Cardboard Heart
Director: Catalina Ferreira Martin
Colombia, 2025, 2 min
Shooting Format:Digital / Mixed Media Animatio
Festival Year:2026
Category:Animation
Genres:Drama, Social, Art
Crew:Writer: Catalina Ferreira Martin. Animator: Catalina Ferreira Martin
Email:catalinaferreiramartin@gmail.com
Synopsis
Corazón de Cartón is an act of resistance through beauty. A way of turning reflection into a heartbeat. An invitation to see cardboard as a symbol, and to look at a world so unequal, so painful, and so human, with new eyes. This short film, with cardboard as its central material and protagonist, tells the story of a father who sells his kidney to feed his son—one of the most brutal expressions of extreme inequality.
About the director
Catalina Ferreira Martín is a Colombian visual artist, painter, and animator. Her work explores image construction through fragmentation, collage, and material experimentation, with a particular focus on cardboard as both medium and narrative language.
Working across painting, illustration, and animation, she develops projects that address themes of inequality, identity, and perception through a poetic and socially engaged approach. Her practice combines handcrafted processes with contemporary storytelling, transforming humble materials into emotionally resonant visual narratives.
Cardboard Heart is part of an ongoing body of work that reflects on structural inequality and the conditions that shape human choice.
Filmmaker's note
Corazón de Cartón was born from a reflection on extreme inequality and the normalization of suffering in our societies. Living in a context marked by deep social contrasts made it inevitable to question the place from which we observe, choose, or remain silent. Cardboard emerged as the natural language of the film: a fragile and humble material capable of holding profoundly human stories. Through a handmade universe, the short film seeks to transform reflection into a heartbeat and invite viewers to look at the world with new eyes.