Griffith Film School PhD Student, Lachlan Pendragon has secured an Academy Award nomination in the Short Film (Animated) category for his highly creative and hilarious film, An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It.

This follows his win of a prestigious Gold Student Academy Award. In a ceremony held in Los Angeles, Lachlan proudly accepted the award and now joins the best film makers in the world with his talent is being recognised across the globe.

Starting on the film festival circuit last year, the rise to prominence of this small, quirky film has been a slow burn as it has generated praise and acclaim from some of the worlds top film and animation festivals.

Lachlan started his animation journey at the Griffith Film School as an under-graduate, before doing Honours, and is currently doing his PhD. The film is Lachlan’s PhD film and recently being awarded Australia’s Best Short Film at the Melbourne International Film Festival, the CILECT Prize for best Animation as well as win in Boston, Cannes, Amsterdam, London and other animation and short film festivals.

Ostrich as it is affectionally been called among those at Griffith is a truly meta experience, one which focuses on a telemarketer who starts questioning his reality when he runs into a talking Ostrich.

A scene from the film

Lachlan said he adores the process of stop motion animation and has been thrilled to work in the craft and produce a film that resonates with so many people.

“I wanted the audience to be very conscious that the film was made by hand and that is was completely fabricated, but also have a very focused story that people could follow” Lachlan said.

“I was very interested in giving the audience a behind the scenes look as part of the finished product as it is my way of inviting the audience to look over the animators shoulder and enjoy the story from that perspective.”

The film is 15 minutes of delightful, wacky and endearing storytelling and truly showcases the talent and ideas coming out of Griffith Film School.

Director of the Griffith Film School, Professor Herman Van Eyken said that the film explores the unique relationship between reflexivity and illusionism in stop motion animated films.

“It is a quirky, very meta film that has so much heart, creativity and really covers a lot of concepts in a short amount of time,” Professor Van Eyken said.

“It is an excellent example of the talented young film makers that we are lucky to have at Griffith Film School, and the recognition this film is getting across the world is very well deserved.”

The film has recently been awarded the prestigious overall CILECT Prize for Animation as well as CAPA Best Fillm 2022 (Animation) for the CILECT Asia Pacific Association (CAPA) and best Australian Short Film at the Melbourne International Film Festival.

You can watch a trailer of the move here.

Lachlan Pendragon at the Student Academy Awards

Below is a list of the films awards and nominations:

95th Academy Awards:

Nomination. Winners announced at the 2023 Oscars ceremony held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on 13 March 2023.

Melbourne International Film Festival:

Winner: Best Australian Short Film

Gold Coast Film Festival:
SIPFest: Winner: Best Australian. Short Film & Best Screenplay

Animation Dingle 2022 Awards:
Winner: Best Stop Motion sponsored by Aardman Animation

Cannes Indie Shorts Awards:
Winner

Boston Independent Film Awards:
Winner

Amsterdam Short Film Festival:
Winner

London Indie Short Festival:
Winner

Student Academy Awards:
Winner

Spokane International Film Festival:
Selected

Athens International Film & Video Festival:
Selected

RiverRun International Film Festival:
Selected

Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Films:
Selected

Animafest Zagreb:
Selected

Washington Film Awards:
Semi-Finalist

Qld XR Festival:
Selected

Annecy Animation Festival:
Selected

Student BAFTA Awards:
Selected

Budapest Film Festival:
Selected

European Short Film Festival:
Selected

Dublin World Film Festival:
Semi-Finalist

Hollywood ShortFest:
Selected

West End Film Festival:
Finalist

Stockholme Short Festival:
Semi-finalist

Ottawa International Animation Festival:
Selected: World Student Panorama

Edinburgh Short Film Festival:
Selected

Brisbane International Film Festival:
Selected

International Student Film & Video Festival of Beijing Film Academy (ISFVF)
Selected

Filmschoolfest Munich
Selected

ATOM Awards
Selected

Festival International Court du Metrage (Lille)
Invited

Heart of Gold Film Festival
Selected

International Short Film Festival Berlin (INTERFILM)
Selected