Father and Daughter

The title of this 8 minute video, Father and Daughter, caught my attention. It's kind of simple, but there're tons and tons of things between a father and a daughter. So I watched it. And I was really touched by the style of animation, the music as well as the script.

The story is about a father and a daughter riding along the countryside. Then he says goodbye to his young daughter, and she couldn't find him for ages. Time passes by and she grows older and older. However, the love and the deep longing for her father are never faded.

What makes me really surprised is the style of this animated film, it's totally done in pencils, charcoal and a software called ANIMO. While many modern animated films tend to be drawn based on 3D and computers, this kind of animation reminds me of the old style animation in the 1920s, which may make the story more touching and memorable. Besides that, I think that's the best way to represent the beauty of Dutch countryside's sightseeing. Moreover, there is a really specific characteristic that is always used in Dutch animation; that's the "non-verbal" or "no-dialogue" effect. Therefore, audiences can only communicate with the movie through the background music, the gesture, and the movement of the characters, etc. Due to these special effects, "Father and Daughter" becomes much more special and embedded in viewers' memory.

"Father and Daughter is a film about longing, the kind of longing which quietly, yet totally, affects our lives” is what Michael Dudok de Wit said about his masterpiece.

Some other related information:

- Running Time: 8 minutes 30 seconds
- Year of Release: 2000
- Production: Cloudrunner Ltd, UK, and CineTe Filmproductie bv, Holland
- Script, Design and Animation: Michael Dudok de Wit
- Other Contributors: Normand Roger (Composer), Claire Jennings and Willem Thijssen (Producers), Arjan Wilschut (Main Co-Animator), Jean-Baptiste Roger (Sound), and Alistair Becket and Nic Gill (Technical Directors)
- Awards include:Independent Film Award, Ottawa International Animation Festival, 2000; Grand Prize, Cinanima Animation Festival, 2000; Grand Prix Narrative Films, Holland Animation Film Festival, 2000; and Best International Animated Film, Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, 2001

Reference:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0279079/
http://www.awn.com/oscars01/animfather.php3

and thanks to Anh Huynh for posting it on her blog - Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind