A lonely young woman named Mina lives alone in her apartment, but she’s not truly alone; she shares her space with three otherworldly beings known as The Kitchlets.
In contrast to Ghibli soot sprites, tidy kitchlets are supportive house spirits with a remarkable ability: they feed on Mina’s positive emotions while also tending to her negative ones.
CalArts alum Clarisse Chua wrote and directed the 2020 animation to explore human emotions and global mythologies together in a contemporary world. In a Voyage LA interview, Chua explains:
“The Kitchlets were inspired by home deities that take care of our households that seemed to be present in many cultures, such as the Scottish Brownies, Greek’s Hestia, goddess of the hearth, and Chinese Kitchen Gods, just to name a few.”
The short was selected for more than a dozen animation awards and film festivals, and was a semi-finalist for the 47th Student Academy Awards.
Watch these handpicked animated stories next:
• Omelette by Madeline Sharafian
• The Present, a short animation by Jacob Frey
• Dumpling Time! (만두먹방) – A Day of Us
• Mother (어머니), a Studio Kokorosh animation
• Homebody: A hermit both fears and longs for the outside world
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