This Ain’t Disneyland

July 26, 2015

This Ain’t Disneyland – It’s a whole new world and no one cares.

a film by Faiyaz Jafri
Written, directed, animated, edited & composed by Faiyaz Jafri
Nobody Cares written and performed by Vega Spring Jafri & Sky Jafri
Commissioned by Denver Digerati / The Denver Theatre District, 2015
August 2015, Running time: 6:25
Produced by Hyper-Unrealism / All rights reserved © 2015 by Faiyaz Jafri / Hyper-Unrealism

Synopsis

A surreal personal account of the New York September 11 attacks, by juxtaposing the destruction of the Twin Towers and Disney neo-archetypes.

Amoricania from Faiyaz Jafri on Vimeo.

 

Director’s Statement

The September 11 attacks on the WTC happened in my backyard. For somebody living in the West, growing up in the Netherlands, with all the privileges of my generation, this was the closest I had ever been to a war. It had quite an impact on me and I didn’t deal with it well, which is something I am embarrassed about.

Disney is the wholesome entertainment I grew up with, but it also represents the mediocrity of pleasing everyone while not offending anyone. Disney embodied the idea of the America we all loved and it is the distorted version of that idea that eventually lead to the September 11 attacks.

This film is not about the big conspiracies, terrorism, fundamentalism, hate or love. This film is about how close, good and bad, wrong and right, innocence and perversion can be. This is my film about my twin towers and how I miss them.

The title “This Ain’t Disneyland” is based on what a policeman says to Jules and Gedeon Naudet while they were filming their documentary 9/11.

The intro and outro song were inspired by lyrics my son sings as a mockery to the Disney anthem.

 

Screenings, Official Selections & Awards

  • Denver Digerati – Friday Flash #11, Denver, USA (Sept 25, 2015)
  • Queens World Film Festival, Queens, USA (March 18, 2016) – Nominated for Best Animation
  • Athens Animfest, Athens, Greece (April 11, 2016)
  • Cannes Short Film Corner, Cannes, France (May 2016)
  • Chilemonos, Santiago, Chile (May 2016)
  • Vienna Independent Shorts, Austria (May 30, 2016)
  • 12th NYC Downtown Short Film Festival, New York City, USA (June 8 – 11, 2016) – Honorable Mention
  • The Lower East Side Film Festival, New York City, USA (June 15, 2016)
  • Fantasia, Montreal, Canada (Aug 2016)
  • 3rd IndieEarth Animation Film Festival, Chennai, India (Aug 20 – 21, 2016)
  • Shorts Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico (Sept 1 – 8, 2016)
  • Verona International Film Festival, Verona, Italy (Sept 2016)
  • Linoleum International Contemporary Animation and Media-Art Festival, Kiev, Ukraine (Sept 1 – 2, 2016)
  • Animaldiçoados, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Sept 1 – 11, 2016)
  • Animaldiçoados, Sao Paulo, Brazil (Sept 17 – 18, 2016)
  • Girona Film Festival, Girona, Spain (Sept 28 – Oct 1, 2016)
  • New York Film Week, New York, USA (Oct 3 – 9, 2016)
  • Boston Short Film Festival, Boston, USA (Oct 10 -13, 2016)
  • Dracula Film Festival, Brasov, Romania (Oct 12 – 16, 2016)
  • Banjaluka International Animated Festival, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Oct 23 – 28, 2016)
  • Locomoción Experimental Animation Festival, Mexico City, Mexico (Oct 28 – 30, 2016)
  • DOK Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany (Oct 31 – Nov 6, 2016)
  • St. Louis International Film Festival, St. Louis, USA (Nov 3 – 13, 2016)
  • Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington, USA (Nov 9 – 13, 2016)
  • Animated Dreams, Tallinn, Estonia (Nov 16 – 20, 2016)
  • CutOut Fest, Querétaro, Mexico (Nov 17 – 20,2016)
  • VideoBabel, Cusco, Peru (Nov 21 – 25, 2016)
  • Pori Film Festival, Pori, Finland (Nov 23 – 27, 2016)
  • Fantastic Planet Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy Film Festival, Sydney, Australia (Dec 4, 2016)
  • Istanbul International Short Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey (Dec 14 – 21, 2016)
  • Short Waves Festival, Poznan, Poland (March 21 – 26, 2017)
  • Filmfest Dresden, Dresden, Germany (April 4 -9, 2017)
  • FILE 2017, São Paulo, Brazil (July 17 – Sept 3, 2017)
  • 25th Internationales Trickfilm Festival, Stuttgart, Germany (April 24 – 29, 2018)
  • The Essay Film Form And Animation: Intersectionality In Motion, Derek Jarman Lab – CAPA, London, UK (June 12 – 13, 2019) 
  • 31th Society for Animation Studies Conference, Universidade Lusofona, Lisbon, Portugal (June 17 – 21, 2019)
  • Ottawa International Animation Festival, Ottawa, Canada (Sept 25 – 29, 2019)

Location Stills

and, collapse of the first tower of the World Trade Centre in New York September 11 2001 on location in Denver
and, collapse of the first tower of the World Trade Centre in New York September 11 2001 on location in Denver

Stills

This Ain't Disneyland, low angle of the Twin Towers, World Trade Centre
This Ain't Disneyland, white bunny rabbit inside the World Trade Centre
This Ain't Disneyland, collapse of the first tower of the World Trade Centre in New York September 11 2001
This Ain't Disneyland, jumping deer of the World Trade Centre
This Ain't Disneyland, collapse of the first tower of the World Trade Centre in New York September 11 2001, with falling deer
This Ain't Disneyland, collapse of the first tower of the World Trade Centre in New York September 11 2001, with falling deer
This Ain't Disneyland, two boys with Mickey Mouse hats rise up out of the rubble of the collapsed Twin Towers holding a bunny rabbit and deer
This Ain't Disneyland, two boys with Mickey Mouse hats rise up out of the rubble of the collapsed Twin Towers holding a bunny rabbit and deer
This Ain't Disneyland, small deer on top of a Mickey Mouse hat.
This Ain't Disneyland, collapse of the first tower of the World Trade Centre in New York September 11 2001

Sketches

This Ain't Disneyland pencil sketches, collapse of the first tower of the World Trade Centre in New York September 11 2001
This Ain't Disneyland pencil sketches, collapse of the first tower of the World Trade Centre in New York September 11 2001, with falling deer
This Ain't Disneyland pencil sketches, two boys with Mickey Mouse hats rise up out of the rubble of the collapsed Twin Towers holding a bunny rabbit and deer
This Ain't Disneyland pencil sketches, two boys with Mickey Mouse hats rise up out of the rubble of the collapsed Twin Towers holding a bunny rabbit and deer
This Ain't Disneyland pencil sketches, two boys with Mickey Mouse hats rise up out of the rubble of the collapsed Twin Towers holding a bunny rabbit and deer
This Ain't Disneyland sketches, collapse of the first tower of the World Trade Centre in New York September 11 2001
This Ain't Disneyland sketches, collapse of the first tower of the World Trade Centre in New York September 11 2001

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

One Comment

  1. […] • This Ain’t Disneyland at the Cannes Short Film Corner (May 16 – May 22, 2016, Cannes, France) […]

Leave a Comment