Kate Bush Announces Release Of Animated Short Film
The “Running Up That Hill” singer made her directorial debut with the 1993 short film The Line, the Cross and the Curve, which is an extended music video for the songs from her seventh studio album The Red Shoes.
KATE BUSH: Courtesy of Getty Images
KATE BUSH: Courtesy of Getty I
After premiering at the Berlin Film Festival, Kate Bush announces the release of Little Shrew, the animated short film she directed, screened in Picturehouse cinemas in the United States on June 24.
The short film will be paired with From Hilde, With Love, a 2024 German biographical film about Hilde Coppi, a member of the anti-Nazi resistance group the Red Orchestra. The film explores her quiet defiance and ultimate sacrifice, offering a powerful reflection on resistance and moral courage.
Little Shrew follows a pygmy shrew navigating a war-torn city, serving as a metaphor for children caught in conflict. Soundtracked by Bush’s 2011 song “Snowflake,” from her 2011 album 50 Words For Snow, the film reflects on innocence, survival, and hope during wartime.
Although the song was originally written to capture her son’s voice before adolescence, it now carries new emotional weight in the film’s context.
Initially thought of having a young girl as the short film’s main character, Bush went with a shrew, which is a “tiny, fragile creature,” instead. When war broke out in Ukraine in 2022, she decided to make an animated project, “to draw attention to the children caught up in war.”
Additionally, Bush also hints returning to music, saying, “I’ve got lots of ideas and I’m really looking forward to getting back into that creative space. I’ve felt really ready to start doing something new.” Her last studio album release was 2011’s 50 Words for Snow.
Watch the short film online below: