shoes’ was initially conceived as a sequel to the director’s 2017 animated short ‘Blue Hands,’ which ends with the protagonist lost in the woods. During pre-production, the story was built up as a metaphorical close to that cliffhanger ending, as our protagonist in Red Shoes goes on an inner and outer journey to recover her agency. This film was animated digitally, printed out, and scanned back in again to create a unique texture, which creates a layer to how the viewer perceives the film: is it found footage from the past, or perhaps another planet? Is it an old VHS tape of a child’s fairy tale? This ambiguity adds to the overall mystical tone of the film.