Wide awake
Director: Laura Jane Sutherland
United States, 2025, 5 min
Shooting Format:Animation
Festival Year:2026
Category:Animation
Genres:Comedy, Anxiety
Cast:Zane Burrows
Crew:Writer: Laura Jane Sutherland. Color Assistance: Sonia langouev, Ciara Sergi; Sound Design: Mitchell Clark
Email:laurajane.suth@gmail.com
Synopsis
As the world shifts from day to night, Whilma prepares for her treacherous journey to dreamland. Guided by a sleep inducing podcast, she goes through her bedtime rituals, and begins counting sheep. However, this process is interrupted by one of the sheep mysteriously failing to cooperate. Will she be able to catch him and finally get some rest?
Trailer
About the director
Laura Jane Sutherland is a multi-disciplinary visual artist and filmmaker born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is currently working in Brooklyn, New York, after completing her BFA in 2D animation at Pratt Institute. Laura Jane's animated work combines both her love of fine arts, specifically painting, with her passion for storytelling and comedy, to create films reminiscent of the era of animation she grew up watching in the early 2000s. She creates visuals that are warm, colorful, and familiar to backdrop her comedic, uncomfortable, and existential narratives.