Work samples

  • STRAWBERRY MANSION | Official U.S. Trailer | In Theaters February 18, 2022

    trailer for the feature film "Strawberry Mansion" 

  • Eyeballs in the Darkness - trailer

    a trailer for the animated feature film "Eyeballs in the Darkness" 

  • Sylvio - Official Trailer

    2 minute trailer for 80 minute film, 2017

  • Tux and Fanny - movie trailer

    trailer for the feature film "Tux and Fanny"

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About Albert

Baltimore City

Albert Birney is a Baltimore based filmmaker. He has directed six feature films, The Beast Pageant (co-directed with Jon Moses), Sylvio and Strawberry Mansion (both co-directed with Kentucker Audley), Tux and Fanny, Eyeballs in the Darkness and OBEX. Sylvio was named one of the ten-best films of 2017 by The New Yorker. His films have premiered at Sundance, SXSW, the Maryland Film Festival, Slamdance and the Ottawa International Animation Festival. In 2021 he… more

See $10,000 Mary Sawyers Baker Prize Winning Portfolio
View Albert's Resume
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Strawberry Mansion

Strawberry Mansion (2021, 90 minutes) 

In a world where the government records and taxes dreams, an unassuming dream auditor gets swept up in a cosmic journey through the life and dreams of an aging eccentric named Bella. Together, they must find a way back home.

Written and Directed by Albert Birney and Kentucker Audley

Produced by Taylor Shung, Sarah Winshall, Emma Hannaway and Matisse Rifai

Starring Kentucker Audley, Penny Fuller, Grace Glowicki, Linas Phillips, and Reed Birney

Music by Dan Deacon

Reviews:
The New Yorker
The New York Times
The Hollywood Reporter
Vanity Fair
Variety
The Guardian
Indiewire
AV Club
Los Angeles Times
Chicago Tribune
The Moveable Fest
Film Freak Central
RogerEbert.com
Mashable
The Pitch
Film Threat
Hammer To Nail
Screen Anarchy
The Playlist
The Film Stage
The Sunbreak
Ion Cinema
USA Today
The Daily Utah Chronicle
Chicago Indie Critics
The Stranger
Cineccentic
Paste Magazine
In The Seats
Film Int.
Elements of Madness
366 Weird Movies
Movie Babble
The Twin Geeks
Upcoming On Screen
ars Technica
Cinepunx
Cultured Vultures
Movie Jawn
Slant Magazine
Flickering Myth
Reel Reviews
Sift Pop
East Bay Express
WBUR
Inverse
The Wrap
Geek Vibes Nation
Horror Buzz
Dread Central
Fanbyte
Mel Magazine
The Arts Fuse
Little White Lies
Letterboxd

Features/Interviews:
Talkhouse
Movie Maker Magazine, part 1
Movie Maker Magazine, part 2
IndieWire
Filmmaker Magazine
Filmmaker Magazine
No Film School
Baltimore Magazine
Anthem Magazine
Mubi
RogerEbert.com
The Moveable Fest
RogerEbert.com

Sundance Film Festival
San Francisco Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
Atlanta Film Festival
Sarasota Film Festival
Maryland Film Festival
Wisconsin Film Festival
W&M Global Film Festival
Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival
Independent Film Festival Boston
Oak Cliff Film Festival
Fantasia Film Festival
Champs-Élysées Film Festival
Filmfort
Calgary International Film Festival
Sitges Film Festival
Gangneung International Film Festival
New Horizons Film Festival
Trieste Science+Fiction Festival
AMFest- Moscow
Sci-Fi London Film Festival
Denver Film Festival
Los Cabos Film Festival

  • Strawberry Mansion - still 7
    Strawberry Mansion - still 7
  • Strawberry Mansion - still 6
    Strawberry Mansion - still 6
  • Strawberry Mansion - still 5
    Strawberry Mansion - still 5
  • Strawberry Mansion - still 4
    Strawberry Mansion - still 4
  • Strawberry Mansion - still 3
    Strawberry Mansion - still 3
  • Strawberry Mansion - still 2
    Strawberry Mansion - still 2
  • Strawberry Mansion - still 1
    Strawberry Mansion - still 1
    •

    • Eyeballs in the Darkness

    EYEBALLS IN THE DARKNESS (TUX AND FANNY PART 2)
    (2022, 106 min)

    A feature film sequel to my 2019 animated feature Tux and Fanny. I made this film using pixel animation, stop motion, puppets, and handmade recycled materials. It took 3 years to make.

    • Eyeballs in the Darkness
      Eyeballs in the Darkness
    • Eyeballs in the Darkness
      Eyeballs in the Darkness
    •

    • Tux and Fanny

    Tux and Fanny (2019, 82 min)

    Tux and Fanny are two friends living together in the forest and these are their adventures!

    2019:
    Ottawa International Animation Festival
    Animage Festival

    The New Yorker Best Movies of 2019

    Reviews:
    The New Yorker
    Dan E. Smith
    Bmore Art
    Letterboxd
     

    • Tux and Fanny
      Tux and Fanny
    • Tux and Fanny meet a stray cat
      Tux and Fanny meet a stray cat
    • Tux can't play the piano with his bone fingers
      Tux can't play the piano with his bone fingers
    • Tux goes missing so Fanny makes a new Tux out of clay
      Tux goes missing so Fanny makes a new Tux out of clay
    • Turkey
      Turkey
    • password: home
      All of the episodes compiled into one video
    •

    • Sylvio

    Sylvio (2017, 80 minutes)

    SYLVIO is a feature film about a small town gorilla who is stuck in his job at a debt collection agency. Deep down he just wants to express himself with his hand puppet, Herbert Herpels, and his puppet show that highlights the quiet moments of life. He accidentally joins a local TV program and a series of on-air mishaps threaten to shatter his identity, sending him on a journey of self-discovery.

    SYLVIO was filmed entirely in Baltimore and funded from a Kickstarter campaign. The film premiered at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival and went on to play over 20 festivals worldwide. 


    “This charming lo-fi indie is attuned to its own eccentric wavelength, equal parts absurd and poignant. A cult following for this bizarro effort seems quite possible." -Variety

    "Exquisite yet uproarious. Sylvio is, at heart, a tale of independent artistry and its snares. The result is a generous, achingly tender comedy. -New Yorker

    The New Yorker Best Movies of 2017

    Reviews:
    The New Yorker
    Variety
    Village Voice
    Indiewire
    Hollywood Reporter
    Screen Anarchy
    Film Threat
    Hammer to Nail
    Austin Chronicle
    Ars Technica
    CinemaThread
    Assholes Watching Movies
    Austin 360
    Isthmus
    The Baltimore Sun
    Paste Magazine
    WBUR
    Filmofile
    Crooked Marquee
    Letterboxd

    Interviews:
    No Film School

    2017:
    SXSW Film Festival
    Atlanta Film Festival
    Wisconsin Film Festival
    Capital City Film Fest
    IFF Boston
    Maryland Film Festival
    Greenwich Intl FF
    What the Film Festival
    Revelation Perth IFF
    Indy Film Fest
    Funcinema
    Charlotte Film Festival
    AmFest
    New Hampshire Film Festival
    Eastern Oregon Film Festival
    Syracuse International Film Festival
    American Film Festival
    Indie Memphis
    Loft Film Festival

    2018:
    Unknown Pleasures Film Festival
    Mammoth Film Festival
    Flatpack Film Festival

    • Sylvio waves
      Sylvio waves
    • Sylvio and the horses
      Sylvio and the horses
    • Sylvio in jail
      Sylvio in jail
    • Sylvio and Al Reynolds
      Sylvio and Al Reynolds
    • Sylvio trailer
    •

    • Trillium

    Peals (William of Future Islands + Bruce of Double Dagger) and director Albert Birney played “Trillium” for students at the Baltimore Montessori Public Charter School and asked them to write stories while listening to the song.


    There was only one constraint: each story begins with “The woman in the room…”


    Trillium brings the kids’ stories to life. The woman in the room transforms into a dinosaur and chats with a wise talking pelican. Leather-jacket-wearing bad boys, “weird alien cat-things,” peaceful apples, and money-shooting water guns all make noteworthy appearances. The video includes scenes from 17 stories written by the students, along with footage of them writing in the classroom.

    To capture the 5th graders’ imaginative worlds, director Albert Birney took a purposefully lo-fi approach to the props and sets. Some costumes and props were modeled on students’ drawings, including the paper maché head of Moophette, the “weird alien cat thing.” Similarly, the visual effects were created mainly in-camera, using a mix of silent-movie-style jumpcuts and multi-layered projections. The interplay between multiple projections, minimal set design, and a black and white color palette sets a dreamlike stage for the video.

