This film is by Film Bilder, the studio who made Head Up. This film, part of the Animanimals series by Julie Ocker, depicts the systematic and collective life of an ant colony. The military precision of the ants is an apt catalyst to discuss the … [Read more...]
Waterloo & Trafalgar
War and violence are integral to the history of Europe as well as its present, but the explicit representation of these themes can be challenging in a classroom context. This picturebook by French artist Olivier Tallec gently raises these themes in a … [Read more...]
La Loi du Plus Fort [Law of the Jungle]
A little monkey in a jungle has his eye on a huge bunch of bananas, but no matter what he does, he cannot reach it. When a big monkey succeeds where he has failed, all seems lost, but then a gorilla appears to make things even more complicated. The … [Read more...]
Die Igel und die Stadt [Hedgehogs and the City]
This beautiful example of Baltic (Latvian) stop-motion begins with a depiction of the role of industry in a changing landscape: a snowy forest scene is obliterated, and a city pops up in its place. In the centre of the city square is a park in which … [Read more...]
Taikapuikot [The Magic Knitting Needles]
This picturebook highlights the importance of titles in ‘wordless’ narratives. In this picturebook, the title provides a cue to comprehending the story: a broken boiler in a cold winter, and a parent knitting for her family to keep everyone warm. She … [Read more...]
On the Trail
There are very few wordless picturebooks produced in the Baltic region. Indeed, this work, by Anna Ring and published by the Estonian Comics Society, is the only contemporary example of the form. It is a pleasure to explore the wonderful world … [Read more...]
Mein Weg mit Vanessa [My Walk with Vanessa]
French-authored and first published in Germany, this fabulous wordless picturebook presents a realistic storyline that some readers will know all too well. Vanessa is new in town and feels isolated at her school. The story gets going when a classmate … [Read more...]
Płoty [Fences]
This wonderful Polish non-narrative animation takes as its theme the constriction and confinement in which we often find ourselves. Viewers will be able to consider when barriers and borders are and are not necessary. In this regard, the film … [Read more...]
Free Art
The difference between graffiti and street art is raised in this French mixed media short film. A man is on a street in an urban area. He spray paints a trio of birds onto the wall, and is amazed when the birds take on a life of their own and fly … [Read more...]
