Persepolis
Marjane Satrapi's adaptation of her autobiographical graphic novels was something I had never seen before back in 2007. Studying Film Studies at college, I tried to watch as many different genres of film as possible. I saw this film at the Chichester Film Festival which was screened in a little old church hall turned screening room. It was a drafty uncomfortable place but the film make everything sink away. The film's animation is as if the pages of the books were projected on screen. A fantastic story and brilliantly made in black anh white, the film is a rare sad joy.
Waltz with Bashir
Still trying to understand Ari Folman's The Congress, his animated documentary was also something I had never seen before. An original creative and no less devastating way of showing a harrowing story on the big screen, especially the hard hitting end sequence as animation blends into real footage from the Lebanon War.
The Triplets of Belleville
I think I've used this film before and I wrote about it for my Blind Spot last year. The animation is both repulsive and intricately brilliant at the same time. With no dialogue or words spoken (apart from a song) everything is through expression, sound and movement. A story about a woman who travels from France to New York to rescue her cyclist grandson is, yes, I'm saying it again, a rare bizarre beauty.
Don't forget to check out where it all started over at
