Micro Short
On / Off
Directed by 
Nicolas P. Villarreal
AFIN 2022 Nominee
- 2022
- 7m
-
Argentina - No Dialogue
Stills
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Credits
Written by
Produced by
Music & Sound
Synopsis
Endless distractions threaten to destroy creativity.
Director's Statement
ON / OFF relays my view of today's technology and how social media can be a considerable distraction to creative minds and discipline. Something that can derail you inadvertently from a passion that you may have and dedicate less time to neglecting it. It's my imagination and perspective of how geniuses like Frida Kahlo, Da Vinci, Beethoven, and Tesla would have interacted with it as well as their attitude and decision making towards their work with their counterparts today. My favorite films, shorts, features, documentaries are the ones that leave me thinking about the content after the fact, questioning my life and or inspiring me. I hope this film does the same about how we interact with technology and social media and shows us how there could be a possibly different future utilizing it for something productive, creating things that we feel we have to get out there. Hopefully, it will make them go back to that passion that they have and the urge to create something that they have been keeping in the back of their minds. You can use social media and technology for your work, but it can also be a black hole that sucks you in it. I hope the film's message leaves the audience questioning their attitudes towards their passions and thinking if they are letting aside something great that they could be doing by inconsequential and ephemeral social media content that won't affect their lives positively.
What makes this one special
- 34 awards at other festivalsGuinness World Records · Across the Globe Film Festival · Art Film Awards and 31 more
- Programmed at 41 other festivalsAcross 14 countries
- The only film from Argentina in AFIN's archive
Also selected at
34 awards, 1 finalist placing, 6 official selections across 41 other festivals
- WinnerGuinness World Records
- WinnerAcross the Globe Film Festival
- WinnerArt Film Awards
- WinnerAsian Cinematrography AWARDS
- WinnerATMAN FILM FESTIVAL
- WinnerBerlin Movie Awards
- WinnerBig Sur Film Festival
- WinnerEuropean Cinematography AWARDS (ECA)
- WinnerGona Film Awards
- WinnerHalicarnassus Film Festival
- WinnerHollywood Blvd Film Festival
- WinnerHollywood Gold Awards
- WinnerHollywood International Golden Age Festival
- WinnerHong Kong Indie Film Festival
- WinnerIndependent Short Awards
- WinnerIndie Short Fest
- WinnerINDIE SHORTS AWARDS NEW YORK
- WinnerINDO FRENCH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
- WinnerISTANBUL FILM AWARDS
- WinnerL’Age d’Or International Arthouse Film Festival
- WinnerLos Angeles Cinematography Awards
- WinnerMilan Gold Awards
- WinnerNew Wave Short Film Festival
- WinnerNew York Movie Awards
The remaining 17 festivals
- WinnerNew York Tri-State International Film Festival
- WinnerPort Blair International Film Festival
- WinnerRameshwaram International Film Festival
- WinnerRome International Movei Awards
- WinnerSeoul International Short Film Festival
- WinnerToronto Film Channel Awards
- WinnerUruvatti International Film Festival
- WinnerWhite Unicorn International Film Festival
- WinnerWorld Film Carnival FILM FESTIVAL
- WinnerPrix Royal Paris Animation Awards
- FinalistLA SHORTS International Film Festival
- SelectionCINEQUEST Film & VR Festival
- SelectionGolden Short Film Festival
- SelectionMontreal International Animation Film Festival - ANIMAZE
- SelectionSan Diego International Kids' Film Festival
- SelectionSPARK ANIMATION 2020
- SelectionSt. Louis International Film Festival
Recorded by the filmmaker on their entry.
Director's Biography
Nicolas P. Villarreal Director
Nicolás P. Villarreal was born and raised in La Plata, Argentina. He studied at the Escuela de Animación y Cinematografía de Avellaneda where he earned a degree in 2D Animation. While studying animation, he was taken under the wing of Miguel Alzugaray, a well-known fine artist from Argentina. He continued studying animation and fine art painting until he entered the Master’s Program at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Villarreal graduated with honors in the Spring of 2002, and since then he has been working as a traditional animator, character designer, sculptor and Visual Development artist for films and video games including Walt Disney Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment, Jim Henson Studios, Sega, Reel FX, Digital Domain, Duncan Studios, and Amazon Studios among others. He has given presentations at Pixar Animation Studios, Dreamworks Animation, Apple, Stanford University, The Sydney Opera House, and several universities in South America and Europe as well as a TEDx talk. In 2020 Nicolás was featured in VOGUE Latin America as one of the creative minds of Latin America. Nicolás is the co-founder of Red Clover Studios where he is currently developing his first Feature Film as well as the writer and director of the awarded animated short films “Pasteurized”, “Nieta”, "ON/OFF", “The House of Colors” and the live-action short film “Things are looking up”. His films have won over 400 International Awards including Best Animated Film at the Toronto Kids International Film Festival in 2015.He is also the Executive Director of the Visual Development and Traditional Animation Department at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where he teaches film and animation design.
