Original Title 
                    Smalltown Relics
                                                    Country of Production 
                                            United Kingdom
                    
                
                                    Year of Production 
                    2024
                
                                    Running Time 
                    01'20''
                
                                    Language 
                    No dialogue
                
                
                                    Credits 
                    Milo Bonnard (director), Bart Bazaz (cinematography), Kaupo Muuli (editor), Kätlin Loomets (production designer), Bryony Lear (sound designer), Aurora Melpignano (art assistant)
                            
                                            Production Company or Producer 
                        National Film & Television School
                                                        
Beaconsfield is a place where dreams come true.
To celebrate the town’s legacy, let’s take a look inside
the fictional Beaconsfield Heritage Museum…
                    Name 
                    Milo Bonnard
                                            Country 
                        France
                                                                Biography 
                        Milo Bonnard is a French animation director whose work in stop-motion animation beautifully weaves together tragicomedy, melancholy, and romance. A graduate of the National Film & Television School with an MA in Directing Animation, Milo has previously enchanted audiences with his films "Fyodor" (2020), "Last Floor" (2021), and "Profiterole" (2022).
                                    
                    
                        Filmography 
                        Profiterole (2022)
Dernier Étage (2021)
Fyodor (2020)
                    
                        Director's notes 
                        This short film came from an interesting exercise where the sound was made before the visuals. I was given a soundtrack that sounded like a jungle or forest, and I had to build a film around it. My first reaction was that it felt like it was indoors, with an echo that reminded me of walking through the concrete corridors in one of those "bird houses" you find in zoos. You would hear birds, but then come face to face with empty cages and a poorly painted sky behind bars, which got me thinking about the gap between what we expect and what we actually experience.
This idea of expectation versus reality, and the strange feeling of being in between spaces, inspired the film. It looks at everyday situations where there is a disconnect: a fun childhood, a normal day at work, a romantic dinner, and a happy retirement. The film is very short (only 1 minute) and takes a quick look at these scenes, shown as dioramas in a small-town museum in Beaconsfield. The poorly lit mannequins behind glass displays, pretending to do everyday things, reminded me of how everyday life can sometimes feel just as artificial and disconnected.