The Hermit Crab 寄居蟹 – Trailer
Brown | RISD Thesis film
A young woman retraces her childhood through memory fragments, exploring what it means to seek safety in the aftermath of abandonment. Like a hermit crab, a creature that outgrows its home, she learns when it’s time to let go.
direction, animation, narration, original music and sound editing by Beaux Salix
2026, 13:05
Director's Statement
Created and filmed almost entirely within the confines of my apartment, The Hermit Crab combines live action, family archival footage, and hand-drawn animation to reflect the fragmented and unstable nature of memory. Through the metaphor of the hermit crab, the film explores coping mechanisms shaped by abandonment and emotional instability, and what happens when the structures once used for protection can no longer contain us—how, eventually, every hermit crab outgrows its shell.
Screenings:
2026 Vrboska Film Festival, Vrboska, Crostia –– Honourable Mention
2026 Flicker's Rhode Island International Film Festival, Rhode Island, USA –– Official Selection
2026 Women X Film Festival, Darlington, UK –– Nominated for Best Animated Film
2026 T-Short Animation Film Festival, Baden-Württemberg, Germany –– Official Selection
2026 Rising of Lusitania - AnimaDoc Film Festival, Gdańsk, Poland –– Official Selection
2026 BIDEODROMO International Experimental and Video Festival, Bilbao, Biscay –– Finalist
2026 TOFUZI Animated Film Festival, Bilbao, Georgia –– Official Selection
2026 Canlandiranlar International Animation Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey –– Official Selection
2026 London Breeze Film Festival, London, UK –– Official Selection
2026 Bournemouth International Film Festival, Bournemouth, UK –– Official Selection