New Francophone Shorts 2: Dark after Dark

Emily Hubley has been making short, animated films for almost four decades. Her hand-drawn films explore personal memory and the turbulence of emotional life. Her feature, The Toe Tactic premiered at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC in 2009. Recent projects include shorts In the Eyes of the Worm (2024), made with Max Rosenthal, Faithy, hey (2019), Brainworm Billy (2018) also made with Max Rosenthal, and Look Where You’re Going! (2020), a 100’ digital mural displayed on Broadway in Manhattan. She has contributed animation to Vessel, Danny Says, Blue Vinyl, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and others. Ms. Hubley is currently developing a multi-screen installation project about her mother, filmmaker Faith Hubley, which includes six 23-minute loops combining 8400 self-portraits with varied examples of her art and writing: sketches and captions from journals, paintings and clips from her animated films.

Leah Shore is a multimedia filmmaker, artist and musician whose work fuses dark humor, bold visuals, and biting social commentary. Known for their surreal storytelling and punk aesthetic, Shore’s films have screened at SXSW, Sundance, Slamdance, and festivals worldwide. Their work spans live action, animation, and experimental hybrids that explore identity, sexuality, science and the absurdities of modern culture. Unapologetically provocative and visually electric, Shore creates art that shocks, seduces, and sticks.

Kat Mukai is a multidisciplinary artist and educator whose work spans 2D and 3D animation, film, and illustration for print. Kat blends a traditional understanding of drawing and painting with a suite of digital tools that include ZBrush and Blender to create imagery around literary genres and the natural world. A passionate storyteller, Kat’s work often leans on narrative techniques to tell stories about the internal self at odds with a wider, often wilder, world. She is pleased to be teaching at her alma mater, Pratt Institute.   

Mike Enright is a visual artist and animation filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY. His body of work spans nearly three decades and has most recently been celebrated at the Woodstock Film Festival and at public video installations from South Korea to New Mexico.

Since 2003, Mr. Enright has taught the art of animation to students of various ages from children’s workshops, through higher education, to professionals returning to enhance their studies. He is currently a Full Time Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute’s Department of Digital Arts BFA 2D Animation program.

His admiration and respect for the French perspective on animation production began while curating international shorts programs for the Philadelphia Film Society throughout the 2000’s. In 2019, he spent a semester as a guest Professor in Angoulême, France at Ecole Européenne Supérieure de l’Image instructing animation workshops for first year students.

He is honored to co-curate the New Francophone Shorts program for the fourth consecutive year at L’Alliance Animation First Festival!