Two brothers entertain themselves with a joyous game of hide and seek while their parents cook dinner. As one boy counts, the other quickly hides in a small cabinet full of glasses, stubbornly determined to win. Seconds pass… then minutes… years… and decades. Every so often the boy peeks out of the sideboard. What he sees is strange and unfamiliar. With each glance, everything and everyone he once knew changes and fades, until he is left alone.

Written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Daniel Gray (T.O.M., 2006; TEETH, 2015), HIDE is an emotionally stirring and surreal animated short with elements that could be described as horror. The film is about homesickness and disconnect in a world where technology has seduced us with the promise of bridging continents and bringing us closer. Yet without being physically present, without being able to share a meal, a drink or a seat on a sofa, we are no more than ghosts—peeping toms casually observing our fading memories and distant, aging loved ones.

Using a sparse soundtrack and visual design that shifts from bright and spacious simplicity to opaque fragments, HIDE tells a heartrending, prescient story about family, social anxiety and isolation in a world that is increasingly disjointed and unrecognizable.

Co-produced by La Cellule Productions (France), CUB Animation (Hungary), and the National Film Board of Canada, HIDE allegorically explores the idea of moving far from home yet remaining able to see and communicate with your loved ones.

Daniel Gray studied Fine Art at the University of Wales Cardiff. After a stint as a represented painter, Daniel started experimenting with animation. While studying animation at the University of Wales, Newport, he met Tom Brown. The duo started a creative partnership that began with their graduation short film, T.O.M. (2006). This short tale about a young boy’s rather peculiar and revealing journey to school was an instant success at international film festivals, collecting awards from Ottawa, Annecy, and Sundance, as well as at the British Animation Awards. Their next film, TEETH (2015), which tells the life story of a man (voiced by Richard E. Grant) through the history of teeth, screened at more than 40 festivals and won numerous awards.

In addition to the imaginative music video Constant Growth Fails (2017), Gray has directed many commissioned works. He has also served on a film festival jury and as a visiting lecturer at universities, and has led a number of creative animation workshops.

Daniel currently lives in Hungary with his wife and daughters. His most recent film, HIDE, is a co-production between La Cellule Productions, CUB Animation Studio, and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). This is Daniel’s first collaboration with the NFB.

FILMOGRAPHY:
2021 - HIDE
2015 - TEETH
2006 - T.O.M.