Hungry goat animation voted audience pick at US festival

A Russian animation about a hungry goat and an unhappy man has been voted an audience favourite at the DC Shorts Film Festival this week. Pishto Goes Away, an eight-minute animated film, follows a man, Pishto, who falls ill and decides to leave his drab village for good. His mind is soon changed, however, by a tiny dog. The animation’s melancholy tone, balanced by the entertaining antics of a hungry goat, ensured it was a firm favourite among audience members.

Sofya Kendel, 26, director of Pishto, said: “This was more of a story about my mum, because she lives in a very small village called Tashla in Orenburg region. She always wants to go away but she always comes back.” Pishto was Novosibirsk-born, Moscow-based Kendel’s graduation animation.

The animation was one of 17 chosen as an audience favourite from a total of 152 short films. Pishto was one of 16 shorts by emerging Russian filmmakers to be screened at the festival, the first time a production from Russia has been shown. Following the success of the Russian entries, festival director Jon Gann said: “Maybe we can have even more Russian films [next year].”

Source: RIA Novosti