Salamander-like creatures copulate under the moonlight. A feast ensues, propelling a hungry group of two-legged forest dwellers to new heights.
Germany
2022
No Dialogue
Featured in:
MODES 3
Whimsical, questioning and utterly absorbing, a collection of animated work delving into worlds of wonder, subversion, and Marxist mystery. These works are fun and some re-construct ideas of animation, paying homage to experimentalists who came before.
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How We Stand
How We Stand follows three Indigenous sisters separated after their family relocates to Los Angeles under Native American Relocation Program in the 1950s. Twenty years later, they navigate identity, trauma, and very different lives.
Minotaur
Russia, 2022. While contending with the fallout of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a corporate executive tries to insulate his home life from the consequences of the war. But when he discovers that his wife has been unfaithful, things start to implode.
Smudge the Blades
This rousing hockey drama centres on the Treaty 6 Blades, a team of Indigenous youth on a quest for redemption. Blessed with a terrific cast, this is a crowd-pleaser in which victory is about much more than winning the game.
The Ballad From Wednesday to Thursday
As evening approaches, residents of Cologne gather in bars, cafes, and clubs, talking about everything from immigration, war in the Middle East, feminism, and racial profiling. As the alcohol flows, conversations get louder and opinions looser.
Image: © Montell Taraschewski_Monte Kalk Film
Fatherland
Nobel laureate Thomas Mann returns to postwar Germany alongside his fiercely loyal daughter Erika. Winner of Best Director at Cannes, Paweł Pawlikowski's drama is a piercing study of complicity, family fractures, and the impossibility of true homecoming.
Concrete Land
Filmed over eight years, Concrete Land follows the Najar family, one of Jordan’s last Afro-Palestinian-Bedouin families, as luxury villas close in on their grazing space outside Amman. Asmahan Bkerat preserves their way of life in the face of erasure.
Credits
Producer
Jonatan Schwenk
Screenwriter
Merlin Flügel, Jonatan Schwenk
Cinematography
Ferdinand Kowalke, Jonatan Schwenk
ANIM
Jonatan Schwenk, Marta Magnuska
Original Music
David Kamp
Director
Jonatan Schwenk
Jonatan Schwenk is an independent filmmaker, animator, sound designer, and storyboard artist currently based in Berlin. A graduate from University of Art and Design in Offenbach, he focuses on combining various animation techniques into hybrid forms.
His animated short Sog (2017) received nearly 40 awards and mentions (including the Annecy Cristal for Best Graduation Film) and screened at film festivals including SXSW, Palm Springs International ShortFest, Annecy International Animated Film Festival, Ottawa International Animation Festival, World Festival of Animated Film in Zagreb, and Flickerfest International Short Film Festival.