Animated to Life

Classic short films from the past 60 years, themed around our festival theme of Animated to Life. 

“How do you give a soul to a puppet? A selection of films spanning from the 1960s to the present day offers a brief but effective lesson on this. It ranges from a landmark work of Czechoslovak political animation to Japanese mythology and the early works of future Oscar winners. Puppets of all kinds, from life-size to organic, experience life across genre boundaries and sometimes even against their will. The expressiveness of these actors, who come in all shapes and sizes, does not always require moving eyes or mouths, but at times they even look at us through the eyes of a living person. In a jubilant climax, a fish sings opera in the voice of Enrico Caruso on its journey from the fish counter to the dinner plate, but this is merely an illusion of life. In real life, the fish has been dead for some time. This encapsulates the work of a puppet animator: to create the illusion of life.”

– Joni Männistö, Artistic Director of TAFF

Duration: 1h 18min