SLAVES
Animated Documentary
Production-/animation design and development
I spent little less than a year developing a look and animation technique that would
correspond with the design of Mats Johansson's characters and mood boards.
Slaves is about Abouk, nine, and Machiek, fifteen. Like thousands of other children they were taken by government sponsored militia in Sudan and used as slaves. They were later liberated by an organisation headed by James Aguer. Slaves is based on an interview made in 2003 and is the second film in a series of animated documentaries with and about children in difficult situations by David Aronowitsch and Hanna Heilborn, with design by Mats Johansson, production design by Magnus Östergren and production by Degauss.
AWARDS: See bottom for full list
The Silver Cub at IDFA in Amsterdam, December 2008
Best Short Animation Film Award from the Cinequest Jury in San Jose, California
Special mention at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival
Winner of 2009 STHLM.DOC Award
Production year: 2008
Format: 35 mm
Duration: 15 minutes
By David Aronowitsch and Hanna Heilborn
Art and design: Mats Johansson, Acne
Production-/Animation Design: Magnus Östergren
Post Production: Degauss
Degauss Lead Animation: Nicolas Hu
Animators: Hubert Seynave, Gilles Brinkhuizen, Mathilde Le Moal, Nicolas Maurice, Benoît Galland.
Animation/Post Production: Degauss/Daniel Annefelt, Mats Karsvall, Marcus Dalhamn, Francis Paulsson
Background Animation: Isak Gjertsen
Photos: Kim Naylor
3D Models: Maria Avramova, Christer Hägglund
Rendering/Ass Compositing: Calle Herdenberg, Pär Linusson
Sound Design: Peter Albrechtsen, Anders Nyström
Advisor/Translation: Martin Majak.
Digital Grading: The Chimney Pot
Produced with support by: The Swedish Film Institute/Hjalmar Palmgren, Anne-Marie Söhrman Fermelin. SVT Documentary/Ulla Nilsson. The Norwegian Film Institute /Peter Bøe. The Danish Film Institute/Miriam Nørgaard. YLE Co-productions/Sari Volanen. The Nordic Film and TV Fond/Eva Færevaag. The Foundation for the Culture of the Future. Danida.
Co-producers: Anna-Maria Kantarius and Louise Køster/Pausefilm Aps, Øyvind Rostad/Medieoperatørene AS.
Produced by: Story AB
AWARDS: Full list
Best short documentary, the Silver Cub Award, IDFA, Amsterdam, 2008.
Special Mention, the Generation 14plus Section, Berlinale 2009.
Best Short doc. the STHLM.DOC Award, Tempo Doc. Festival,Stockholm 2009.
Best Short Animation Film Award, Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, California, 2009.
Special Mention, IT’S ALL TRUE–International Documentary Film Festival, Brasil, 2009.
Best Short Documentary Award, DOXA Doc. Film Festival, Vancouver, Canada, 2009.
The Annecy Cristal for Best Short Animation and the Unicef Award at The Annecy International Animation Film Festival, June 2009.
Best Animated Short, The World Wide Short Film Fest, Toronto, Canada, June 2009
Best Documentary Short Film, The Melbourne International Film Festival, August 2009.
Best Short for Youth, the Golden Kite Award, The Int.Film Festival for Children & Youth, Buenos Aires, September 2009.
Best Film and Best Photography, Capalbio International Short Film Festival, Italy, October 2009
Film Festivals 2008
Nordisk Panorama Film Festival, Malmö, 26/9-1/10
IDFA, Int. Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, 20-30/11
Film Festivals 2009
Berlinale, Section Generation 5-15/2
ZagrebDox 23/2-1/3
Cinequest Film Festival, San Jose 25/2-8/3
True/False Film Fest, Missouri 26/2-1/3
Tempo, Stockholm 4-8/3
Minimalen Short Film Festival, Trondheim 6-10/3
One World Int. Human Rights Docu Film Festival, Prag 11-19/3
Hong Kong Independent Short Film and Video Awards 13-23/3
Thessaloniki Docu Festival 13-22/3
Movies that Matter Festival, Nederländerna 15/3-10/4
It’s All True, Sao Paolo & Rio de Janeiro 25/3-5/4
Nashville Film Festival 16-23/4
ViewFinders Intl. Film Festival for Youth, Halifax 21-25/4
Visions du Réel, Nyon 23-29/4
San Francisco Int. Film Festival 23/4 - 7/5
IndieLisboa – Int. Independent Film Festival 23/4-3/5
Stuttgart Int. Festival of Animated Film 5-10/5
Planete Doc Film Festival, Warsawa 8-17/5
Documentarist-Istanbul Docu Days 2-7/6, Istanbul
Doxa Int. Docu Film Festival, Vancouver 22-31/5
Seoul Human Rights Film Festival 29/5-4/6
Annecy Animation Film Festival 10-12/6
Norwegian Short Film Festival, Grimstad 10-15/6
Worldwide Short Film Festival, Toronto 16-21/6
Edinburgh Int. Film Festival 17-28/6
Encounters Docu Film Festival, Kapstaden 2-19/7
Seoul Int. Youth Film Festival 9-15/7
ERA New Horizons, Wroclaw 23/7-2/8
Melbourne Film Festival 24/7-9/8
Brisbane Film Festival 30/7-9/8
Int. Film Festival for Youth and Children Nueva Mirada, Buenos Aires 3-9/9
Fantoche Int. Animation Film Festival Baden/Schweiz 8-13/9
Animania, Cacak, Serbien 9-12/9
Int. Best of Short Films Festival, Marseille 11-13/9
Tri Continental Film Festival, Sydafrika 11-30/9
KLIK! Amsterdam Animation Festival 17-20/9
Buster, Köpenhamn, 17/9-2/10
Carrousel Int. Youth Film Festival of Rimouski, Quebec 27/9-4/10
Jersey Branchage Film Festival 1-4/10
Hamptons Int. Film Festival 8-12/10
Cinessone European Film Festival, Paris 9-24/10
Wiesbaden Int. Weekend of Animation 15-18/10
DOK Leipzig 26/10-1/11
Artfutura, Barcelona 29/10-1/11
One World Slovakia, Bratislava 3-8/11
Worldwide Short Film Festival Tour; Montreal 17/11, Calgary 26/11, Vancouver 30/11
Sottodiciotto Film Festival, Torino 26/11-5/12