BAFTA 2025 shorts nominee interviews
Robin shaw on mog’s christmas
In this interview series, we speak to some of the brilliant BAFTA short film nominees across the live action (which includes documentary) and animation categories. We should point out that of the five live action nominees, there is only one woman filmmaker, and the same is the case for the three animation nominees. Overall, that’s just two women filmmakers across a selection of eight films selected for the shortlists. And this is before we even discuss race, class, disability and queerness.
Many people are involved in the making of a film, and so we know that there are racialised and marginalised people in roles that aren’t necessarily listed in an award nomination. However, for there to only be two women directors named across eight nominations in the shorts category isn’t good enough. We hope to see this change in the future.
Robin Shaw
Mog’s Christmas
Director: Robin Shaw
Producers: Lupus Films
Mog is the much-loved character created by Judith Kerr. Along with The Tiger Who Came to Tea and The Snowman, Robin Shaw’s beautiful, emotive BAFTA nominated short is about a slightly dim cat who feels left out at Christmas only to discover how loved she really is by her family.
With characters voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch, Zawe Ashton and Claire Foy, and narrated by Adjoa Andoh, this is a sweet story that will entertain kids and, at the very least, distract adults from the realities of the world for half an hour.
There are dance sequences, lots of family hustle and bustle, and at the centre of it all, a gorgeous, endearing cat through whose eyes we see the whole film. Here, director Robin Shaw speaks to Molly Lipson about adapting a well-known story for TV, his emotional response to his collaborators’ work, and the beauty of imperfection.
M: This film is based on one of Judith Kerr’s many beloved characters, Mog. Did you feel any sense of anxiety about taking on that kind of responsibility?
R: I wouldn’t say anxiety as I think that’s quite a negative word. More of an awareness, and wanting to respect the fact that this story isn’t yours but one that started in a book. A book is intimate in its own way, it’s something that a parent or another adult reads to a child, or even that a child will sit on their own and read. Luckily at Lupus Films we’re quite well-versed now in managing to balance the respect for that with the knowledge that it has to be a film as well. It has to work in its own right, so that you can watch it without ever knowing the character of Mog, or perhaps to return to the books after watching it and seeing how the two are both similar and very different.
M: The film is soft and gentle, but incredibly detailed. How did you manage to pull it all together?
R: I've been very fortunate with the films I've done in that we've had a big, very talented crew, some of them young, some of them people I've worked with for years, and they've all got specialist, brilliant skills. I don't know if you've seen Channel 4’s The Great Pottery Throw Down, but there’s a judge who cries when he sees a lovely pot, and I kept doing that with Mog’s Christmas and the quality of the work that kept coming back. You can see all the effort and care that has been put into it by the animator or the person who was doing all the coloring - it’s wonderful.
Molly: It sounds like a lot of people were involved. Were you working together all the time?
Robin: No, actually with this film lots of people were working from home across the country. Because there were so many people involved, it would have been easy for the crew not to feel part of the whole project, so every now and then we would do these show-and-tells on Zoom. We’d get a screen full of these little postage stamp-sized people and everyone got to share the brilliant work they’d been doing.
M: Having previously worked on the feature film for The Tiger Who Came to Tea, how did making Mog’s Christmas compare?
R: I think making short form gives you the opportunity to do something that’s narratively and visually interesting. I actually love making a 25 minute short, it allows you to tell a tight, pacey story that's still long enough for you to really engage with the characters and the story. It was of utmost importance to me that I made something that could be enjoyed by people of all ages, mainly for the togetherness of watching it. I wanted the audience to look at each other and say, “that was nice.” I think this length of film is perfect for that.
M: Research has shown that some types of TV can negatively impact children’s concentration and cognitive behaviours. How do you think your work differs from some of the more recent over-stimulating kids’ programmes?
R: When I was growing up – and my growing up is in all my work – we were spoiled for excellent kids’ programmes, especially excellent animation that was really daring and original, and told simple stories made beautifully. I still think it’s incredibly important for children's imaginations to take a bit of time to enjoy the story, and it doesn't matter if you can see how it's made, if you can see all the imperfections, because that will make your brain work more and spark your imagination.
