Flatlife
Drawn animation, Belgium, 2004
Director: Jonas Geirnaert
Language: Silent
Colour: Colour
Runtime: 10 minutes
Short Synopsis
A quirky animation exposing the unexpected consequences of neighbourly closeness.
Long synopsis
Flatlife is a humorous take on the unintended interactions of four neighbours going about their everyday lives. As the camera closes in on four windows in a block of flats it exposes one room in each flat. On a split screen the action unfolds in all four flats at the same time and we see how the neighbours react as their daily routines impinge upon each other. Watching television, hanging up a painting, doing the laundry, constructing a tower of cards might all seem like solitary and harmless activities, but somehow these neighbours can't help disturbing each other, getting in each other's way and even endangering each other - even when they just try to help out.
Using colourful and vivid drawn animation, Geirnaert manages to weave in unexpected and absurd interventions - like a 'flying' panda - in a deadpan and effortless manner.
Background information
About the film
Jonas Geirnaert spent two years on the visuals of Flatlife, drawing all of the animation - more than 9,000 images - himself. Shortly before finishing his degree in animation, Geirnaert decided to send his graduation film to the Cannes Film Festival, thinking he had nothing to lose. He sent in an unfinished version of Flatlife, having had only half a day to prepare the sound, because the deadline had actually already expired. He still managed to win the Jury Award in Cannes for Best Short Film.
This film received best evaluations in the film festivals in 10 different countries and won the Jury Prize for Best European Short Film at the FIKE 2003 Film Festival in Évora, Portugal.
About the film-maker
Born in 1982, Jonas Geirnaert graduated the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) in Belgium where he studied animated film. In his third year he made a short film, The All-American Alphabet, which expressed criticism on the foreign policy of the United States. This film received best evaluations in the film festivals in 10 different countries and won the Jury Prize for Best European Short Film at the FIKE 2003 Film Festival in Évora, Portugal.
Teaching materials and additional materials
The teaching materials have been developed by practising teachers to provide a springboard for your own work with your pupils. Feel free to use and adapt them appropriate to your pupils' needs.
Here you will also find a detailed scheme of work that has been developed by Pauline Allen, Ocker Hill Junior School. As it offers a very useful model for working with films, please feel free to adapt it for use with the other films.
The additional materials, provided by the film-makers, can be used to develop your work with the film and deepen pupils' understanding of the process of film-making.
