Animation Spotlight: Adam Elliot PG

Academy Award-winning animator, director and writer, Adam Elliot is one of Australia’s most renowned stop-motion artists. Best known for creating highly compelling and moving films that challenge notions of identity, love and family, this program brings together his captivating and insightful short films.

Uncle 1996 dir. Adam Elliot (6 mins)

“The biography of a humble man, his lemon tree, chihuahua and crumpets. Uncle is brought to life in claymation and is Adam Elliot’s debut at what has become his signature technique. It is part one of a trilogy of claymation portraits, followed by Cousin (1998) and Brother (1999). The animator-director drew on the lives of his family for inspiration and the portrayals of these characters are endearing in their eccentricities, flawed and very human.” Antoinette Starkiewicz

Cousin 1998 dir. Adam Elliot (2.34 mins)

“The narrator (voiced by William McInnes), tells the story of his childhood friend and Cousin, who has celebral palsy and always smells of liquorice. Part of the trilogy of short films about his family that began with Uncle (1996) and ended with Brother (1999). Employing claymation and a monochromatic palette, we see an evolution of what has become Elliot’s signature style.” Antoinette Starkiewicz

Brother 1999 dir. Adam Elliot (11 mins)

“The biography of a brother, his cigarette butts, asthma and head lice. Brother completes Adam Elliot’s family trilogy that began with Uncle (1996) and Cousin (1998). The cast of characters in this film is fuller and more animated than the earlier films and the director’s voice more confident as he unfolds his story, capturing us with its humour and pathos.” Antoinette Starkiewicz

Harvie Krumpet 2003 dir. Adam Elliot (11 mins)

“Adam Elliot combines darkness and humour, tragedy and triumph, Alzheimer’s and living life to the full, so that we may learn more about what it means to be human. Harvie Krumpet won every major animation prize, including the Oscar for Best Animated Short, in a year (2003) which saw the release of blockbuster animated features such as Finding Nemo (2003) and Sylvain Chomet’s The Triplets of Belleville (2003). In this film, Adam Elliot, creator of Harvie Krumpet, moved from animated shorts Uncle (1996), Cousin (1998) and Brother (1999) to a more collaborative production in a longer format using digital technology to enhance his signature claymation technique.” Antoinette Starkiewicz

Ernie Biscuit 2015 dir. Adam Elliot (11 mins)

“The clayography of a lonely Deaf Parisian Taxidermist whose life is turned upside down and back to front when a dead pigeon arrives on his doorstep.” Flickerfest

Uncle 1996

16MM, STOP MOTION (CLAY) ANIMATION, BLACK AND WHITE, MONO, 6 MINUTES, AUSTRALIA, ENGLISH / DIRECTOR/SCRIPT/ANIMATOR: ADAM ELLIOT / PRODUCERS: ROBERT STEPHENSON, SARAH WATT, ANNE SHENFIELD / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: ADAM ELLIOT / SCREENING FORMAT: DCP

Cousin 1998

16MM, STOP MOTION (CLAY) ANIMATION, BLACK AND WHITE, STEREO, 4 MINUTES, AUSTRALIA, ENGLISH / DIRECTOR/PRODUCER/SCRIPT/ANIMATOR: ADAM ELLIOT / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: ADAM ELLIOT / SCREENING FORMAT: DCP

Brother 1999

16MM, STOP MOTION (CLAY) ANIMATION, BLACK AND WHITE, STEREO, 8 MINUTES, AUSTRALIA, ENGLISH / DIRECTOR/PRODUCER/SCRIPT/ANIMATOR: ADAM ELLIOT / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: ADAM ELLIOT / SCREENING FORMAT: DCP

Harvie Krumpet 2003

35MM, STOP MOTION (CLAY) ANIMATION, COLOUR, 5.1 SURROUND SOUND, 23 MINUTES, AUSTRALIA, ENGLISH / DIRECTOR/SCRIPT/ ANIMATION: ADAM ELLIOT / PRODUCER: MELANIE COOMBS / MUSIC: DALE CORNELIUS, PETER WALKER / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: ADAM ELLIOT / SCREENING FORMAT: DCP

Ernie Biscuit 2015

HIGH DEFINITION, STOP MOTION (CLAY) ANIMATION, BLACK AND WHITE, 5.1 SURROUND SOUND, 20 MINUTES, AUSTRALIA, ENGLISH / DIRECTOR/PRODUCER/SCRIPT/ANIMATOR: ADAM ELLIOT / MUSIC: JEAN-PIERRE JEUNET / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: ADAM ELLIOT / SCREENING FORMAT: DCP