Pesek ali Peter in volk / Sand or Peter and the Wolf
Caroline Leaf (Harvard University)
ZDA/USA, 1969, DVD, 10’
Sand or Peter and the Wolf is a loose interpretation of the fable Peter and the Wolf, in which a boy’s fear of the dark, the woods, and the wolf, is confronted and resolved. The film shows the extraordinary graphic possibilities of one of nature’s most ordinary substances, sand. In Leaf’s hands, sand becomes a subtle medium of expression. The film marks the start of Leaf’s technique of under-the-camera animation, which she develops in subsequent films. Michael Riesman wrote the score.
Sova, ki se je poročila z gosjo / The Owl Who Married a Goose
Caroline Leaf (NFB)
Kanada/Canada, 1974, 35mm, 7’38”
The Owl Who Married a Goose is an adaptation of an Inuit legend about an owl who falls in love with a goose, and is overwhelmed by the events that follow. Clearly, to the Inuit, the foolish owl has broken an important rule of the North: don’t try to be something other than what you are. Survival depends upon following closely the rules of nature. The story is told with sand animation. Old Inuit women who remember mimicking animal sounds to help with the hunting have made the soundtrack of voices and effects.
Ulica / The Street
Caroline Leaf (NFB)
Kanada/Canada, 1976, 35mm, 10’12”
The Street is an adaptation of a short story by Mordecai Richler about his memories of growing up in Montreal’s Jewish community. A family living in a small apartment deals with caring for their sick and dying grandmother. Her grandson is eager to take over her bedroom after she dies. He is waiting for her room. The story deals with the stress and the love that the situation creates for the family. The animation technique is paint on glass under the camera. The film has won many awards, including an Oscar nomination in 1977.
Preobrazba g. Samse / The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa
Caroline Leaf (NFB)
Kanada/Canada, 1977, 35mm, 9’42”
The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa is an adaptation of Franz Kafka’s story about a man who metamorphoses into a beetle. Because of his repellent appearance, the man, a dutiful and loving son and brother, is unable to communicate to his family his feelings of shame and guilt and his need for love. The film conveys the atmosphere of anxiety and alienation that Kafka creates in his story. The story is told with sand animation.
Intervju / Interview
Caroline Leaf (NFB)
Kanada/Canada, 1979, 35mm, 13’30”
Interview is the record of a working day in the lives of two women filmmakers, Caroline Leaf and Veronika Soul. They are seen as friends, as filmmakers, and as individuals whose personalities are contrasted by the things they say of themselves and each other, and by the different animation techniques they use to portray themselves.
Sestri / Two Sisters
Caroline Leaf (NFB)
Kanada/Canada, 1991, 35mm, 10’26”
Two Sisters is an allegorical story about the dynamics of a relationship between two interdependent sisters, and how it changes with the intrusion of a stranger into their remote and carefully guarded home. One sister, Viola, is a writer, disfigured so that she lives in a dark room hiding from life. The other sister encourages Viola’s fear of life, and finds fulfillment taking care of her. The film plays with themes of light and dark, which are the two visual elements of the technique used for making the film, white lines etched into exposed black color 70mm film emulsion.
Nekoga sem spoznala / I Met A Man
Caroline Leaf (MTV)
ZDA/USA, 1991, DVD, 1’
I Met a Man is a piece of whimsy inspired by the ever present whistling wind on the Irish coast of County Cork where the filmmaker was living when she made the film. The film is scratched in 35mm film stock with color added in video postproduction.