The Sleeping Beauty

Centuries ago in the past, the witch, who doesn't like Beauty, puts her to sleep, then flies throughout the castle spreading sleep powder, placing all into slumber. Eventually we flash forward to present time: A young hepcat in a convertible tries awakening Sleeping Beauty, and everyone in the castle, with some Big Band music. Will it work? A Puppetoon animated short film.

Pebble

Pebble, a unique caterpillar made of pebbles, is determined to reach a green leaf.

Kewaaj

The word kewaaj (কেওয়াজ) is colloquially used to explain chaos, noisiness or annoyance. "Kewaaj" is an audiovisual attempt to give you a glimpse into how the people of Dhaka function in one of the most unliveable cities, according to the Global Liveability Index.

Not Even Nothing Can Be Free of Ghosts

Rainer Kohlberger’s abstract film was created entirely without a camera. Through digital algorithms, he precisely arranged a rhythm of light and shadow that pulsates off the screen into our physical space with blinding intensity. The presence of light is almost felt as we are sucked into the image to become its ghostly accomplice. As we leave the theatre, the optical vibrations continue to haunt us.

Corner

The corner of a street is matched and mixed with the chant of a bird recorded on that same street. A symbiotic relationship is triggered: the rapid and successively repetitive montage cuts between the image of the street and the corners of the video frame itself produce new textures and shapes in our brain, whilst the sound follows the same rhythmic movements by emphasizing different “corners” (frequencies) from the bird’s singing. The energetic potency stemming from the junction of these elements creates a new image that is almost tactitle, maleable and rippling. The result is a somewhat humorous operation of the portuguese word "corner" throughout the different stages of making the piece, finally unveiling a piercing physical and kinetic experience for all the corners of our eyes and ears.

Sea Roar

In a certain fishing village, a memorial service is held to burn abandoned boats, and old fishing boats that have finished their duty have a dream on the verge of death. Deep-sea fish galloping through the alleys, fishermen pulling long ropes, ghosts of screaming girls...

Keep on Turning

In Wiertz and Verbeek's kinetic, kaleidoscopic opus Keep on Turning (1974, 3 min, 16mm, sound) cubes convey, rotate and shift in tandem.

Dantes Traum von der Hölle

An attempt to bring texts from Dante's "Divine Comedy" to life. Nine episodes from the Inferno with a concluding episode from the Purgatorio.

The Lord of the Rings

The Fellowship of the Ring embark on a journey to destroy the One Ring and end Sauron's reign over Middle-earth.

Jeremy's Tree

Based on a children's picture book of the same name. A Christmas tale about a bird who was raised by tree after it was abandoned. The tree was then cut down for people in the city to use for Christmas celebrations. The bird desperately is trying to find its adoptive tree mother with the help of Jeremy, a penniless orphan, who heard her story so they go and search every tree being used in town. The search in the cold takes a toll on Jeremy until Santa Claus appears, but is it really him?

Bridging the Gap

Welcome to the Generation Gap: an area with an often stormy climate and some interesting inhabitants - parents, for instance... and teenagers...

Where Friendship Ceases

An Aesop’s Film Fables cartoon.

Orbit

The sun’s energy circulates throughout the earth, feeding the cycle of life. Everything is connected in a natural loop, which repeats, like the circular discs of magical optical toys. This perfectly balanced rhythm is disrupted by human excess, throwing the cycle out of orbit and temporarily stopping the circulation of energy in nature.

Hold On

Years after immigrating to the United States, Matt (Gabriel Berm) grapples with the notion of family. A call from his sister, Callie (Callie Morken), becomes the catalyst for a realization: he learns that family transcends borders and manifests in varied forms. The deepest connections endure physical separation, teaching Matt that what truly matters is the unbreakable bond they share, echoing louder than any distance.

Strawberry Shortcake: Adventures on Ice Cream Island

Strawberry Shortcake: Adventures on Ice Cream Island (2004)

Harlem Nocturne

A French animated short film delves into a family living in Harlem's black ghetto, where a girl faces the choice between freedom and death. Features music by Johnny Otis.

Perpetual Motion

Part of Max Fleischer's "Out of the Inkwell" series.

Terra Incognita

Terra Incognita is a multi-plane cut out animation made from photocopies of 19th century illustrations made during the race to the poles and drawings by Eric Leiser. For the puppet performance it was flat-rod puppets on a proscenium stage with a screen behind them, onto which the animation Terra Incognita is projected. Many of the sea monster puppets and ships performed in sync with the animated ones, along with splashes of water and powdered chalk to mimic snowfall. These techniques came from my time studying puppet theater in Prague, in 2002, and learning from Svankmajer and Svankmajerova. It was a lot of fun to both animate and to perform live with Jeffrey's wonder score. At the same time the film comments on the colonial race to claim the Arctic by various countries—a race that, in a sense, is still going on today, but this time again for oil—and the murders of the Inuit people who had inhabited the land for millennia.

Strawberry Shortcake: Big Country Fun

Yee-ha! Strawberry and her friends are in for some of the berry best fun in the west! Strawberry and Angel Cake take jobs at Berry Prairie Dude Ranch and turn out to be excellent little cowgirls! But when the two friends must compete to become "Best Ranch Hand," they lose sight of their responsibilities - and their horseback riding trail! Will they realize that being careful and listening to direction is more important than winning? More challenges gallop in when Purple Pie Man tries to put Carmel Corn's farm out of business so he can replace it with an amusement park - PieManLand! Hoping to help out, Strawberry and her pals put on a good old-fashioned country fair to earn enough money to keep their berry favorite farm in business.

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