Dec 22, 2016

Annecy 2016 Student Category Winner "Depart at 22" Premieres Online [Exclusive Premiere

Cartoon Brew is proud to offer the exclusive online premiere of Annecy's 2016 Crystal Best Graduate Film Award winner: "Depart at 22" by Wiep Teeuwisse.

"Depart at 22" is a semi-abstract work, a poetic collage about the transience of physical beauty. Director Wiep Teeuwisse spent only seven weeks at the HKU University of the Arts in the Netherlands making the film, experimenting with paper and an ever-changing montage. The process was very spontaneous. Just like 'Departure at 22' is a film. Instead of worrying about how the film would turn out, I enjoyed experimenting.

The unusually compressed production schedule was due to the fact that Thiouwisse had spent the previous seven months developing her graduation project. During that time, she conducted a tremendous amount of theoretical and design research for a biological concept of the way different people's brains view reality differently. The director's desire for factually correct stories clashed with the need for poetic expression in storytelling. Realizing that she was two months away from graduation and unable to escape this contradiction, she changed course and simply began animating what she loved.

In the process of free doodling, the director found a visual interest in the body and began to explore themes such as vanitas (dark subjects displayed through symbolic and morbid imagery), aging, and the loss of the beauty of youth. I wanted to present these themes in a way that was easy to understand, but not in a realistic style." The way animation is made and how it is seen plays a major role in the meaning of the film.

Thiouwisse looked back at the visual tests he had done earlier for his concept about the brain and found the perfect technique: paper on light boxes, sometimes in layers." As "Departure at 22" progresses, the paper darkens in color and its grain becomes more and more pronounced.

The storytelling in "Depart at 22" is not abstract, but it is certainly not mainstream. Thiouwisse enjoys mainstream cinema, but what often bothers her is that it presents the audience with only one path. She says, "With my films, I didn't want to force a certain feeling by completely fixing the film. I gave the audience a few clues and some of my own opinions about the themes of my film, and encouraged the audience to fill in the rest of the film's meaning. That is also why the film has a minimal audio track.

"Depart at 22" presents Thiouwisse as an experimental filmmaker, but she does not consider herself one." I understand that the film is very obscure and appeals to a much smaller group of people, not something my grandma would enjoy. But I don't want to make a film that is clear and generic, and I have yet to find a way to combine broad appeal with more poetic storytelling. If, when I am about 80 years old, I can make a film that is intelligent, multilayered, experimental in design, and that everyone can understand, that would be the most beautiful thing."

Even after winning the biggest student honor at Annecy, there are things this talented graduate would like to change about his film." Certain shots convey the feeling I want, but I don't think they convey meaning. The shot of the eyes and hands is symbolic of family to me, but not to most audiences. Also, that particular shot does not clearly convey the action. But with only seven weeks between the start and finish of the project, the deadline did not allow for any changes. Thiouwisse added with a smile that having a deadline is a wonderful thing. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to complete anything."

Aside from the audio, Thiouwisse created the film entirely on her own. Working in animation, she says, suits her personality very well. She enjoys "the perfectionism and the solitude. My organic, experimental way of working would not work well with team members," she says. However, she makes sure to do something social after working alone. 'If I work for more than a day without seeing anyone, I get really lethargic.'

After graduating from Depart at 22 in 2015, the director has traveled a lot, and has been commissioned by documentary agency Vossenfilms to produce As Long as it Takes (which won a Vimeo Staff Pick) and The Importance of Affectionate Teasing (produced for The School of Life). Translating her free-spirited work and poetic style into a commercial environment was an interesting challenge. She said, "I quickly reverted back to more classical design and storytelling. It's hard to make a commercial piece feel like an independent, more experimental short story. I respect those who can do that."

Not that a commercial film is needed in the coming months. Thiouwisse has just received word from the Dutch Film Fund that it will support the development of her next short film. In order to apply for the fund, she has worked on her film the 'right way' with a script, but now it's time to get back to drawing again. 'Ultimately, it's the visual experimentation that determines what kind of film it will be.'