Amazing author and storyteller Neil Gaiman (who I love more than words can say) has written and directed a short film titled Statuesque which stars actor Bill Nighy and musician (and Gaiman girlfriend) Amanda Palmer. I understand the film debuted on UK television last week but has since made its way to the Internets so that the rest of us can check it out. Here are a few screencaps along with some deets about the film itself:

If you made a short list of the most important comic book writers of the last two decades, one of the names right near the top of that list would have to be Neil Gaiman, whose 75-issue run on “The Sandman” (1989-1996) stands as a towering achievement in graceful storytelling and genre ambition. He’s gone on to plenty of other great successes (“Coraline” and “The Graveyard Book” may actually live up to the overused and always suspicious term “instant classic”), and today we bring you a project that pulled him away from his familiar perch behind the writing desk. The whimsical short film “Statuesque” was written and directed by Gaiman and stars Bill Nighy and Amanda Palmer.

The film is only a little over 8 minutes long and features no dialogue at all but it very clearly and lovingly tells a Gaiman story (that may or may not have one of those clever twists he so famously weaves into his work) that fans both new and old will, I think, love immensely. After the jump, watch Statuesque by Neil Gaiman in full …

I hope this short film means that Gaiman will create more films, both short and/or longform. He is such a masterful storyteller, I can never wait very successfully when he is between projects (which is why I am fond of re-reading his work from time to time while I wait for a new novel). Here’s hoping 2010 will bring us more creative work from Gaiman both in written and movie form. Statuesque is proof that he’s got the chops to gives us more of both!

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