Direction, animation, script, designs, layouts, sound design:
Jorn Leeuwerink

Music:
Bryan Teoh

Background art:
Myra Emmen Riedel

Distribution:
The Animation Show of Shows

Made at the HKU University of the Arts

Dutch title: Bloem?
Runtime: 6 min. 46 sec.
Country: The Netherlands
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Frame rate: 24fps
Completion date: July 11, 2017
Premiere: KLIK Amsterdam Animation Festival, October 18, 2017
Technique: 2D computer (animation), paint and pencil on paper (backgrounds)
Software: TVPaint, Photoshop, Premiere, After Effects

Best Animated Student Short (powered by Cartoon Network)
KLIK Amsterdam Animation Festival 2017, The Netherlands

Award for Best Student Short Film
Anima: The Brussels Animation Film Festival 2019, Belgium

Jury's Special Award
New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival 2018, Japan

Grand Prix of Student Short Films Competition
Taichung International Animation Festival 2018, Taiwan

The Debyutoria Prize (best of the international competition, young animation)
Insomnia International Animation Film Festival 2018, Russia

Best Student Animation
Anibar International Animation Festival 2018, Kosovo

1st Prize of the Jury in International Shortfilm Competition
Monstronale Festival 2018, Germany

Best Student Film
European Animated Film Festival Balkanima 2018, Serbia

Animation Grand Prix
Kyoto International Student Film & Video Festival 2018, Japan

Animation Audience Award
Kyoto International Student Film & Video Festival 2018, Japan

2nd Prize in Student Competition
Athens Animfest 2018, Greece

Jury's Special Prize Student Films Competition
Animakom 2018, Spain

Audience Award
Turku Animated Film Festival 2018, Finland

Best Animation
Global Youth Film Festival Lakshmipur 2018, Bangladesh

Student Audience Award
Contact International Student Film Festival 2018, Turkey

Jury Mention Award
Ringerike International Youth Film Festival 2018, Norway

Special Mention
Festival du Film d'Animation de Savigny 2018, Switzerland

KLIK Amsterdam Animation Festival 2017, The Netherlands
Cinekid Festival 2017, The Netherlands
Animasyros International Animation Festival + Agora 2017, Greece
Chania Cartoon & Animation Festival 2017, Greece
MONSTRA - Lisbon Animated Film Festival 2018, Portugal
Global Youth Film Festival Lakshmipur 2018, Bangladesh
Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film 2018, Germany
ANNY: Animation Nights New York 2018, United States
Athens Animfest 2018, Greece
World Festival of Animated Film - Animafest Zagreb 2018, Croatia
Animac 2018, Spain
Go Short - International Short Film Festival Nijmegen 2018, The Netherlands
Monstronale Festival 2018, Germany
Niederrhein Filmfestival 2018, Germany
Le Plein de Super 2018, France
Anifilm 2018, Czech Republic
Chilemonos 2018, Chile
Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2018, France
Animakom 2018, Spain
Festival du Film d'Animation de Savigny 2018, Switzerland
Insomnia International Animation Film Festival 2018, Russia
Anibar International Animation Festival 2018, Kosovo
Turku Animated Film Festival 2018, Finland
Hiroshima International Animation Festival 2018, Japan
Kyoto International Student Film & Video Festival 2018, Japan
New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival 2018, Japan
Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival 2018, South Korea
Taichung International Animation Festival 2018, Taiwan
Sound & Image Challenge International Festival 2018, Macau
Cartoons Underground 2018, Singapore
ShorTS - International Film Festival 2018, Italy
Cartoon Club Festival Internazionale del Comics e del Cinema d'Animazione 2018, Italy
Cinemì Cinemà International Short Film Festival 2018, Italy
Imaginaria Awards 2018, Italy
BALKANIMA - European Animated Film Festival 2018, Serbia
Universal Kids Film Festival 2018, Turkey
Contact - International Student Film Festival 2018, Turkey
Madrid Film Festival FCM-PNR 2018, Spain
Europa Film Festival 2018, Spain
DYTIATKO International Children’s Television Festival 2018, Ukraine
Linoleum International Contemporary Animation and Media-Art Festival 2018, Ukraine
Big Cartoon Festival 2018, Russia
Animage International Animation Festival of Pernambuco 2018, Brazil
Anima Mundi 2018, Brazil
Anim!Arte - International Student Animation Festival of Brazil 2018, Brazil
FIAfest International Audiovisual Festival 2018, Colombia
International Animation Festival Fest Anča 2018, Slovakia
AniFestROZAFA 2018, Albania
Animex 2018, United Kingdom
3D Wire 2018, Spain
Hyperfest International Student Film Festival 2018, Romania
Spark Animation 2018, Canada
CutOut Fest International Animation and Digital Art Festival 2018, Mexico
Cannes Film Festival 2018, France
Kobane Film Festival 2018, Syria
Zwols Animatie Film Festival 2018, The Netherlands
In-Short Festival 2018, Nigeria
Lublin Film Festival 2018, Poland
Etiuda&Anima International Film Festival 2018, Poland
Anima: The Brussels Animation Festival 2019, Belgium
Roanne Animation Short Film Festival 2019, France
Animation Film Festival 2019, Italy
Tehran International Animation Festival 2019, Iran
FluXus Animation Film Festival 2019, The Netherlands
Antarctis Film Festival 2019, Antarctica
Iron Mule Festival 2019, United States

