Behind the Scenes of Back to You: the Power of Animation to Deliver a Deeply Emotional Message

An Animation from Chile Exploring the Heartfelt Realities of Caregiving and Memory.

Martina Díaz, director of Back to You, this  is such a heartfelt story. Can you tell us what inspired you to create this film?

As a team, we knew that the main subject of our short film would be the loss of memories. We found the heart of the story when we connected it to my personal experience with my grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s disease. Her main caretaker is my aunt, her daughter, and I found their relationship very special. Seeing your own mother lose her memory can be incredibly difficult for many reasons. It can create tension and arguments between both sides, but empathy can help overcome those challenges. I often saw my aunt overwhelmed with regret about how things were progressing with my grandmother. She sometimes forgot to see herself as a daughter rather than just a caretaker. That’s the soul of Back to You.

Martina Díaz

Martina Díaz, the concept of memory as a gem is a beautiful metaphor. How did you develop that visual representation?

One of the creative challenges we gave ourselves was not to make a short film about humans. We didn’t want to animate human characters, haha. After exploring different metaphors and concepts, we landed on the idea of clay beings. But then another question came up: how do we physically represent memories in little clay beings? Well, memories are treasures. They’re beautiful, colorful, and they shape who we are. They are gems. Honestly, it was a tough first month of brainstorming. I can’t remember the exact moment we arrived at that idea, but once we did, it all fell into place and the gem metaphor fit perfectly with what we wanted to express.

Felipe Bastián Cabello

Felipe Bastián Cabello, as the animation director, how did you bring Liten and Lillet to life in a way that resonated emotionally with the audience?

Since our goal was to emphasize the emotional core of the story, the animation needed to support that feeling. Our characters are made of clay, so they’re naturally fragile and limited in movement. That’s why their actions are subtle and slow, with a melancholic rhythm. In key moments, though, we made the animation more dynamic to create emotional contrast. We animated those intense sequences on twos, while the rest were done on threes. That choice helped define the animation style.

Martina Díaz, your film carries an Andean influence. How did your cultural background shape the aesthetic and narrative of Back to You?

Although I currently live in Santiago, I was born and raised in the far north of Chile, in Antofagasta. That region is deeply influenced by its Andean roots. My family often took me to museums, performances, and cultural events that taught me about our ancestors. I’ve always been fascinated by the rich cultural heritage of my country. In fact, most of my university projects are related to Chilean Indigenous cultures, especially from the north. So, once we chose to make our characters clay beings, I immediately brought in elements from my Andean background and the meaning the desert holds for me.

Karla Consuelo Moreno

Karla Consuelo Moreno, as the art director, what inspired the visual style and artistic choices of the film?

The greatest inspiration for the visual style came from the landscapes of Northern Chile. It was important to us to represent our culture visually. We also needed a simple style to meet the time constraints we had. At the same time, we focused on conveying the emotional theme of memory loss. That’s why we chose a desert-like environment, painted with soft textures, to reflect how everything is constantly shifting and nothing remains the same, just like memories.

Martina Díaz, the subject of Alzheimer’s is quite heavy. How did you approach balancing the emotional weight with the film’s animation style?

My personal experience with Alzheimer’s was key to finding that balance. We knew the characters’ movements had to be delicate, but we also wanted Liten, the younger character, to move a bit faster and more fluidly. He’s constantly moving because of his anxiety and desire to help, like a real caretaker. In contrast, Lillet is slower, more grounded. She even blinks more slowly. She’s been through a lot and no longer feels the need to rush. Her slowness reflects both her age and how long she’s been isolated. Looking back now, I can see how intentional all those details were, even if at the time, we were just following our instincts.

Ximena Alejandra Carrasco

Ximena Alejandra Carrasco, what was the process like for securing funding and resources for an independent animated film like this?

Even though we didn’t have a budget to produce the film, our university provided us with the necessary resources, like equipment and software, so we were able to move forward with the project.

Felipe Bastián Cabello, what were some of the most technically challenging animation sequences in the film?

How did you and your team overcome those challenges?One of the most difficult sequences was the one showing Lillet’s memories. We had to carefully coordinate the backgrounds with the animation for each memory. From the storyboard stage, it was tough to make it all work smoothly. That sequence definitely took the most time. We also ran into recurring issues with the character designs. Karla did an amazing job with them, but once we began animating, we realized the characters’ limbs were a real challenge. That’s why I focused on creating a model guide for animation, to help us during the layout process.

Ximena Alejandra Carrasco, as the producer of Back to You, what were some of the biggest challenges in bringing this project to life?

The greatest challenge was bringing the story itself to life. Expressing the loss of memories and the connection between characters without dialogue pushed us to experiment with symbolism and metaphor. Eventually, we found the idea of using gems to express memories, but we still had to refine parts of the story even during production.

Martina Díaz, can you talk about the process of designing Liten and Lillet? What were the key elements you wanted to highlight in their character designs?

