Short films for the melancholy

One of my visiting nieces is a lover of movies. The other always has her nose in a book. The movie lover was repeatedly scanning through my DVD collection (which is by no means expansive, and of little interest to a 12-year-old) but on the last day she pulled out a couple of short films and watched Cracker Bag first, which I have mentioned a lot here, and then Birthday Boy. I had to sniff and wipe my face for the sadness, as I introduced my niece to "disillusionment" and the ruins of war.

I mostly own these two films because Glendyn Ivin is an old friend, as is the wife of Sejong Park, but also because one of them won the Palme D'or at Cannes, and the other was nominated for an Oscar. I've discovered that Birthday Boy is now on Youtube (whether or not it should be is perhaps the question). If you've never watched this beautiful little eight minutes of animation, then here it is, for your illumination. It's a true story, set in Korea, 1951.