Orange You Glad

Carrots are sexual creatures, especially Femme Carrot, a magnificent seductive carrot that is so alluring, she has caught the attention of the gaping mouthed Fertility Botanist studying her: Dr. Shari Tremor. Meanwhile, Shari’s 16-year-old son, Nadav, is secretly writing an explicit gay erotica in his room. A sensual male narrator, Erotica Narrator, is the empowered voice of Nadav’s writings, and narrates events in both Nadav and Shari’s lives. Nadav is often getting advances from gay men in public spaces: situations that inspire his constantly growing erotic story. At the same time, a tangible possible partner–his classmate Joseph–is making advances but Nadav is too uncomfortable to reciprocate. As Nadav struggles to navigate a chance for a real gay relationship with Joseph through the haze of erotic fantasy, Shari struggles through a fantasy of her own, with F. Carrot permeating her thoughts and dreams of lust and desire and the voice of E. Narrator whispering sweetly in mind.

Director’s statement
Orange You Glad is a project of a new kind of genre that I intend to champion. Queer representation in animation–stop motion particularly–is practically non existent. Most queer fiction (live action included) is limited to stories about coming out with male protagonists. With this film, I am pushing to develop a new absurd method of queer storytelling, highlighting the awkwardness of queer puberty and the sexuality of a single queer mother. I aim to showcase human narratives with a strong queer lens. I am also taking the opportunity to experiment storytelling with a triple narrative concept. Nadav’s story, Shari’s story, and that of the protagonist in the erotica are told at the same time. The viewer is taken along an, at times, confusing progression of events that offers elements of surprise and coincidence in an otherwise traditional story. I am excited by the concept of using animation to succeed in communicating otherwise impossible narrative.