“From the wartime I can only remember the people who have helped me” – an 83 year old woman recalls the events of one fateful night in her childhood, as she shares her wartime memories with her granddaughter in Overnight Stay/Übernachtung, a documentary film animated by Daniela Sherer. Bringing oral history to life, moving visually from the present to the past, the film will be screened at the Haifa International Film Festival 2010 as part of a program of Israeli Animation at 9:30 on Tuesday, September 28, at the Tikotin Museum on 89 HaNassi Boulevard.
Overnight Stay was created as Sherer’s senior thesis project at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. Sherer, who graduated in 2009, returned to Israel to pursue her career, while the film has been making the festival circuit, participating in: the 2010 Annecy International Animated Film Festival, the 2010 Hiroshima Animated Film Festival, the CFC World Wide Short Film Festival in Toronto, Silverdocs, and the Florida Film Festival. It was also awarded a Bronze award at the USC First Look Student Film Festival, and a 3rd place BAFTA/LA award. In addition to the Haifa IFF, the film will participate in the 2010 DOK Leipzig, and the Chicago Children’s Film Festival.
Sherer says, “As a student of the animation department, I was exposed to many sub-genres of this art form, including the animated documentary, which I found to be a fascinating way of interpreting reality through storytelling. Despite the fact that the film is about my family history and my grandparents, I hope that the short also reveals a message that is more universal in nature. I think the use of animation contributes to making a documentary more engaging, and I hope that perhaps this would allow viewers to feel a certain connection with this personal story.”
The trailer for Overnight Stay/Übernachtung can be viewed on vimeo.
AYELET DEKEL
