‘Split’ by Ellen Bruno

This 2013 animated documentary by Ellen Bruno is a personal animated documentary which focuses on the perspectives of children aged 6-12 who are experiencing the divorce of their parents. Made in collaboration with children, ‘Split’ puts them at the forefront of the issue. Approximately one million children experience divorce in the family each year, but often the children’s experiences and viewpoints fly under the radar. Bruno’s film is for children and by children.

The aim of the film is to not only give voice to children of divorce, but also to inform parents and encourage them to make better choices with their children in mind, as they navigate divorce.

Ellen Bruno is an award-winning filmmaker from San Francisco who focuses on issues surrounding human rights, often working with refugee-related issues. ‘Split’, like many of her other films, gives a voice to those who more often than not go unheard.

Watch the trailer below:

‘Life, Animated’ by Roger Ross Williams

Roger Ross Williams‘ feature film ‘Life, Animated’ is based on the book ‘Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism‘ by Ron Suskind, which tells the story of his son, Owen, and his experience with autism. At the age of three, Owen became non-verbal but Suskind and his wife soon came to understand that Owen would use Disney animated movies as a way to connect and communicate with the world.

The film is comprised of the Suskind family’s home video clips, present-day interviews, and animation. Disney animation is a huge part of Owen Suskind’s life, and the animation in ‘Life, Animated’ has echoes of movies we know such as ‘The Jungle Book’ or ‘The Little Mermaid’. The fluid movements and expressive characters also have an organic, hand-drawn element to them which brings the animation closer to reality. The colourless palette also lends further emphasis to the real-life interviews and recordings which are included in the film, putting Owen and the story he has to tell at front and centre. Allowing Owen to share his own story was William’s main concern, “All too often in films about people with disabilities, the narrative gets taken away from them.”

The trailer gives us a glimpse into this personal and heartfelt film, and the insight it give us into the lives of those like Owen who struggle to understand and connect with the world around them in a conventional way.

Watch the trailer below:

Click here to purchase the full film on Amazon.

Celebrating Black History Month: ‘Black Enuf*’ by Carrie Hawks

Carrie Hawks‘ (they/them) is a gender non-conforming artist, designer, animator and filmmaker based in New York, US. They work with a wide span of media and methods of making such as performance, doll-making, drawing, animation, motion graphic design and multimedia design.

Hawks’ film titled ‘Black Enuf*’ explores expanding Black identity by interweaving personal stories from their great grandmother’s autobiography, interviews with friends and family, and hand-drawn visualisations of their own memories. The 22 minute film offers a mix of media and is experimental in style; it uses hand-drawn elements alongside scanned textures and digital artwork.

Hawks summaries the film as follows : ‘A queer oddball seeks approval from Black peers despite a serious lack of Hip-Hop credentials’ (via).

Watch the trailer:

Rent (£3.04) or buy (£5.17) the film on vimeo.

Visit Carrie’s studio virtually:

‘Children of the Holocaust’ by Fettle Animation

We are pleased to be sharing the latest news from Fettle Animation about their animated documentary series ‘Children of the Holocaust’ created for broadcast with BBC Learning and the Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association.

The series is based on interviews with World War 2 Holocaust Survivors, and will form a resource on the BBC Learning Zone for 13 and 14 year school children learning about the Holocaust as part of their studies in History, Citizenship and Religious Education.

The series has already been broadcast and has had further broadcast dates planned – the latest will be on the 15th October at 4am on BBC2. It is being screened as part of the BBC’s teachers TV service in the morning and will be on BBC I Player all week.

The trailer does a great job of showing how animation can be used to discuss a serious and possibly scary subject for a young audience. We will feature a more in depth review of the series in the future on this blog.

For now though you can see the trailer for the series here:

https://vimeo.com/89223502

‘Another day of life’ by Raul de la Fuente & Damian Nenow

A hybrid film featuring live action alongside animated documentary, this is the story of Ryszard Kapuscinski, a journalist covering independence movements throughout Africa in the 1970’s.

The animation and style is sublime, building on the style associated with ‘Waltz with Bashir’.

We are not sure when this film will be completed – but we anticipate its release!

