Slate Reel: Balance (animated short)
Before February ends, here’s a treat to honor our Attack the Addiction month. One of the classics, Balance (this month’s antidote!), won the Oscar for Animated Short Film in 1989.
Directed and produced by German twin brothers Wolfgang and Christoph Lauenstein, it is simple and unpretty, yet affectively powerful. Some may find it a bit creepy as a group of identical men in coats stand on a platform while arresting sound effects echo with every movement, but the execution is commanding as it strikingly portrays human nature.
Balance comes off as a unique allegory about society – socialism, communism, commercialism, hope, greed, and everything else. However, despite the many symbolisms, we hope it is a reminder of what we wish would not happen.
Short and simple.
Experience Balance here.
