Jun 30, 2022

Get to Know Indie Filmmakers Phil Malloy

In this series, we present some of the most interesting independent animation artists working today. Through their short films and other projects, these are artists who are changing the way we think about what is possible in this medium.

This week's topic is Phil Malloy, an influential British animator whose bold, grotesque, and minimalist work explores the dark and savage side of humanity.

In a word, Malloy's work, drawn with thick, bold lines and featuring stick figures with black skulls, white eyes, and penis-shaped noses, is full of stinging irony, exploring the oppressive and often cruel effects on humans while simultaneously excavating social, political, and religious contradictions and hypocrisy.

"I start somewhere.

Where to Start: Intolerance (2000). In this allegory of war on the distant planet Zorg (the inhabitants of Zorg are simply humans with inverted genitals and heads), Malloy is fiercely critical of xenophobia, syncretism, racism, and our general intolerance of people and things that seem a little different.

What to Watch Next: World History - Episode 16: The Invention of Writing and Its Destruction (1994). In this vapid, immature, type-unfriendly episode of Malloy's mini-series (there are three parts in all), we learn how writers came to be. As usual, Malloy cuts through the muck and shows the truth of the truth and the ugliness of the ugliness. Oh, and quite funny ...... In a creepy and uncomfortable way. Think Gary Larson meets Monty Python in Ralph Steadman's studio.

Other major works: "Cowboys" (1991), "The Sound of Music" (1994), "The Ten Commandments" (1994-1996), "Endgame" (2016)

Influences: Robert Bresson, 17th century English woodcuts, Jean= Luc Godard, Mexican "Day of the Dead" iconography.

He says: "The way society is organized is sometimes very strange, and what people believe is sometimes very strange. So I emphasize this strangeness with humor.

Currently in production: He has just completed his latest short film, Happily Ever After (2022). It was screened at Animafest Zagreb earlier this month.