Reflective Encounters

“The nature of isolation and how it can lead to contemplations of identity, self, purpose and wellbeing - and how we come to terms with all of the above - is compellingly presented through Maria Estela Paiso’s mixed-media offering It’s Raining Frogs Outside.

Set against a backdrop of frog rain, a real-life phenomenon that carries with it a whiff of both the absurd and the biblical, the film’s featureless protagonist Maya sits in her childhood home, ruminating on a growing sense of despair that threatens to trigger a transmutation of her soul.

On top of a sense of authenticity to the writing that suggests it may stem from the lived experience of the filmmaker herself, what sets the film aside is the presentation of the character’s turmoil through a clever intertwining of live-action and animation processes, ranging from photorealistic VFX to purposefully jarring, grotesque CG, flat digital sequences and analogue collages that draw upon personal photographs, archive footage and other such miscellany, brought to life through an experimental animation approach in which the materials are scanned in and visually manipulated. Through all of these elements shines a universal relatability to the character’s plight and the dark nights of the soul we’ve all experienced at one time or another.”

— Ben Mitchell