You can read the review here:

http://twitchfilm.com/2013/06/watch-the-astounding-trailer-for-hybrid-animation-documentary-another-day-of-life.html

You can visit the website here:

http://anotherdayoflifefilm.com/en/index.html

‘Conversing with Aotearoa’ by Corrie Francis Parks

Corrie Francis Parks, a Montana based animator and photographer, took part in the New Zealand based Fulbright academic exchange award. Her fellowship culminated in the creation of the 14-minute animated documentary ‘Conversing with Aotearoa’. (Aotearoa is the most widely know and accepted Māori name for New Zealand.)

Francis Parks writes about the film: ‘In an age of technological integration and urban life, people turn to the natural world for a wilderness experience. What draws us to the remote corners of land and sea when we realize something in our lives is missing? Conversing with Aotearoa/New Zealand uses unique visual imagery to take the viewer into the physical and mental wilderness encompassed in the diverse landscapes of New Zealand. In this animated documentary, New Zealanders attempt to fathom their deep, personal connection with their land. Among the interviewees are hunters, fishermen, farmers, trampers, mountaineers, adventurer-racers, conservationists, ecologists, artists, urban and rural dwellers, Pakeha, Māori and tourists, young, old and in between. The thread that ties them all together is a passion and love for the wild places in New Zealand.’

‘Conversing with Aotearoa’ is mostly compiled from photographic animation techniques interjected with partially fluid hand drawn scenes. These are characterised by a pastel colour palette and a feathered quality of line.

The film is speckled with bracing moments and cinematic experimentation. The time-lapse footage of starfish in a rock pool demonstrated the filmmaker’s fascination with the varied and wondrous environment. The title scene where the mountain range appears to breath is similarly striking.

There are however some less successful moments. A Māori spirit/mask spins around a struggling mountaineer, presumably to symbolise his relative powerlessness when confronted with the overwhelming power of nature. The crude rotational movement of the Māori design, when combined with a quaint woodwind instrumental score, felt visually disappointing and distracted from the absorbing account of mountainous peril.

Although only a trailer is available on Vimeo, the full 14-minute version is accessible through SnagFilms, an online documentary streaming service supported by advertising. It is free to sign-up but expect to receive a weekly email unless you unsubscribe.

‘The Chaperone 3D’ by Fraser Munden

The Chaperone 3D Trailer from Thoroughbread Pictures on Vimeo.

Something new here – I’m fairly certain this is the first animated documentary made in stereoscopic 3D that we’ve featured! Is this a new movement in animadoc film-making? It’s definitely one that I didn’t see coming.

Just the trailer available to view on Vimeo at present. The film has recently been premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. We look forward to reading reviews. It sounds intriguing…

“When told that bikers once invaded a middle school dance in a Montreal church basement, Neil Rathbone couldn’t believe it.

I said ‘No way that’s true. That’s the most outrageous thing I’ve ever heard,’ he recalled.

The story is told by Ralph Whims and Stefan Czernatowicz, who were the teacher/chaperone and DJ at the dance.

Rathbone said the film includes live action Kung Fu segments, puppets and exploding piñatas.

“It has a strong comedic flavour,” he said.

More from the interview with Rathbone here:
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4070910-burlington-grad-s-animated-short-premieres-at-tiff/

‘Reality 2.0’ trailer by Victor Orozco Ramirez

As featured in our Dok Leipzig review, here is the trailer for Victor’s film.

It was autumn when I arrived in Germany. I thought that in this exotic country I could distance myself a little bit from Mexico, but I was wrong. Drug traffickers managed to take me back in a ruthless way.
A short animated documentary about the drug-related violence in Mexico.

http://orozcovictor.com/film/reality-2-0/

‘Nothing to Envy’ trailer from Mosiac Films

Check out the trailer and campaign film for this work-in-progress from Mosaic Films, the London production company behind the two ‘Animated Minds’ series. And what a great reason to use animation – revealing the secrets of a country where the cameras just couldn’t go.

http://nothingtoenvy.net

There’s just a week left to go to donate to the film’s Indiegogo campaign.

‘Shadow Stories’ by Samantha Moore

Here are animateddocumentary.com we are pleased to share the latest work by Samantha Moore. Here are two trailers from her up and coming film Shadow Stories, which features objects from Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery’s pre-historic gallery. Samantha is working with four different animators, two of whom have provided the beautiful, painterly animated responses for the trailers. We are really excited to see the finished film!

https://vimeo.com/47359522

https://vimeo.com/46752337

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