Ostrich

Day in and day out, a sparrow sees images of ostriches everywhere: on posters, in ads, and on its smartphone. In awe of the ostriches, with their long necks, dazzling eyes and muscular legs, the little bird wants to be just like them. By hitting the gym to work on its leg muscles, following make-up tutorials, and paying several visits to the neck stretching studio, the sparrow comes very close to achieving its goal. But one day when a real ostrich comes to town and the sparrow meets its idol in person, one thing becomes crystal clear: try as it might, a sparrow can never truly be an ostrich.

Born in Basel in 1990, Marie Kenov now lives in Lucerne, where she works in the fields of graphic design, illustration and animation. She completed her bachelor’s degree in poster design and visual communication at the National Academy of Art in Sofia in 2016. During a second bachelor’s degree, this time in animation, which she completed in 2020 at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, she was able to deepen her knowledge of the moving image and film. Her graduation film, Sweet Nothing, which she co-directed with Joana Fischer, was shown at numerous festivals around the world, including the Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2021, the Palm Springs International ShortFest 2022 and the Sundance Film Festival 2022. Ostrich is Marie’s first short film post-graduation.