Category: Films

  • ‘Feeling My Way’ by Jonathan Hodgson

    Annabelle Honess Roe recently released the cover image of her new book, ‘Animated Documentary’ (published by Palgrave), on her ‘Animating Documentary’ blog. The image features a still from the film ‘Feeling My Way’ by Jonathan Hodgson. Honness Roe indicates the personal significance of this film when she writes that it ‘…first got me thinking about…

  • “Animated documentary …. there’s no such thing!” by Scotti Rothschild

    When writing about a subject such as animated documentary it is a rare treat to come across a film that advocates, exemplifies and examines your field so directly.  Set to the rhythm of beat poetry, Scotti Rothschild has written and directed a short film studies class, designed to counter an assertion proposed by a stranger.…

  • ‘Backseat Bingo’ by Liz Blazer

    Liz Blazer – Backseat Bingo – Animated Documentary from Liz Blazer on Vimeo. Liz Blazer’s ‘Backseat Bingo’ is a joyful exploration of sexuality in the lives of senior citizens. The talking head format is brought to life by Blazer’s illustrative style and eye for caricature. As viewers we are granted extraordinary access to the interviewees…

  • ‘Dole Animators’ Trailer

    Dole Animators is a group of benefit claimants based in the UK who are working together to make an animated documentary about the reality of the impact of the governments recent welfare reform. The final film will use a mixture of stopmotion and collage animation. Animateddocumentary.com’s Ellie Land is working with the group in partnership…

  • ‘BBC Knowledge Explainer DNA’ by Territory Studio

    BBC Knowledge & Learning commissioned Territory Studio to create an animated explanation of the structures, processes and purposes of DNA.  The result is an exquisitely mesmeric graphic exploration of the mysterious structure. With only three minutes to work with, and an incredibly rich topic to explore, the challenge for this film was to gage the appropriate…

  • ‘The Beloved Ones’ by Samantha Moore

    Samantha Moore’s 2007 UK Film Council commissioned animated documentary explores problems of stigma and denial in a Ugandan community through the eyes of two women dealing with the effects of HIV/AIDS in their respective families. The materiality of this animation technique is charmingly tangible. Two examples are the hut roof fashioned from torn corrugated cardboard and…

  • ‘Allergy To Originality’: A New York Times Op-Doc by Drew Christie

    Drew Christie’s animation explores notions of originality through the vehicle of an uncannily informative conversation between a cinema box office attendant and an inquisitive patron. The animated sequence was commissioned by The New York Times’ Op-Doc forum, an online sub-section of the editorial department. This initiative hosts ‘short, opinionated documentaries, produced with wide creative latitude and…

  • ‘I Dreamt of Flying’ by Alex Bland

    Alex Bland conjures the atmosphere of wartime Britain in this nostalgic exploration of the R.A.F.’s Bomber Command, a battalion charged with the treacherous task of attacking German targets at the dead of night. Set out in a roughly chronological narrative, archive recordings and contemporary interviews with ex-crew members narrate the early stages of excitement during enlisting,…

  • ‘Camouflage’ by Jonathan Hodgson

    This animated documentary, directed by Jonathan Hodgson, opens with the statement, ‘Most people’s mums are mad. Mine’s got schizophrenia’. This text crafts the perspective of a child by adopting adolescent rhetoric. The tone of such a statement is carried through an extraordinary series of parallel narratives in which adults recount their experiences in childhood dealing…

  • Review of ‘Tanko Bole Chhe’ – The Stitch Speaks by Nina Sabnani

    I saw this beautifully crafted film at the Animated Realities conference in Edinburgh in 2011. The film animates a traditional sewing and textiles technique developed by the Kutch community, who are from a coastal region in Ahmedabad, India and has for a long time inspired fashion and textiles all over the world. Here is a…