Reviews

Truth be told, when I saw this title coming from an eastern European country I would have predicted something related to communism, with long boring shots, and dialogue in the form of excessive small-talk. Well, "Milk, no sugar" proved me wrong! The narrative is a superb short story in the style of Richard Ford, where the grim atmosphere is the main focus, and whatever happens, there will be another unexpected turn of events right around the corner. There is a whole metaphysical level this movie explores, and it may take a while to understand all the subtle messages, but when you do, you will understand the whole magic of this impeccable piece. A great short, with amazing actors, and outstanding score!

'Agrinoui' is a one of a kind piece. This short animation is one of the most influential and educational films we've had in our competition so far: the story of some animals meeting in a deserted place in Cyprus and discussing their own problems. Each and every one of them has a story to tell and a lesson to be learned from that story. In less than twenty minutes these animals are one hundred percent more educational than most of the educational systems that are used on our children nowadays. ​ This short is for the whole family – educational and motivational at the same time, each member of the family has something to learn from it. If this short is screened in schools, the next generation will have lots of things to learn and maybe this messed up world would become a better place. ​ The score is very good and adequate, the animation is flawless the characters are perfectly created and voiced. But our greatest mention goes to the edit – amazingly done! ​ Coming back to the story, we really want to insist upon this: in modern times, cartoons are pretty violent and not all the time educational. For us, this is not good or helpful because we can see this generation, the so called "millenials", and how they have grown up. But with examples as in 'Agrinoui' we are pretty sure that the next generation of animation enthusiasts (and not only them) can grow up in a perfect balance. ​ One side of the story that really caught our attention was the one of the flamingo that flew from Antwerp and landed exactly near the racing horse that was thinking of quitting this business. The first discussion they had was very inspirational and motivating. Also, as the movie goes by, we see the racing horse in a quest of discovering itself through, basically, a complete training that made it, in the end, the best in the race. We were captivated! If the new generations of filmmakers will make more animated movies like Alexis Chaviaras did, maybe we have a chance to see a change in this crooked world. ​