"Where Is God?" Asks a Poignant Animated Short Film

Faith and love are found and lost again in Wednesday with Goddard, a film from Tourist music video director and illustrator Nicolas Ménard and animated short film, music video, and interactive experience hub, Nexus. Commissioned by Channel 4's Random Acts short film anthology TV series, it tells the story of a simply-drawn little man who, inspired by a transcendent rainstorm, sets out on a journey to track down the source of its beauty: God.

Equal parts The Fountain, The Holy Mountain, and The Little Prince in spirit, what sets Wednesday with Goddard apart is its use of Chinese artist Manshen Lo's fleecy pencil drawings. The blend of 2D and 3D achieves a delicate balance, presenting a layered skin that entreats the viewer to peel it back and plumb the mysteries that lie beyond. It's no stretch to reference the earnestness of childhood crusades à la Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials or the frank fatalism of Mordicai Gerstein's The Mountains of Tibet. Reader beware: knowledge comes with a price, and, be they in hearts or time-space, some cuts aren't meant to be healed.

Check out Wednesday with Goddard below:

Click here to visit Nicolas Ménard's website, here for Manshen Lo, here for Nexus, and here to learn more about Channel 4's Random Acts.

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