The Me Bird 2013 — Animated Short Film

Watch it here “The Me Bird (2013)”, a unique and beautiful journey in this captivating stunning and poignant animated short film by Gabriel Kempers & Maria Ilka Azêdo.

🕊️ The Me Bird (2013) — Animated Short Film by Gabriel Kempers & Maria Ilka Azêdo

Inspired by the poem The Me Bird 2013 by Pablo Neruda, this short film is a visual ballet of freedom and confinement. Directors Gabriel Kempers and Maria Ilka Azêdo use animation to embody the tension between a caged soul and its yearning to fly. It’s a film that feels less like watching a story and more like entering a dream.

The short film, created by the Brazilian motion graphics studio 18bis, employs the unique and less common animation technique known as stratastencil. This method essentially involves building scenes through layers of cut paper. The film offers a free-form interpretation of the Pablo Neruda poem, “The Me Bird (2013).”

According to the creators: The use of the strata stencil technique conceptually reflects the layering of the past—our movements and actions. The narrative centers on a ballerina seeking freedom, set against a backdrop where frames represent a jail and the past is a perceived burden. This story connects the bird and the dancer through a diverse artistic exploration that visualizes a tempest.

🧭 Overview

Genre: Animation · Experimental · Poetry 🎭
Directors: Gabriel Kempers · Maria Ilka Azêdo 🎬
Runtime: ~3 minutes ⏱️
Country: Brazil 🇧🇷
Language: Non‑verbal (visual poetry)
Release: 2013
Style: Collage animation · Dance‑like movement · Surreal imagery

Watch the short:

📖 Story in Brief

The Cage: A dancer‑like figure is trapped, symbolizing the soul’s confinement.
The Struggle: Movements are sharp, restless, echoing the fight against invisible walls.
The Transformation: The figure morphs into a bird, wings unfurling in defiance.
The Flight: The final sequences explode into freedom — a visual metaphor for liberation, creativity, and selfhood.

🎨 Creative DNA & Style

Collage animation: Layered textures and cut‑out aesthetics give the film a tactile, handmade feel.
Dance as metaphor: The central figure moves like a ballerina, embodying struggle and grace.
Surreal transitions: Shapes dissolve, reform, and flutter like feathers in wind.
Poetic rhythm: The visuals mirror Neruda’s verses — fragmented yet flowing, intimate yet universal.

🌟 Themes & Resonance

Freedom vs. confinement: The eternal human struggle to break free from limitations.
Art as liberation: Animation becomes a tool to visualize inner emancipation.
Identity & transformation: The bird symbolizes self‑discovery and transcendence.
Poetry in motion: A rare fusion of literature and visual art.

✅ Pros & ❌ Cons

Pros

🎯 Unique aesthetic: Collage animation stands out in a digital age.
🎨 Poetic resonance: Captures the spirit of Neruda’s words without literal adaptation.
🕊️ Emotional impact: Short but deeply evocative.

Cons

⏳ Brief runtime: Leaves viewers craving more exploration.
🌀 Abstract style: May feel elusive for audiences seeking narrative clarity.

💡 Humanized Takeaway

The Me Bird is less a film than a feeling — a flutter in the chest, a reminder that inside every cage lives a soul aching to fly. Kempers and Azêdo craft a short that honors Neruda’s poetry while creating its own language of liberation. It’s a cinematic sigh, a dance of wings, a whisper that says: freedom is possible.