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Elina

Fledge

Tom Kouris / Hani Dombe // France, Israel // 2020 // 15:00 min

Animation

Synopsis:
Elina has emigrated from Russia and has found a cool community of new friends in Israel. All is well until the day she suddenly develops her grandmother's mysterious gift.

Three Questions for the Director

1. Short Film has a unique way of telling stories and exploring themes. What is it that fascinates you about the short format?

Hani Dombe & Tom Kouris: I think that with a short film it is possible to convey a story in a much tighter and more refined way and produce a powerful emotional experience in a short time period. It also makes complex projects possible for production, especially in the field of stop-motion animation.

2. The program your film is selected for is called "Teenage Riot!": What connection do you see between your film and that title?

Hani Dombe & Tom Kouris: Teenage riot is the process that Elina the protagonist goes through. Elina is a teenage immigrant from Russia, she was abandoned by her mother and she is full of anger. Elina denies the family tradition and tries to become like her peers in Israel. The revolt leads her to hurt herself and puts her identity on stake.

3. What film has inspried you most to make films yourself and what part of it do you see in your own work?

Hani Dombe & Tom Kouris: The film that made me realize that animation and particularly stop motion is what I wanted to do was Mary and Max by Adam Elliot. The cinematic world that he created was amazing for me, the brilliant story with such sincere and touching characters inside a totally crafted world was so strong as a film experience and just grabbed me in so to speak. The type of claymation and the general stylization of Mary and Max is very different then what we do in our studio but we aim to convey this emotional experience with expressive characters and convincing worlds.