August
31
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Away (U)
Away (U)
Director: Gints Zilbalodis
Runtime: 75 minutes
Synopsis: After a mysterious crash landing, a young boy travels across an exotic island on a motorcycle, trying to escape a dark spirit and return home.
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-2xxKAPssk
Away, is the impressive feature debut from one-man animation studio Gints Zilbalodis. The 26-year old Latvian wrote, directed, animated, edited and composed the music for the film, in which a boy travels across an island on a motorcycle, trying to escape a dark spirit and get back home. Along the way he meets various different animals and reflects on the possible ways he ended up on the island. Part dream, part reality, this beautifully animated, dialogue-free feature explores our universal need to find a connection.
The multiple award-winning Away took the prestigious Contrechamp Award at Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2019.
The mesmerising Away opens with a young boy dangling by his parachute from a tree in an otherwise barren landscape, which turns out to be the remote end of a mysterious island.
Soon a shadowy monstrous, shape shifting, presence threatens the boy initiating a surreal chase in which our protagonist must first get his bearings and try to find his way back to civilization accompanied by a little bird in a narrative of transformative adventures on his way home similar to Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces
This spellbinding animation is hypnotic from start to finish with stunning visuals and a breathtaking score.
Without a word of dialogue, Away is metaphorical, beautiful and expressive with many valuable insights on life.
In cinemas.
Images courtesy of Munro Films
