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Ice Merchants

  • 2022
  • 14m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
3.2K
YOUR RATING
Ice Merchants (2022)
AnimationDramaFantasyShort

Every day, a father and his son jump with a parachute from their vertiginous cold house, attached to a cliff, to go to the village on the ground, far away where they sell the ice they produc... Read allEvery day, a father and his son jump with a parachute from their vertiginous cold house, attached to a cliff, to go to the village on the ground, far away where they sell the ice they produce daily.Every day, a father and his son jump with a parachute from their vertiginous cold house, attached to a cliff, to go to the village on the ground, far away where they sell the ice they produce daily.

  • Director
    • João Gonzalez
  • Writer
    • João Gonzalez
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.6/10
    3.2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • João Gonzalez
    • Writer
      • João Gonzalez
    • 15User reviews
    • 13Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 30 wins & 22 nominations total

    Photos10

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    User reviews15

    7.63.1K
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    Featured reviews

    10leonardo-vcid

    Beautiful, simple, surprising.

    Being able to tell such a story through beautifully simple details is amazing. Ice Merchants is a piece of art like the world needs more of.

    The visual art and animation are both provoking and original.

    The sound is wonderfully crafted.

    The story brought me to tears.

    A world where a good short animation like this, created with very little funding, wins an Academy Award is a better one. I really hope it wins.

    Also interesting is the fact that ice merchants actually existed, a long time ago, even though that is more of a poetic backdrop to the story being told.

    I'm looking forward to author's next creations.
    8rbsteury

    Thoughtful, innovative and beautiful

    This short about a father and son living in a tiny cabin anchored on the side of an immense and icy mountain-side cliff is totally absorbing. There is no spoken word but the music is great. Father and son eke out their existence by taking ice to the village far below by jumping off their porch and parachuting down, then they come back up using a rope system. Since I am somewhat acrophobic, parts were a little difficult for me to watch (the son sitting on a swing thousands of feet above the ground - oh my!) but the basic colored line drawings were so engaging and gorgeous that one could not finish the film.

    At first the ending is somewhat open to interpretation. Watching it a second and third time I picked up the hints scattered along the way as to what was happening that I had not fully grasped on my first viewing. I so appreciate being able to watch it on The New Yorker Screening Room.
    8lee_eisenberg

    ice salute you

    The first Portuguese production ever nominated for an Academy Award depicts a man and his son who sell ice to make a living. João Gonzalez's "Ice Merchants" is a low-key, unassuming animated short that comes out well done. It just goes to show that animation doesn't need to be fancy, and certainly doesn't need the characters voiced by the celebrities of the moment (to be certain, this one has no dialogue). I found the short on The New Yorker's YouTube channel. I hope that more people get to see it, and that in the coming years more of the animated shorts become available for viewing. Some truly impressive filmmaking here.
    9rodryfily

    Slow pace, yet sublime and heart warming

    It's incredible how a 14 minute movie without a single word can move you this much.

    With just simple and repeated scenes, the director manages to get you to know the characters. For that purpose, this movie makes use of color in a simple way that just makes sense. The slow pace just makes it feel natural and there is no rush to achieve the end of the story.

    I also loved the soundtrack, every second of it adds to the story and, in the absence of words, acts as a good way to show feelings from the characters.

    Loved this movie, and it's good to see it get this much attention, specially the Oscar nomination.
    8jack_o_hasanov_imdb

    Hats

    So simple, so beautiful and so meaningful. When I saw their house hanging on the mountain, I thought something would happen to them. Obviously, the man's wife, the child's mother is not alive. It doesn't show it with flashback. Very simple. A yellow glass and an empty side of the bed. Very meaningful and simple. I was expecting a bad ending. But the ending of the movie and the way it was finished impressed me a lot. It was so sweet. Among the ones I've watched (I've only watched 3 nomines yet), this is what I liked and was most impressed with. Also the music was very good. The shooting style is again like hand-drawn. I think it was fashion and style to be nominated for an Oscar. I criticized it. Also, a live action version of it can be shot. We can watch beautiful landscapes.

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      First Portuguese film nominated for the Oscars.
    • Connections
      Featured in 2023 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Animation (2023)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 16, 2023 (Portugal)
    • Countries of origin
      • Portugal
      • United Kingdom
      • France
    • Official site
      • Distributor webpage
    • Language
      • None
    • Also known as
      • Торговці льодом
    • Production companies
      • COLA - Colectivo Audiovisual
      • Wild Stream
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      14 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.89 : 1

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