We wanted them to look very different from each other, while still clearly being family. For Lillet, we made her large with a relatively small face to emphasize her limited expression. For Liten, we made him very small so that the audience would feel his helplessness. He wants to take care of his mother like an adult, but he’s literally too small to do so.

Karla Consuelo Moreno, can you walk us through the color palette decisions and how they reflect the emotions in the story?

The colorscript played a key role in our process. We used warm colors at the beginning to evoke calmness, while still incorporating intense orange tones to represent the heat and pressure on the characters. During the climax, we switched to saturated reds to intensify the emotion. The film ends with soft pink tones, evoking a peaceful sunset that embraces the characters. Each gem also has its own color that reflects the nature of the memory it holds, like green for vegetation or baby blue for Lillet’s pregnancy.

Martina Díaz, you are part of such a talented team. Can you share more about the collaboration process?

We’ve been friends since starting university, but we’d never had the chance to work together on something this big. So we were really excited. Some people say working with friends can cause conflicts, but for us, it was the opposite. We balanced each other so well, and it was easy to make decisions together. One person’s weakness was another’s strength. I feel very lucky to be part of this group, and I hope we continue to create from the heart.

Ximena Alejandra Carrasco, independent animation projects often require a lot of perseverance. What kept you motivated throughout the production process?

We’re a very close-knit group of friends, and for a long time, we had wanted to work on a project together. Even during moments of doubt or discouragement, we stuck together and supported one another. Back to You was a story we all felt connected to and wanted to tell.

Felipe Bastián Cabello, were there any specific animation techniques or inspirations that influenced your approach to bringing this story to life?

We drew inspiration from several short films, including Oasis (2019), Way of Giants (2016), and Duet (2014). Another big influence was the 2016 movie Kubo and the Two Strings, particularly the emotional bond between Kubo and his mother, where he also acts as a caretaker.

Karla Consuelo Moreno, how did you ensure consistency in the visual style throughout the film while also allowing for emotional shifts in the story?

In animation, it’s essential to create guides that help maintain visual consistency. We relied on model sheets, colorscripts, animation guides, and painting guides. These tools helped us preserve the overall style while adapting the visuals to reflect the emotional beats of the story.

Martina Díaz, were there any personal experiences or stories that directly influenced the creation of Back to You?

In addition to my grandmother’s Alzheimer’s, I deeply related to Liten because I consider myself a caretaker too. My mother suffers from a chronic illness, and for most of my life I’ve had to care for her and support her through health crises. I poured all of those emotions—wishing the illness would go away, the frustration and love, into this little 2D clay being. Back to You is really about what it means to be a caretaker, from every angle.

Ximena Alejandra Carrasco, working on an independent film comes with unique challenges. How did you manage deadlines and the overall workflow of production?

To make the most of our time, we defined clear priorities from the beginning.

Pre-production lasted five months, and production and post-production took another five. Even though there were only four of us, we distributed tasks equally, which allowed us to stay on track without overwhelming anyone. That helped keep the workflow steady and efficient.

Everyone, what do you think of AI in the industry?

We believe that technology will always evolve, but it is really discouraging that these tools are being used indiscriminately. It all comes down to the morals of those who use it. However, the main problem with AI is that it’s so new that it lacks legislation and regulations to keep its use in check.We believe it's a useful tool, but it's against our beliefs as artists to get a job “done” with it. So, no, we don’t support AI art, especially not in the industry.

Everyone, what’s next for each of you? Any upcoming projects?

We are currently in our last semester of university, so we have a lot of plans. We loved working together, and first of all, we hope to create our own studio as soon as we can. That way, we can focus on personal projects in which we can support each other, as well as group projects and animation services for people who like our work. The positive response that Back to You has received has really motivated our desire to form an animation and creative studio together.

Everyone, where can audiences watch Back to You?

Back to You is not available to watch this year, and maybe not next year either. We’re sorry about that, but we’re still on our festival run, and some festivals require the films to remain private and exclusive. Once we’re officially done with the distribution, we will post it on YouTube. For now, we invite the audience to follow us on Instagram: @devueltaati_shortfilm for more updates! We are very active on Instagram and will announce the YouTube premiere on that page, so stay tuned.

Thank you so much for being part of this season. Your participation and submissions have not only been a valuable addition to the festival but have also contributed to a larger effort in supporting the recovery efforts from the California fires. We deeply appreciate your dedication, creativity, and the unique perspective you bring to storytelling, especially with your submissions that were donated to the fire recovery efforts. We can’t wait to share your insights with our audience and celebrate your achievements.

Everyone, if you want to add a fun fact or something that we missed, feel free to share!

Fun fact: We did this with no budget at all. It was a project for our third year in university, with a collaboration with an institute of music for the film's score, and also a collaboration with a fourth-year theatre student from our university who did the voices for both characters. Vicente Con Rojas and Amatista Reyes, without them, it wouldn’t have been the same.Support indie animation!Support Chilean animation!! Support animation!!!

die animation!Support Chilean animation!!Support animation!!!

No budget? That's impressive!

We wish you the best for the future and we agree with the above!

Visit their project's INSTAGRAM