Trailer

Excerpt

Synopsis

Cast away on a desolate beach littered by long forgotten shipwrecks, Ricardo desperately seeks to draw the attention of shimmering lights blazing in the sky behind the thick cover of clouds.

Every day moves him closer to finishing the construction of a monumental lighthouse that could hold the key to their rescue, but he’s grown blind to the deepening mistrust his neglect has fostered in his eldest daughter, whose own plans will force her father to choose between his dreams and his children.

2024  | Animation | 4k |  20:28 running time  | Spanish with English subtitles

Festivals & Awards

MOST RECENT AWARD

Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (AMACC), Ariel, 2025, Best Animated Short winner

• Chilemonos, 2024
• Ignite Film Festival, 2024, (Best Animated Film winner, Short of the festival nominee)
• Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation and Technology, 2024, (Best Animated Short nominee, Best Worldbuilding in Animation Winner, Best Score in a Short Animation nominee, Best screenplay in a Short Animation winner, Breakthrough Animation, winner)
• Shorts México, 2024, (Best Animated Short winner)
• Bengaluru International Short Film Festival, 2024
• Pixelatl, 2024
• Monterrey International Film Festival, 2024 • St Louis International Film Festival, 2024
• Montreal International Film Festival - ANIMAZE, 2024, (International Short Award winner)
• Morelia International Film Festival, 2024
• FilmQuest, 2024, (Best Animated Film winner)
• SModcastle Film Festival, 2024, (Best Animation winner)
• North East International Film Festival, 2024
• Feratum, 2024
• Cut Out Fest, 2024
• Bogoshorts, 2024
• Red Movie Awards, 2024, (Best Animation winner)
• Idyllwild International Festival Of Cinema, 2025
• Animation Dingle, 2025 • Athens International Monthly Art Film Festiva, 2025, (Best Animation winner)
• SohoLIFF, 2025, (Best Animation nominee)
• Mirada Corta, 2025, (Best animation winner)
• MICMX International Film Festival, 2025, (Best Animated Short Film winner)
• El Ojo Iluso, 2025
• Anima Latina, 2025
• AAIFF - The All Americas' Independent Film Festival, 2025, (Best Independent Animated Film winner)
• Bolton International Film Festival, 2025
• Baixada animada, 2025
• Milestone International Film Festival, 2025, (Best Animated Key Cast winner, Best Animated Director winner, Best Animated Short Film winner, Best Animated Producer winner, Best Animated Writer, winner)
• Script Symphony Award, 2025, (Best Animation winner)
• Spark Animation, 2025
• Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográcas, Ariel, 2025, (Best Animated Short winner)

The TeAm

Behind Shimmer is a talented team of artists and storytellers who brought its world to life. Their creativity, passion, and collaboration shaped every moment you see on screen.

Meet the Team >

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

When I was five years old I told my mom that I’d never father children of my own. I was never fully forgiven for speaking this out loud. This thought held me firmly in its grasp as I grew into adulthood.

Shimmer was written thinking of the choices I believed I’d make as a father. I did not set out to create an evil man, just a bad parent who resented fatherhood and would rather focus on his work than devote time to his children.

Daughter Lucía’s significance would not become clear until much later. My own father, started slipping in and out of deteriorating dementia. I had to make difficult choices I was not ready to make and reckon with their consequences.

Lucía became an exorcism for all the ways I feel I failed my father as his son, back when I thought I knew better than he did as his mind started slowly to unravel. I wanted to have two opposing characters who would risk everything to get what they wanted most, and then immediately regret the price they had to pay once they’d achieved their goals. I hope we succeeded in this endeavor.

Making Shimmer certainly changed me. It’s not a coincidence that only two months after its first screening I was surprised not only by the news that I had a baby on the way, but by how easy it was to say a resounding yes to all that this choice would entail.

I’ll always have Shimmer to thank for that.

Film stills Of Shimmer

Each Film Still is a fragment of Shimmer’s journey, freezing moments that reveal the soul of its world.

More >

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ARt Of Shimmer

This gallery showcases the early visions of Shimmer: dozens of sketches, color scripts, and designs that shaped its universe. Each piece captures a spark of the creative journey that turned an idea into light, emotion, and life.