Festival Season:
January 2026
STUMBLING BLOCKS
Directors:
Writers:
Tortor Smith
Tortor Smith
Producers:
Tortor Smith
Run Time:
0:03:51
Awarded for the following Category(s):
Awarded Category(s)
When everything falls apart, how do you find your balance again?
From literal loss, to masking identity struggles, anxiety and depression… This is a film that illustrates the combustion that happens when you try to hold something in.
Submitter Statement
With every film I make I aim to convey an important message in a creative way, Stumbling Blocks is no different.
This new film aims to explore the idea that when one thing in your life falls down it can be a catalyst for a total collapse, followed by a need to re-build and find a new normal. I wanted to represent this in a way that presented multiple layers of interpretation. From literal loss, to masking identity struggles, anxiety and depression… This is a film that illustrates the combustion that happens when you try to hold something in. Grief, pain, sadness - not dealt with can leave you sitting surrounded by fragments of trauma. When you’ve sat with your feelings though and the tide finally is able to turn you can begin to wash that mucky stuff away and free yourself to see, create and build a new way of moving forwards.
Stumbling Blocks drew from my personal experience of losing my nan to cancer and the burden of, later, dealing with her estate. From flooded flats, insurance claims, mammoth amounts of personal possessions and ultimately selling the property it was just one thing after another weighing down on my shoulders. To nod to this and symbolise the sense of loss I used a graveyard within the set design and also photos in frames to symbolise memories.
The experiences I drew from to make this film however were not limited just to this one. I’m also neurodivergent, something which I have only begun to fully understand in recent years. I have spent multiple decades masking and trying to control my world to fit in. The emotional cost of covering up in this way can (and does) lead to burnout and breakdowns. So on a separate, but synonymous layer, this film aims to represent change in these more profound ways too.
In fact, any aspect of identity that is compressed within in this way risks a total mental collapse. Being queer, another aspect of my life, had a similar trajectory of hiding and then finally embracing that aspect of myself. The colours at the end of the film therefore not only represent that art can often be the therapy that saves us from these stumbles in life but they are also there to represent a feeling of pride and eventually embracing and loving ourselves as a whole (in every part of our identity).
There is a beauty to be found in re-building, evolving and working through the pain and discomfort life forces on us.
Tortor's first film, Hot Mess, was produced at the Aardman Academy in Bristol on a highly competitive course of study. Chosen from hundreds of applicants Tortor was able to spend six months at the Aardman studios with industry mentorship from household names like David Sproxton, Suzie Templeton and Sam Morrison. Following on from the success of that short, which has so far won 24 awards, Tortor now presents Stumbling Blocks - this time a dialogue-free animation.
Both films have been created (almost solo-handedly) in roughly six-month timeframes... which for stop motion animation is insanely fast! Tortor does wish to slow down a little on the next film and spend more time in pre-production working on the story and design of the whole piece. When a bigger budget can be secured they also would like to work with more people.
Prior to these recent films Tortor mainly produced experimental and object focused stop motion work due to their (unknown at the time) neurodivergent struggles, which previously limited their ability to effectively structure their work. Having somewhat ironed those struggles out now their main focus moving forwards is on producing narrative driven films.
Key Cast
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