Rob Munday
One look through the back catalogue of my articles on Short of the Week and it will quickly become clear that love stories don’t play a huge role in my curatorial process. Usually leaving these films for others to cover on our site, I felt it was about time I branched out in something a little more saccharine and what better choice than Lucette Braune’s abstract animation Through You.
“I hope the love-story somehow gives people enough structure to also enjoy the film in a more ‘dramatic’ way”
A dance-like journey through a world of colourful silhouettes, Through You is a dialogue-free story that follows a girl as she weaves a path through the constant traffic of fellow humans on her way to the grocery story. A further exploration of the techniques and aesthetic the artist put to use on a 15-metre videowall at the City Theatre of Utrecht, the director spoke to Short of the Week about the objectives of her project. “This film is about how a person can be affected by other people without noticing it, says Braune, “we all leave a mark on each other, even the small encounters matter. If you look carefully, you can see people ‘touching’ each other…I often find it hard to really tell ‘structured dramatic stories’. I always need a way to add a story to my more ‘graphic’ observations. I hope the love-story somehow gives people enough structure to also enjoy the film in a more ‘dramatic’ way”.
A musical/visual experiment, featuring choreography that really immerses you in its charming universe, Through You is certainly a film that resides in the more abstract regions of storytelling. Feeling more like a piece of performance art than an out-and-out narrative short, whilst the storyline for Braune’s film may not live with you long after watching, we certainly hope the innovative storytelling and emotive tone strikes a chord.
Director Lucette Braune is now working on developing new short film ideas, whilst production company Il Luster, who were also involved with previous Short of the Week picks Pivot, Little Quentin, Fallin’ Floyd, Junkyard and Oh Willy… (that’s an impressive list!), have also just released Michiel Wesselius’ impressive 8-minute animation Jorka.