Synopsis
A table is set with an array of symbolic objects – fish, apple, hourglass, diamond, and a heart – prepared as an intricate meal. A colossal entity sits to partake. Is this entity a deity, the universe, or the essence of nature itself? The eternity humanity so fervently desires and the meaning it tirelessly seeks are reduced to nothing more than a single meal for this vast, inscrutable being.

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Supper is the new animated short by Erick Oh, who is famous for Oscar-nominated film Opera.

Supper has been nominated for the Grand Competition Short Film at Animafest Zagreb 2025. It is a mysterious film, yet it simultaneously prompts us to think clearly about the fundamentals of life. Similar to Opera, which reflected human society and history, Erick has invented another addictive visual universe as a metaphor for human existence.

We interviewed Erick about the story behind Supper.

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Interview with Erick Oh

Hideki Nagaishi (HN): What do you most want to deliver to the audience through this film?

Erick Oh: Supper is strange and profound, but also filled with wit and humour. A god-like being sits at a surreal table, eating a meal, while a human king tries to entertain it, hoping for crumbs. As night falls and the meal ends, we see that the food was actually prepared by little characters. Shockingly, the ingredients are made from hearts, waste, and bodily fluids. Watching this, the audience is led to reflect on the absurdity of life and how nature’s cycle continues, untouched by human ideas of good and evil.

HN: Where did the initial idea for the film come from?

Erick Oh: In life, it’s often hard to tell what truly matters and what merely seems important in the moment but turns out to be an illusion. There’s no single right answer—our values shift depending on the situation, the timing, and how closely or distantly we look at things. Supper takes place in a single space, yet day and night feel entirely different. These two times of day are deeply connected, constantly influencing one another. By observing this from a distance, the audience is invited to reflect on the values and meaning that shape our lives.

Another reason I created Supper was because of my current media art exhibition in Jeju Island, Korea. At the center of the exhibition stands Opera (2021), which was nominated for an Academy Award. Supper is installed on the wall directly facing Opera. If you ever have the chance to visit Korea, I hope you’ll stop by the exhibition and experience the two works together.

HN: I would like to ask you a question that relates to both Supper and Opera. In the films, we look over tiny, visually simple characters going through simple routines in a confined, small world set against a deep, black background. It evokes in me an uncanny feeling, like a fanatical world from which I can’t escape.

How did you come up with and develop that worldview?

Erick Oh: I’ve been using these small, simple characters for many years. They first appeared in How to Eat Your Apple (2012), and has continued to appear in works like O (2015), How to Paint Your Rainbow (2018), Opera (2021), Metamodernity (2023), Supper (2025), as well as in numerous short looping animations shared on my Instagram.

This character is both a self-portrait and a symbol of humanity as a whole. Composed of black and white—representing good and evil, life and death, yin and yang—it serves as a blank canvas capable of holding countless stories. With its small, expressionless eyes, it gazes out at the world, quietly conveying humor, joy, sorrow, pain, and loneliness all at once.

HN: This is also a question about both SUPPER and Opera. I feel that there is an addictive quality to both works that makes it hard to stop watching.

How do you analyse where the addictiveness and absorbingness come from?

Erick Oh: I believe the key is in the subtle blend of stark contrasts. It’s grand and majestic, yet small and insignificant. Frightening and grotesque, yet also endearing and lovable. Sad and lonely, but at the same time filled with humor and wit. And all of these elements flow together within a single cycle. Perhaps that’s where the audience finds its charm.

HN: Compared to Opera, the universe of Supper is simpler and more minimal, with no unnecessary elements. Did you have any aim or intention behind that?

Erick Oh: If Opera looked at human society and history from the inside out, then Supper does the opposite: it observes from the outside in. When viewed together, the two works share the same fundamental elements, but they are used in very different ways.

For instance, the black and white statues worshipped by characters in Opera appear in Supper simply as salt and pepper shakers. The massive whale that wipes out humanity in Opera becomes nothing more than a fish dish served at the dinner table in Supper.

While Opera overwhelms the audience with the raw, monumental narrative of human civilization, Supper transforms that same narrative through satire and dark humour.

HN: What was your main aim or intention in adopting a cyclical ending, where it leads back to the beginning, for this film?

Erick Oh: In trying to depict the natural order of life and the cycle of the universe, the piece naturally took on a circular structure. While each of our individual lives may have a beginning and an end—birth and death, start and finish—when seen from a broader perspective, everything flows together as one continuous stream. We have endlessly moved through cycles of creation and extinction, and we will continue to do so.

This idea is not limited to physical phenomena. I believe that joy and sorrow, love and loss, hope and despair are also two sides of the same coin—emerging from a single, shared essence. This perspective is reflected not only in Supper, but throughout my other works as well. Even my early pieces, such as Way Home (2008) and Heart (2010), always end by hinting at a new beginning.

HN: Could you please tell us the story behind the music and sound of the film?

Erick Oh: The sound design for this piece was created by Andrew Vernon, and the music was composed by FRNK. Both are longtime collaborators and close friends of mine. Given the surreal nature of the characters and world, I wanted the sound to feel grounded and realistic—so that the audience could sense the presence of real beings setting the table and sharing a meal right before their eyes.

FRNK is a well-known DJ and producer in Korea. I aimed to preserve his signature sticky, moody vibe. However, rather than separating music, sound effects, and ambient sound, I wanted them to blur together—to the point where viewers might not even realize they are listening to music, yet feel emotionally guided by it. Toward the end, the piece unfolds in a psychedelic, almost hypnotic manner. This was intentional, to help draw the audience deeper into the emotional rhythm and message of the work.