Wild Summon

Wild Summon is a 2023 animated short film directed by the filmmaking duo Karni Arieli and Saul Freed, also known as 'Karni & Saul'.^[1] The 14-minute eco-film narrated by British singer Marianne Faithfull^[2] depicts the life of a female salmon, in the human form^[3] of a free diver. Premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or for Best Short Film,^[4] Wild Summon has been featured in a number of international film festivals, including the Annecy International Animation Film Festival^[5] and the Raindance Film Festival, where it won an award for Best Short Film. In January 2024, filmmakers Adam McKay, Kevin Messick, Guy Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman came aboard as executive producers of the film.^[6][7]

Wild Summon
Directed by	Karni Arieli Saul Freed
Produced by	Karni Arieli Saul Freed Jay Woolley
Starring	Marianne Faithfull
Music by	Saul Freed Peter Vilk Roxana Vilk
Production company	Sulkybunny
Distributed by	Autour de Minuit
Release date	2023 (2023)
Running time	14 minutes
Country	United Kingdom

On December 21st 2023, the film was shortlisted for the 96th Academy Awards in the category of Best Animated Short Film.^[8]

Plot

A 'human' female salmon is laying on the river shore, exhausted. Her eggs have been released and are floating on the river bank: they are almost ready to hatch. One of the newborn salmons, a female, commences her perilous journey down the river and in the open sea. Once grown, she must swim back across the ocean, to return to her birth place, upriver. Whether it's in the shape of natural predators or man-made threats, many are the obstacles that get in her way. Yet, her courage, her resilience and a magical life force will guide her to the exact same spot where she was born.

Production

The film received funding from the British Film Institute^[9] and was made with a combination of live footage and 3D computer animation over the course of two years.^[4] The live footage was shot in Iceland during the pandemic, and the computer animation, produced by the Bristol-based Sulkybunny Studio, was made primarily with the Autodesk Maya, Arnold and SythnEyes softwares, and the compositing was done using Adobe After Effects.^[10][4][11]

Reception

Since its release, the film has been selected in various festivals around the world:

Year	Festivals	Award/Category	Status	Ref.
2023	Cannes International Film Festival	Palme d'Or for Best Short Film	Nominated	[12][4]
	Annecy International Animated Film Festival	Cristal for Best Short Film	Nominated	[13]
	Stockholm Film Festival	Bronze Horse for Best Short Film	Nominated	[14]
	Raindance Film Festival	Best Short Film	Won	[15]
	Hamptons International Film Festival	Golden Starfish Award for Best Documentary Short	Nominated	[16]
	Fantasy Filmfest	Get Shorty Award (Audience Award)	Won	[17]
	Blue Danube Film Festival	Best Animated Film	Nominated	[18]
	Animation Is Film Festival	Special Jury Prize for Best Short Film	Won	[19]
	Healdsburg Film Festival	Grand Jury Prize	Won	[20]