Hollow Land

201313 min 56 secFilm: Animation

PG

Direction: Michelle KranotUri Kranot

Production: Marie Bro (Dansk Tegnefilm)René Chénier (National Film Board of Canada)Dora Benousilio (Les Films de l'Arlequin)Marc Bertrand (National Film Board of Canada)

Script: Michelle KranotUri Kranot

Co-produced by Dansk Tegnefilm, Les Films de l'Arlequin and the National Film Board of Canada with the participation and support of Centre national de la cinématographie et de l'image animée, TinDrum Animation, Den Vestdanske Filmpulje, The Animation Workshop, Arte France, Procirep et Angoa, the Israeli fund for Video and Contemporary Art and Sycamore Group.

Searchlights sweep the silent towers. Deep inside one of the buildings, a hand extends through a pipe and appears in a neighbouring apartment, where Solomon is struggling to fix the plumbing. He stares at the hand, then reaches out to clasp it.
It is a rare moment of humanity in a cold, dehumanized environment.
Hollow Land is a story about the eternal human search for a place to call home, a film that begins, as all such searches must, with the dream of utopia. Solomon and Berta are two seekers who arrive—their treasured bathtub improbably in tow—in a seemingly sun-washed land that promises respite from their many journeys.
Whether it’s reusing a tea bag or fiddling with pipes until they finally work, Solomon tries to make the best of whatever comes his way. Berta is not so optimistic, nor willing to give up on her dreams.
Filmmakers Uri and Michelle Kranot depict the couple through two-dimensional clay puppets that move within a rich environment created largely from cut-outs. Just as the characters in Hollow Land bear the marks of their travels, so too do the puppets bear the physical imprints of their creators—a refreshing, immediate symbol of the power of human creativity and resilience.
From the hopeful first moments of Berta and Solomon’s arrival, to the final haunting scene at sea, Hollow Land is an evocative animated film that captures the unsettled state of those who find themselves displaced—whether by circumstance or by choice.

Other versions


Subject categories


  • Social Issues > Immigrant Experience
  • Foreign Countries > Immigration
  • Politics and Government > Political Repression

Credits


writer
Michelle Kranot
Uri Kranot
director
Michelle Kranot
Uri Kranot
animation
Michelle Kranot
Uri Kranot
original music
Uri Kranot
music adaptation
Normand Roger
Pierre Yves Drapeau
orchestration
Normand Roger
Pierre Yves Drapeau
sound design
Normand Roger
Pierre Yves Drapeau
2D animation
Jean-Jacques Prunès
Inès Sedan
Jody Ghani
compositing
Soren B Norbaek
Lasse Smith
Adrian Dexter
Yannick Grandmont
props assistant
Jody Ghani
background assistant
Adrian Dexter
Simon Lee Bresling
development assistance
Hektor Stokholm
Astrid Marud Lauridsen
administrative team
Diane Régimbald
Diane Ayotte
Karine Desmeules
Michèle Labelle
production assistance
Merete Obert
Fariza Daguelou
marketing manager
Melissa Wheeler
line production
Michelle Kranot
Francine Langdeau
Jocelyne Perrier
musician
Alain Aubut
Pierre Beaudry
Michel Dupire
Éric Lagacé
Pierre-Yves Martel
Andrew Wells-Oberegger
Pierre-Vincent Plante
Patrick Vetter
voice
Renée Cossette
Jean Harvey
Marcel Jeannin
The Animation Workshop Choir
music recording
Geoffrey Mitchell
voice recording
Geoffrey Mitchell
re-recording
Serge Boivin
foley
Lise Wedlock
digital imaging specialist
Pierre Plouffe
online editing
Yannick Carrier
titles
Gaspard Gaudreau
technical coordination
Daniel Lord
technical assistance
Svend Nordby
Thomas Ahlmark
Thomas Richard Christensen
Matt Edwards
executive producer
Marie Bro
René Chénier
producer
Marie Bro
Dora Benousilio
Marc Bertrand

Awards


  • Alberto Sánchez Special AwardInternational Film Festival
  • Special Mention for the Cartoon d’Or nominationEncounters International Short Film Festival
  • Amnesty AwardFilm Festival
  • Special MentionInternational Countryside Animafest Cypres
  • Grand prix Jacques LanguirandFestival de films de Portneuf sur l'environnement
  • Pont d'orFestival de cinéma d'animation
  • Best Independent Short (award given by ASIFA Israel)Animix Tel Aviv
  • Award of The Union of Bulgarian Artists – paintingWorld Festival of Animated Film
  • Synchro Film & Video Material Prize- worth 1500 EuroTricky Women International Women's Animated Film Festival
  • Best Art DirectionBrasil Stop Motion Festival
  • First Prize from the Brazilian Association of Documentary and Short Films/ Pernambucan Filmmakers AssociationBrazilian Association of Documentary and Short Films/ Pernambucan Filmmakers Association
  • Award for Animation TechniquesInternational Animated Film Festival
  • Special MentionAnimation Festival (BAF)
  • Special Achievement AwardAnilogue International Animation Festival
  • Best Animation AwardInternational Film Festival
  • Special MentionAnimfest
  • Honorable MentionInternational Film Festival