A Fly in the Restaurant

Animated story of a sad magician

This is a classing Jordan animation, primarily in B/W, with touches of color. Actually, the engraved art work was film on color negative, so that subtle variations in tone are recorded. The mood--enhanced by John Davis' original music--is dream-like. It is both lyric and crackling, producing a kind of anticipatory tension. The scenes, in the usual Jordan manner, follow the surreal principle of placing objects and people where the ought not to be, and making movements that in the waking world are impossible. Each scene is a kind of drama from another world.

Edge of Alchemy is the third film in a trilogy examining the psychological terrain of women's inner worlds. In this handmade film, assembled from over 6,000 collages, the actors Mary Pickford and Janet Gaynor are lifted from their early silent features and cast into a surreal epic with an unending of the Frankenstein story and contemporary undercurrents of hive collapse.

In one of Paris's finest restaurants, Remy, a determined young rat, dreams of becoming a renowned French chef. Torn between his family's wishes and his true calling, Remy and his pal Linguini set in motion a hilarious chain of events that turns the City of Lights upside down.

Chosen by prophecy but doubted by all, Po is an unlikely choice for the mystical title of the Dragon Warrior—a clumsy panda thrust into the world of kung fu as a deadly enemy threatens the Valley of Peace. Under reluctant guidance by Master Shifu and the Furious Five, Po must embrace who he is to unlock the power that no scroll can teach.

A winter dread gnaws at the anxieties of a young couple.

A little frog jumps out of the pond and wants to see the world. He is excited about new discoveries, not yet knowing about the danger of the stork. He almost gets eaten by the stork, but the frog saves himself at the last minute.

The scissors cut out a little man with huge boxing gloves from black paper. The boy comes to life and is immediately convinced of his punching power. So he grabs the scissors himself and cuts out a huge opponent to demonstrate his strength. He makes a complete fool of himself in the process. It doesn't help that he cuts his opponent smaller and smaller and finally even sticks him down with glue. Although he adorns himself with the laurels of victory at the end, it is clear that he is just a ridiculous paper hero.

Two duelling birds get the urge to change their plumage. A blue jay wants to be decked out in the green of cedar, and a loon dons the burnished red of oak leaves, but neither bird foresees the consequences of vanity.

ALEXANDER THE GRAPE, an unfinished cut-paper animated short from Jim Henson from 1965, relates the fable of a young grape with big ambitions who learns that it is better to accept yourself than to try to be something you are not. The short was reconstructed from film and audio elements; images from Jim’s storyboard fill in missing segments of the animation.

One person makes the long and difficult journey towards finding their own beauty. In trying to mimic the beauty of others around them, they repeatedly fail at their attempts to be something they're not. Only when they muster the courage to look inward, do they find what they were looking for all along.

An animated film made from approximately 1700 laser printed photo(collage)s, manipulated by hand.

An animated adaptation of Poe's famous short story.

An ancient was looking for the plum blossom in the snow storm during the trip.

A cut-out animation musical adaptation of the Irish mythological epic Táin Bó Cúailnge.

Film shows the story of Papageno (the one from Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute"), who wants a mate, yet has difficulties getting one.

A transgender man gets a job at a Mexican restaurant in London. When people start going missing, eyes turn to the animatronic animal characters who perform on the restaurant’s stage.

Student film directed by Jacques Drouin.

"Beginnings are rare and fleeting. All we are left with in life is a long and unavoidable journey to the end. Describe the burdens you carry with you on this journey." I sent the above prompt to friends and colleagues and asked for any artistic response. I received numerous poems, songs, short stories, etc. I took all of the responses and stitched together the verses, stories, and emotions into a narrative following the protagonist through a day in his life. My goal was to give a snapshot of the mental health of those around me and remind everyone that they are not alone in their sadness.

Three women, three generations. This is a Chinese family without love in 1940s.