    • The students write
      The students write
    • Moophette, the weird alien cat thing
      Moophette, the "weird alien cat thing"
    • The prompt
      The prompt
    • Writing
      Writing
    • Peals - Trillium
      We played the song for 5th-graders. They wrote while listening. We filmed their stories. Director: Albert Birney Produced and conceived by Peals Camera: Dave Cooper Cast: Cricket Arrison, Valerie Orr, Students of Baltimore Montessori Public Charter School
    •

    • The Night Fish

    The Night Fish (2018, 9 min) I found an old book of beautiful fish illustrations. I wanted to make a short film about the thoughts that keep me up at night. 
    • The Night Fish
      The Night Fish
      (2018, 9 minutes) "Plunging into the depths of existential despair but maintaining a co-existing levity and self-awareness, this beautiful lo-fi animation, merges with rousing sound design and music, to leave a haunting impression."
    • The Night Fish
      The Night Fish
    • Time is nothing for the fish
      Time is nothing for the fish
    • Inspired by a fever dream I had as a child
      Inspired by a fever dream I had as a child
    • THE NIGHT FISH
      (2018, 9 minutes) I was having trouble sleeping so I imagined all of my thoughts were fish and made this film.
    •

    • Buzzer

    Buzzer (2018, 8 min 40 sec) I found a dead fly under my table. I put it in a ziplock bag. Four years later I found the bag in a desk drawer and made this film. 

    "An ordinary fly just trying to live a simple life."

    Music by Jimmy Joe Roche and Alexander Borodin

    • Buzzer
      Buzzer
      The lonely fly surveys the city below.
    • Buzzer - Kitchen
      Buzzer - Kitchen
      The fly exits the kitchen
    • Buzzer - Bike
      Buzzer - Bike
      Bee on a bike
    • Buzzer - Street
      Buzzer - Street
    • Buzzer - password: buzz
      password: buzz
    •

    • I Can Hear The Trains Coming

    I Can Hear The Trains Coming (2011, 3 min) For this video I covered myself in tape and danced around, imagining I was a planet. All of the animals are animated from the Animal Locomotion series by Muybridge from 1877. 
    • I Can Hear The Trains Coming
      I Can Hear The Trains Coming
    • I Can Hear The Trains Coming
      I Can Hear The Trains Coming
      Inspired by Muybridge's Animal Locomotion series frmo 1877
    • I Can Hear The Trains Coming
      I Can Hear The Trains Coming
    • I Can Hear The Trains Coming
      I Can Hear The Trains Coming
    • I Can Hear The Trains Coming
    •

    • It Feels Like Forever

    It Feels Like Forever (2018, 18 min) It's Christmas Eve and Chamfort is all alone in his big house by the ocean. But he's not lonely. There's plenty of things to do to keep busy, an endless amount of things to do to pass the time. Would you like a tour?


    Written and Directed by Albert Birney
    Starring Ben O'Brien
    Produced by Marnie Ellen Hertzler
    Sound by Chester Endersby Gwazda
    • It Feels Like Forever
      It Feels Like Forever
      Christmas Eve in an empty house
    • It Feels Like Forever
      It Feels Like Forever
      Chamfort
    • It Feels Like Forever
      It Feels Like Forever
      Penny, the goldfish
    • Danny Dolphin Plays the Piano
      Danny Dolphin Plays the Piano
    • Chamfort's favorite movie is KURT AND EGGBERT
      Chamfort's favorite movie is KURT AND EGGBERT
    • password: penny
      It Feels Like Forever
    •

    • The Beast Pageant

    The Beast Pageant (2010, 74 minutes)

    A feature film about Abraham. Abraham lives deep in the heart of an idustrial wasteland. His only companion is a giant machine. Inside the machine is a man and a woman who take care of Abraham's every need. Abraham drifts through life until a tiny singing cowboy bursts from his stomach and leads him into the wild. 

    Filmed on a 16mm Bolex camera rescued from a dumpster behind Johns Hopkins Hospital. All sets made from paper mache and cardboard. 


    Official selection 2011:
    Slamdance Film Festival
    Maryland Film Festival
    San Francisco Independent Film Festival
    Detroit Independent Film Festival
    Boston Underground Film Festival
    Byron Bay Film Festival
    Buffalo Niagara Film Festival
    Plastic Paper Film Festival
    Santa Cruz Film Festival
    Sonoma International Film Festival
    Lund International Fantastic Film Festival
    Arizona Underground Film Festival
    • The Beast Pageant
      The Beast Pageant
    • Zeke, the singing cowboy that bursts from Abraham's stomach
      Zeke, the singing cowboy that bursts from Abraham's stomach
    • The Watermelon Man
      The Watermelon Man
    • The Beast King
      The Beast King
    • Directing the Trees
      Directing the Trees
    • password: nobudge
    •