Have an All Access Pass? Unlock your on-demand screening of this film <a href="https://watch.eventive.org/mdff2021/play/607e285e2fbeae00b1f42145" target="_blank">here!</a> NOTE: Firefox and Google Chrome users may lose playback during the end credits of this film. To finish watching the credits, just refresh your browser, click on "Watch now" again, and then "Resume watching". If you are attending the screening with the Live Q&amp;A afterward and this problem occurs, you can still attend the Live Q&amp;A by clicking out of the playback window, scrolling down in the virtual screening playlist (on the right-hand side of your screen), and clicking on "CRYPTOZOO Live Q&amp;A".

“Are there dragons? I want one as a pet!” says the mother of a “cryptid”, a word viewers learn to describe mythical creatures that exist in the magical-realist landscape of the animated film Cryptozoo. The cryptid child in question is a Blemmye, a headless boy whose face is positioned in the center of his torso. He is a recent addition to a community of cryptids held in a zoo-like environment operated by the lead character, an Indiana Jones-esque explorer and self-declared cryptid lover, Lauren Grey.&nbsp;Beginning with a vicious unicorn attack, filmmaker Dash Shaw discusses political violence perpetrated under the guise of aiding vulnerable populations through the medium of colorful and effervescent animation. The mother of the Blemmye boy’s desire for a pet dragon can be seen as an allegory for the film’s ultimate conclusion: the repercussions of attempting to create a completely flawless society at best, will ultimately fail, and at worst, will turn violent. —Emily Eddy, Guest Festival Shorts Programmer, MdFF 2021 Content Considerations: Strong language, nudity, depictions of sexuality, depictions of violence and animal cruelty, homophobic language This screening will be followed by a Q&amp;A with filmmakers Jane Samborski (Producer, Animation Director) and Dash Shaw (Writer, Director) moderated by MdFF Artistic Director, Christy LeMaster.

CRYPTOZOO

Featuring the voice talents of Lake Bell, Zoe Kazan, Michael Cera, Louisa Krause, Peter Stormare, Thomas Jay Ryan, and Grace Zabriskie, the film follows cryptozookeepers through a richly-drawn hallucinatory world as they struggle to capture a baku (a legendary dream-eating hybrid creature) and begin to wonder if they should display these rare beasts in the confines of a zoo, or if these mythical creatures should remain hidden and unknown.

CRYPTOZOO Live Q&A

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