Locarno review: Once in A Body (2025)
Pardi di Domani
International Competition
Whispers and judgmental faces take the opening of Once in a Body by storm, signalling the narrator’s insecurities. The short animation by Columbian director and screenwriter María Cristina Pérez is set to premiere in Pardi di Domani’s International Competition during the Locarno Film Festival 2025 and illustrates the universal struggle for self-acceptance and forgiveness, especially when it comes to some of the few things that cannot be chosen in life: the body and the family inside of which one is born.
Actress Sara Isabella Martínez Rey delicately voices the protagonist’s complicated relationship with her sister, looking retrospectively at an incident that occurred when they were young, while also pointing out the connection between them strengthened thanks to similar body-image issues they are having. A powerful sound design enhances the lyrical monologue, but what truly expresses her feelings is the visual poetry. Using only shades of white, black, nude and red, the animated short features a carousel of two-dimensional characters with grotesque traits. The naked bodies morph, collide and melt into each other only to emerge again slightly changed.
The distorted creatures are a symptom caused by a being inside the narrator’s head, a representation of all the critical voices and scathing glances a young woman encounters during her life. The eyes become a leitmotif for society’s obsession with beauty and appearance, instilled in girls early on. But most of the time, we are our greatest critics, and the safest way to break the cycle of self-loathing and unhappiness is to learn to love our authentic selves, as cliché as it may sound. The protagonist chooses this path, fighting the ugliness from within with the brightest of fires, thus setting herself free from other people’s expectations. Feeling comfortable in her overweight body and “no longer being a monster”.
The Original Title: Una vez en un cuerpo
Country: Colombia, USA
Language: Spanish
Year: 2025
Runtime: 10′
Director, Screenplay, Art Direction, Animation Direction: María Cristina Pérez
Voice: Sara Isabella Martínez Rey
Producer: Katherine Cabrera Garzón
Executive Producer|Editor|Technical Direction|Digitalisation: Mauricio Cuervo Rincón
Co-producers: CARTUNA, James Belfer, Adam Belfer, Mireia Vilanova
Animation: Laura Alcina, Natalia Rojas Noy, Megumi Cardona, Gizenth Barreto, Fabián Llantén
Paint Artists: Anamaría Sáenz Peña, Julian Arias Garzón, Juan Pablo Figueroa Santos, Daniel Bonza DDDAS
Original Music: Daniel Gwilym Jones Cozzarelli
Sound Department: Sinsonte Estudio, Eloísa Arcila Fernández, Juana Lugo
Storyboard Artist: Pavel Molano Rincón
Voice Recordings: JuanMa López
Accountant: Nathalia Morant Echeverri
Post-production: Pez Dorado Animaciones, Jose David Moreno González
Production: Pez Dorado Animaciones
International Sales: Miyu Distribution
