GARDENING

In the aftermath of sexual assault, a woman retreats into the garden of her mind. Searching for answers and struggling to do 'the right thing', she realises that she must regain her voice and find new paths to healing, before she and her garden are destroyed completely.

    • Best Short (BIFA) — London Breeze Film Festival, UK, 2024

    • Best LGBTQ Animation — Palm Springs Animation Festival, USA, 2025

    • Best Animation — Sunrise Film Festival, UK, 2025

    • Best Animation — Wolverhampton Film Festival, UK, 2025

    • Best Short Animation (BIFA) — Worcester Film Festival, UK, 2025

    • Best Animation — Dumbo Film Festival, USA, 2025

    • Best Short — Move Summit, Scotland, 2025

    • Best Short Animation (BIFA) — Cornwall Film Festival, UK, 2025

    • Best Narrative — Cut Out Animation Festival, Mexico, 2025

    • Best First Film — Canlandiranlar Animation Festival, Turkey, 2025

    • Best Short Animation — Greenwich Film Festival, UK, 2025

    • Best East Anglian Film (BAFTA, BIFA) — Norwich Film Festival, UK, 2024

    • Méliès d'Argent — Imagine Film Festival, Netherlands, 2024

    • Grand Jury Prize — Zagreb Animafest (Oscar), Croatia, 2025

    • Best Screenplay — Mirror Mountain Film Festival, Canada, 2025

    • Best Longform Animation — Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation & Technology, USA, 2025

    • Grand Jury Prize — Dallas Film Festival (Oscar), USA, 2025

    • Best UK Film — Brighton Animation Festival, UK, 2025 Best Animation — Animatex, Egypt, 2025

    • Honourable Mention — Thomas Edison Film Festival (Oscar), USA, 2025

An indoor library with tall bookshelves, some accessible by ladders. The floor has a herringbone pattern, and books are scattered on the floor and shelves. Large yellow sunflower plants with smiling faces on the flowers are growing throughout, with t
A scene from the animated movie 'The Little Mermaid' depicting Ariel's lover, Eric, observing a lush, bioluminescent underwater garden with large plants, vibrant flowers, and a woman in the distance.
A cartoon depiction of a large, bear-like creature with syringes on its arms, attacking a person lying on snow, with the person's face showing fear.
Animated scene with a woman sitting on a swing, facing a large, dark, angry-looking pen wearing a black hat, in a surreal outdoor setting with a reddish-brown ground and an orange sky.
A young person with red hair kneeling among dark, twisted trees with human faces, holding a white dove, in a dark forest scene.
Digital illustration of a woman with short brown hair, wearing an orange dress and light blue socks, walking down a staircase holding shoes. Large lotus flower heads with serene human faces surround her, set against a starry black background.

Reviews

“A psychedelic, surreal and fantastical exploration of life in the wake of a sexual assault. Filmmaker Sarah Beeby’s animated short Gardening is wonderfully unique, using myth-driven imagery as the springboard to discuss the navigation of one’s existence in the aftermath of a major trauma.”

— Directors Notes

“Gardening is bold, beautiful and deeply affecting. Striking in its production design and sound design, with great voice performances and elegant character animation, it has a confidence and vision that feels quite unique.”

— Peter Banyton

“A visually and stunning film, Gardening is a beautiful animated piece that explores healing in the aftermath of sexual assault. The film works hard, and succeeds, at giving a voice to victims of sexual assault, their thought processes, how both perpetrators and survivors are treated and the impact that treatment has. The film puts a spotlight on communication in a very unique way, and examines how consent can be ignored or missed, and what kind of conversations are necessary to fix what’s been damaged.”

— Bitpix TV

Over sixty festival selections including many OSCAR, BAFTA and BIFA qualifiers.

CREDITS

Cast

Evanna Lynch

Leonora

Speech Debelle

Imani

Freddie Fox

Quillan

Chetna Pandya

Rita

Simon Mc Burney

Detective Danforth


Crew

Sarah Beeby

Director

Jo Lewis

Producer

Louisa Wood

Screen Writer

Sarah Beeby & Louisa Wood

Story

Liam Cobb

Additional Background Design

Sara Frias, Freya Hotson, Michael Schlingmann, Amanda J Holm, Rebecca Perrone

Lead Animators

Bryony Evans, Gemma Roberts, Giulia Raniolo

Animators

Laura N Tamara

Additional Background Painting

Ludo Smolski

Script Supervisor

Emil Joseph

Editor

Ash Wu

Storyboard Clean Up

Sarah Beeby

Storyboards

Die Hexen

Music

Louis Morand

Sound Design

Skillbard

‘Perfume Equinox’ and ‘Hotdog Factor’

Die Hexen

‘Siamese’

Adrian Walter at Fitzrovia Post

Voice Over Recording

Gilbert and Covell

Casting Directors

Mark Burman, Susan Kyd, Josh Lacey, Dylan Mason, Tim Morand, Eve Norris

Crowd Scene Voices

Abigail Addison

Production Consultant For Hipster Films

Joanna Emmitt

Production Accountant

Alex Kaltsoyannis

Accounts Assistant

Anna Maros

Post Production Manager at Molinare

Vicki Matich

Colourist at Molinare

Helen Miles

Re-Recoding Mixer at Molinare

Sharon, Emily, and Mike Beeby, Jesse Moynihan, Megan Morass, Amy Thompson, Angela Stemple, Julia Pott, J Mcaray, Anna Bunting Branch, Alfred Thirolle, Richard Lewis, Patrick Cannon

Special Thanks

BFI

Helen Brunsdon

Production Consultant

Phoebe Sutherland

Executive Producer

Anna Seifert-Speck

Script Consultant

Ian Kirk

Head of Production Finance

Charley Fox

Production Executive

Vicky Skea

Business Affairs Manager

This film was supported by Rooftop Films and by the Open Workshop department of The Animation Workshop

Made with the support of the BFI’s Filmmaking Fund

© 2024 The British Film Institute and Hipster Films Limited