As I look out the window

Based on a true story, As I Look Out the Window follows Anna, a 10-year-old girl growing up in a fading industrial town where every funeral procession passes beneath her window. The townspeople gather to mourn, tossing coins onto open caskets—but for the children, death is something they can’t yet comprehend, a strange ritual that feels more like a break from routine. They mischievously snatch the coins that fall, seeing it as a playful distraction. Anna longs to join them, despite her mother’s strict warning: never leave a window open when death passes, or it may enter the house. One day, her father lets her watch with the window open—and something shifts. When she later loses something dear to her, Anna begins to question whether it was mere coincidence or something more. As magical elements rooted in folklore blur with reality, the open window becomes a turning point, marking the moment when it’s Anna’s turn to seek meaning in everything she has been told.

Director’s statement
This is a deeply personal story, inspired by my mother’s childhood in a small Romanian town where death was part of everyday life. Funerals passed through the streets, blending grief with routine, and superstition shaped how people understood loss. I remember witnessing this as a child, visiting my grandmother—open caskets, coins tossed, children playing as adults prayed. These memories became the foundation of As I Look Out the Window.
This short animated film is a psychological drama with touches of dark humor. Told through the eyes of a child, it explores how we learn to make sense of mortality. Anna is caught between her mother’s fearful superstitions and her father’s calm detachment. As she witnesses a death that hits close to home, she begins to form her own understanding. By contrasting ritual and innocence, solemnity and play, the film reflects on how tradition, belief, and experience shape the way we confront life’s only certainty.