à la fin… by Nicolas Lichtle.

"Here is a film ... , it's neither fiction nor animation, the graphic style is rather singular. It's a moment of introspection, very intimate, staged through a succession of small moments imbued with poetry, absurdity and sometimes surrealism…"

Elephant in Castle is a 2D digital animation, using a hand-drawn frame-by-frame process to create subtle abstract narratives. The work is created within the context of two strange years, 2019 and 2020. The work expresses a constant change within the artist’s inner world, to express the emotional, aesthetic, and tactile responses that she has to Hong Kong, the city where she grew up. Stepping into a new decade, the world is coming to an unprecedented and critical moment in history. The work could be a reflection on contemporary political and social shifts conveyed by her sentimental responses to the personal stories and the events/incidents that took place in the city.

Florence was inspired by the research topic and artworks relating to Topophilia. Topophilia, terms from Greek topos “place” and -philia, “love of”, is a “strong sense of place, which often becomes mixed with the sense of cultural identity among certain people and a love of certain aspects of such a place.” People in a city might come from different places originally, but they all form their own paths of connectivity and responses to the places we inhabit, and even to the particular site that they pass through occasionally.

A Film by Florence Yuk-ki Lee
Music Composed by: Just Bee
Sound designed by: Florence Xingyu Tan
Additional animation: Tina Bahraei
Additional compositing: Di Wu
Advisor: Max Hattler
Studio of production: No Reason Studio
Special Thanks: Harald Kraemer, Leung Chi Wo, Tobias Klein, Yu Ka Ho Albert

Pique-nique au bord du chemin by Nina-Lou Giachetti

"Pique-nique au bord du chemin" (Roadside Picnic)
Direction: Benjamin Geffroy, Nina-Lou Giachetti
Music: Uèle Lamore

(Un)Related To God by Thomas Pons

"A track by Apollo Noir, entitled « Unrelated to God », chanting God’s name…
Wait… Yes, it seems we are facing a paradox. Men strive to name God, to define Him, as much as they are willing to detach themselves from Him.
This traditional 2D animation video is about our relationship to God, the little figures embodying the metaphor of Men as builders of their own belief. The dust from stones disintegrate in elementary particles giving birth to new figures and matter. Men, stones and particles transform in mysterious cycles, Particles turning gigantic, Stones becoming alive, Men growing in colossal sculptures.  ..."

Written & performed by Apollo Noir.
Directed by Thomas Pons.

Pitch video: https://vimeo.com/407888190