"Again hewing to the darker side, the Dutch animator Jorn Leeuwerink's deceptively childlike Flower Found! creates an allusive pastel nightmare of mistaken identity and mob injustice. Digitally animated on painted watercolor backgrounds, the story follows an anxious mouse who learns that enlisting a search party of woodland creatures to find his stolen blossom might not have been the best idea."
Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times

- - -

"Jorn Leeuwerink's Flower Found, which won the Best Student Short Film Award, is definitely strong enough to compete on equal footing with professional films. The 6 minute 46 second film starts off with a little mouse going to water his flower which he has been lovingly tending, only to find that his flower has disappeared. As he goes on a hunt to find his missing flower he is joined by all of his forest friends. The film starts out like a light hearted romp set to delightful music composed by Bryan Teoh. It doesn't give the viewer a clue about the gruesome end to the film which is a strong political comment on the current state of affairs where wild accusations are too often thrown without proof leading to disastrous consequences."
Nancy Denney-Phelps, Animation World Network

- - -

"The simply rendered animals in Jorn Leeuwerink's Flower Found! present a powerful lesson in the dangers inherent in a rush to judgment. The charming naivete of the animals' looks belies the folly of their actions."
Charles Solomon, Los Angeles Times

- - -

"This animation has an adorable, cartoonish aesthetic that initially made me expect a completely different kind of story. As it is, it managed to surprise me with its dark humour and biting satire of busybodies who take over a worthy cause and twist it into something unrecognisable and awful. A message for grown-ups slyly delivered with childlike drawings."
Nadia Barbu, ProAnimatie.ro

- - -

"Pictographs in word balloons replace speech: From the Netherlands, Jorn Leeuwerink's Flower Found! begins as a sweet kids' tale (albeit one with a Philip Guston visual influence) in which all the animals of the forest team up to help a little mouse find the pretty flower he lost. Things don't go as planned, though, and this is one of two shorts featuring moments that might disturb sensitive children."
John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter

- - -

"Jorn Leeuwerink's Flower Found! takes an overly familiar children's story to adult extremes. When a mouse discovers a flower missing from its garden, it turns to various animal friends to help find the missing flower's whereabouts. This charmingly innocuous search soon takes on a darker tone while staying age-appropriate. Then again, compared to the fates befalling mischievous children in a typical Der Struwwelpeter story, the finale of Leeuwerink's short may seem comparatively tame."
Peter Wong, BeyondChron

- - -

"This was the most surprising of the bunch - its dark humor and grave conclusion unforgettable. What starts as an innocent search for a missing flower turns swiftly into a poultry-themed witch hunt, with guilt and false accusations left in its wake.

... viewers are left in shock - though with deep understanding of our culture.

Too often, we are swift to make decisions based on small bits of information - even if that information is found to be false. We are not easily swayed from our preconceptions of what a thing is and how the situation should go. Our rash judgments bring inexplicable harm to those who are innocent. We need to take the time to listen to all sides, even if we disagree. We need to strive to obtain as must information that is readily available to us, before making a final decision.

As the flower was marked with characteristics the chicken shared, he was automatically called a flower. By stereotyping based on what we look like, we are leaving guilt and false accusations in our wake. We condemn a race, gender or sexual preference into a category of unchangeable characteristics that continue to created a forced viewpoint. By not expanding our lines of thought, we are restricting and damaging the lives around us. Only by getting to know the person in front of us for who they truly are can we look beyond."
Stephanie Archer, Film Inquiry

- - -

"Leeuwerink's disarming fable opens as a cutesy animal caper and ends as an utterly bleak indictment of mob hysteria. When a mouse discovers that its favourite flower has been stolen, it enlists its forest friends to help recover it. But they get carried away with their task, resulting in a horrific miscarriage of justice. In the context of the programme, Flower Found! felt like a political work, even if its message is cloaked in allegory. Leeuwerink has form in mordant satirical cartoons, but this, his graduation film from HKU University of the Arts Utrecht, is his strongest yet. The plot is perfectly paced, keeping the audience guessing as it shades from comedy into horror, then tragedy. It has been on the festival circuit for a while, and every time I see it, I'm struck by its narrative clarity and purpose - no mean feat, especially for a student film. It won Anima's award for best student film."
Alex Dudok de Wit, Short of the Week

- - -

"The program also includes some films with unexpected twists such as Flower Found which follows a growing parade of super cute characters who all take some surprisingly dark and disturbing turns before the credits roll."
Purple, Movie Magazine International

- - -

"Jorn Leeuwerink's Flower Found! just might be the most subversive film of the year-any year. It starts out as a cute animal tale in which all the forest creatures help a mouse look for his missing flower, but it takes a dark turn that illustrates the dangers of group thinking and mob justice. Seriously, this one is not for kids. It will even leave a mark for most adults."
Joe Bendel, j.b. spins