AWAY ★★★★ (Cert U, 75mins)

MORE than three years in the making, Away is a distinctive calling card for Latvian filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis. The one-man band directed, wrote, edited and composed the score for his debut feature – a dialogue-free computer animation about a boy marooned on a fantastical island after surviving a plane crash.

His surreal adventure begins with the boy dangling from a tree while a mysterious, shape-shifting giant glares at him through saucer like eyes.

After escaping, he finds a map and a motorbike and teams up with a yellow bird to escape to a port on the other side of the island.

The style is simplistic but effective, the score is wonderful and Zilbalodis certainly conjures up some hauntingly beautiful images.