Father and Daughter (Michael Dudok de Wit)

(From NYMag.com)

"With the holiday season almost upon us, the Picture Palace is in a familial, touchy-feely mood. Also, we thought it’d be kind of cool to turn you into a shivering puddle of tears. And so we present to you Michael Dudok de Wit’s Father and Daughter. It won the 2000 Best Animated Short Oscar, along with a whole crapload of other awards. There’s a reason for all those accolades: This wordless, minimalist, beautifully animated eight-minute fable, about a girl who watches her father leave and continues to wait for him, is one of the most powerful things we’ve ever seen. It’s also been a cult item among animation buffs for a long time now. Luckily, it’s being distributed on DVD (PAL only) by the Netherlands Institute for Animated Film, where you can find all sorts of similarly awesome films and filmmakers. In the meantime, you might need a Kleenex."