Ariel Award Winner Animated Short Film ‘SHIMMER’ Now Playing on Short Of The Week
FYC in the Best Animated Short Film Category.
Short of the Week, the leading platform in online short film curation reaching millions of viewers, premieres director Andrés Palma’s SHIMMER.
WATCH “SHIMMER” NOW:
https://www.ShortOfTheWeek.com/2025/12/08/shimmer/
Written, directed, and produced by Andrés Palma, SHIMMER marks his directorial debut, blending retro-futuristic aesthetics with a poignant exploration of fatherhood and regret.
Set along a haunting shoreline strewn with the remains of forgotten shipwrecks, the film follows Ricardo, a devoted father consumed by his obsession to complete a towering lighthouse he believes will bring salvation. In his pursuit, he becomes blind to the growing resentment he has fostered in his eldest daughter Lucía, whose own choices will force him to confront the devastating cost of his dreams.
“A genuinely compelling, high-quality piece of 3D animation, marked by beautiful design work, strong character rigging, and impressive world-building. There’s tremendous potential here – it’s an exciting calling card for its creators” says Rob Munday, managing editor of Short of the Week.
Beyond its technical artistry, SHIMMER represents an act of personal healing for its creator.
“Every project that matters to me comes from a place of unresolved emotion,” says director Andrés Palma. “Art is how I process pain and transform it into something meaningful. I trust the audience will resonate with that.”
Backed by executive producers, the celebrated Mexican animator Jorge R. Gutiérrez (The Book of Life, Maya and the Three), and Andrés Buzo, Shimmer was developed through a groundbreaking collaboration between professionals and students at the Mexico City-based Escena Animation Studio, the spearhead of Escena Animation School’s project-based learning efforts. Joining the team there’s also associate producer Karla Vazquez, co-writer Santiago Maza Stern and composer Alex Otaola.
Fully realized in 3D animation using Unreal Engine 5, the film integrates handcrafted artistry with cutting-edge visual design. The ethereal “shimmering” fish that drift across the night sky were created using the Niagara particle system, merging procedural motion with hand-crafted animation cycles to achieve a visual language that feels both organic and transcendent.
To know more about the work of Andrés Palma and the ESCENA Animation Studio, please follow:
Official Website: www.ShimmerShort.com
Film’s IG: @ShimmerShort
Director’s Website: www.AndresPalma.com
Director’s IG: @Andres.Palma.c
Studio’s IG: @EscuelaEscena
