About

These lyrical animations bring together ideas of love, mortality, time, and place, told through deftly crafted adaptations of well-known classics to contemporary musings.

Melbhattan 2012 dir. Olso Davis (4:40 mins)

“Melbhattan is part homage, part pastiche of the opening sequence of Woody Allen’s seminal 1979 film Manhattan. It features more than sixty black and white tableaux of Melbourne each composed to mimic images in Allen’s film.” Oslo Davis

Sohrab and Rustum 2018 dir. Lee Whitmore (13:36mins)

“Sohrab and Rustum is the story of a young charismatic English teacher who reads a poem to her students, a group of teenage girls whose main concerns are pop music and nail polish. The poem takes the girls on a journey to ancient Persia and a legendary fight between two warriors Sohrab and Rustum. The poem ends tragically and the girls are confronted with the reality of death. In the last stanza watercolour images of the night sky over the mighty Oxus River are a reminder of the beautiful eternal nature of life. The girls return to their class puzzled but wiser.” Lee Whitmore

Sumo Lake 2011 dir. Greg Holfeld (3 mins)

“Sumo Lake is a rapid, animated re-telling of the story of the ballet Swan Lake using sumo wrestlers and a giant lizard in a leotard. And really, do you need to know anything else?” Press Release

Wither 2019 dir. Nicolette Axiak (4 mins)

“After suffering a loss, the inundating sympathy flowers echo a young woman's emotional passage.” Nicolette Axiak

Imagining Time 2015 dir. Jelena Sinik (1:56 mins)

“Adapted from the poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot, this experimental animation is designed in a dual screen format. The film combines themes of the disruption of the everyday; magical realism and surrealism with the themes of isolation, introversion and passivity from the poem.” Jelena Sinik

Seine’s Breath 2017 dir. Bethanie Montano (3:18mins)
“After a young woman drowns in the Seine her identity lives on through a death mask created from her face. As people find curiosity, joy, inspiration and lessons through her mask, her soul finds peace.” Bethanie Montano

Urashima Taro 2004 dir. Donna Kendrigan (7:12 mins)

“Urashima Taro is inspired by a well-known Japanese folk tale. A tale about love & mortality.” Donna Kendrigan

Phantasm 2018 dir. Shirin Shakhesi (30 sec)

“An emotional window into the life of a woman caught between two worlds.” St Kilda Film Festival

Femme Enfant 2015 dir. Bonnie Forsyth (4 mins)

“Frida, a barren artist, experiences the joys and fears of pregnancy through her surrealistic paintings. Inspired by the story of Frida Kahlo and the female surrealists of the early 20th Century.” University of Technology, Sydney

The Last Artist 2014 dir. Allysha Webber (8:14 mins)

“The last man on Earth, William; an artist, must come to terms with his existence and artistic practice away from the eyes of society. William must forge his own truly independent artistic identity away from an audience and become at peace with his solitary existence.” Allysha Webber

These lyrical animations bring together ideas of love, mortality, time, and place, told through deftly crafted adaptations of well-known classics to contemporary musings. Melbhattan 2012 dir. Olso Davis (4:40 mins) “Melbhattan is part homage, part pastiche of the opening sequence of Woody Allen’s seminal 1979 film Manhattan. It features more than sixty black and white tableaux of Melbourne each composed to mimic images in Allen’s film.” Oslo Davis Sohrab and Rustum 2018 dir. Lee Whitmore (13:36mins) “Sohrab and Rustum is the story of a young charismatic English teacher who reads a poem to her students, a group of teenage girls whose main concerns are pop music and nail polish. The poem takes the girls on a journey to ancient Persia and a legendary fight between two warriors Sohrab and Rustum. The poem ends tragically and the girls are confronted with the reality of death. In the last stanza watercolour images of the night sky over the mighty Oxus River are a reminder of the beautiful eternal nature of life. The girls return to their class puzzled but wiser.” Lee Whitmore Sumo Lake 2011 dir. Greg Holfeld (3 mins) “Sumo Lake is a rapid, animated re-telling of the story of the ballet Swan Lake using sumo wrestlers and a giant lizard in a leotard. And really, do you need to know anything else?” Press Release Wither 2019 dir. Nicolette Axiak (4 mins) “After suffering a loss, the inundating sympathy flowers echo a young woman's emotional passage.” Nicolette Axiak Imagining Time 2015 dir. Jelena Sinik (1:56 mins) “Adapted from the poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot, this experimental animation is designed in a dual screen format. The film combines themes of the disruption of the everyday; magical realism and surrealism with the themes of isolation, introversion and passivity from the poem.” Jelena Sinik Seine’s Breath 2017 dir. Bethanie Montano (3:18mins) “After a young woman drowns in the Seine her identity lives on through a death mask created from her face. As people find curiosity, joy, inspiration and lessons through her mask, her soul finds peace.” Bethanie Montano Urashima Taro 2004 dir. Donna Kendrigan (7:12 mins) “Urashima Taro is inspired by a well-known Japanese folk tale. A tale about love & mortality.” Donna Kendrigan Phantasm 2018 dir. Shirin Shakhesi (30 sec) “An emotional window into the life of a woman caught between two worlds.” St Kilda Film Festival Femme Enfant 2015 dir. Bonnie Forsyth (4 mins) “Frida, a barren artist, experiences the joys and fears of pregnancy through her surrealistic paintings. Inspired by the story of Frida Kahlo and the female surrealists of the early 20th Century.” University of Technology, Sydney The Last Artist 2014 dir. Allysha Webber (8:14 mins) “The last man on Earth, William; an artist, must come to terms with his existence and artistic practice away from the eyes of society. William must forge his own truly independent artistic identity away from an audience and become at peace with his solitary existence.” Allysha Webber