This is a story that unfolds in the dead of night. A boy, intending to play a prank and disturb someone's sleep, randomly presses a few buttons and dials a stranger's number. He had long rehearsed his opening line: if it was a woman, he would call her "Mom"; if it was a man, he would call him "Dad." Of course, the outcome of such pranks was always the other party hanging up. Until one midnight, when he dialed again, something unexpected happened. Before he could even speak, a deep and weary voice from the other end of the line anxiously asked, "Steven, is that you? Where are you?..." The boy hung up the phone and never called back again... This melancholic animated short, less than two minutes long, features a simple visual style—nothing but the vast, dark night sky—and dialogue reduced to brief fragments from the telephone receiver. Yet, it tells a profoundly moving story. Director Elan Hillel graduated from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Israel. The academy's artistic atmosphere, which blends Middle Eastern and European ethnic styles, deeply influenced Elan and is reflected in his works.
Waiting for opponent...