Perfect Peri

Perfect Peri (Прекрасная Пери, 1982) is a hand-drawn short by Nina Shorina, free to watch online on iFILM. In ten minutes it spins an Eastern fairy tale about a statue of impossible beauty that suddenly stirs to life.

Everyone who lays eyes on her longs to win her heart. But she is a peri — a Persian spirit of unearthly grace, meant to belong to no one. Shorina folds the legend into a tiny parable about chasing the unattainable and the plain truth that beauty cannot be owned. A graceful little piece for fans of early-1980s Soviet auteur animation.