Michelle Kranot
2021Happiness Machine
Elizabeth Hobbs, Samantha Moore
The Happiness Machine is a cinematic performance comprised of animated films, musical compositions and testimonials. Ten women filmmakers, ten women composers and ten musicians present Christian Felber's Common Good Economy for discussion.
Happiness Machine
Terre d'écueil
Uri Kranot, Michelle Kranot
The Animation Workshop Choir, Jean Harvey
In this evocative film about the eternal human search for home, Berta and Solomon arrive in a land that promises respite from their many journeys. But have they found utopia... or just another stop on their long journey?
Hollow Land
Aliens, Flamingos & Ecstasy - Animated Shorts for Adults
Uri Kranot, Michelle Kranot
Simply put, 6 eclectic and diverse animation styles present some surprisingly adult little vignettes that, in theory, add up to a film. An apparent festival favorite.
Aliens, Flamingos & Ecstasy - Animated Shorts for Adults
How Long, Not Long
Uri Kranot, Michelle Kranot
A visual journey that challenges us to think about a universal belonging that doesn’t confine itself to a city, region or national boundary, in an age in which xenophobia, nationalism and intolerance are a daily occurrence.
How Long, Not Long
Suggestion of Least Resistance
Uri Kranot, Michelle Kranot
Suggestion of Least Resistance is based on archive materials which depict The July Revolt of 1927 (Der Brand des Wiener Justizpalastes), a monumental episode still acutely relevant. The animation film is a rhythmic, poetic surge, comparing us, our lives, and our very humanness to burning paper in the breeze. Images of sheets of paper flying through the broken windows of the burning palace are juxtaposed with images of the crowds as they convene and disperse. The music charges these powerful images with its own aliveness and colour.
Suggestion of Least Resistance
Hangman at Home
Uri Kranot, Michelle Kranot
"What does the hangman think about when he goes home at night from work?" The Hangman at Home is an animated film exploring themes surrounding acknowledgement and the awkward intimacy of humanness. Told in five interwoven stories; each situation presents a person, or persons in a delicate moment: fragile, playful, terrified, contemplated, confused, curious… We are all very much alike in these moments - alerting us to question our own responsibility and responses. Inspired by Carl Sandburg’s chilling poem of the same name.
Hangman at Home
The Hangman at Home
Uri Kranot, Michelle Kranot
“What does a hangman think about when he goes home at night from work?” is the opening line of American Carl Sandburg’s 1922 poem ‘The Hangman at Home’. The latter is what animators and immersive artists Michelle and Uri Kranot’s eponymous VR installation is loosely based on, and it won them a Grand Major Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. Users start the story by striking a virtual match. A small room provides access (through door, window, hearth) to spaces with five stories. Five monologues from people at turning points in their lives. These miniature theatres were hand-painted, frame by frame – static, yet lively. Small dioramas that invite you to come closer, but not too close. The work questions sometimes disconcerting human intimacy and the boundary between viewer, witness and accomplice.
The Hangman at Home