THE TOWER
O.V. Frencho subtitle in Spanish and English
For seventy years thousands of Palestinians have been living an endless provisional existence in refugee camps, the limbo to where they were displaced after the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. Wardi, eleven years old, was born and grew up in one of them. She will link together the stories of those who live in her tower, the different faces of that life of precarious hope, like that of her grandfather to return to the house from which he was expelled. Working from statements by friends and acquaintances, Mats Grorud wrote and animated The Tower, mixing stop motion, 2D animation, photos and a deep understanding of the invincibility of the human spirit.
Direction: Mats Grorud
Script: Mats Grorud Animation: Pierre-Luc Granjon, Hefang Wei
Editing: Silje Nordseth, Carsten Meinich, Anders Bergland, Margrete Vinnem Music: Nathanaël Bergèse
Sound: Christian Holm, Erik Bjerknes
Production: Frode Sobstad, Patrice Nezan, Annika Hellstrom
Production Company: Tenk.Tv, Les Contes Modernes, Cinenic Film Ab
Mats Grorud
The Norwegian director and animator Mats Grorud studied animation in Volda University College, which he complemented with studies in Denmark, Beirut and Beijing. He has directed the short films Santa Klaus (2008) and My Grandmother Beijing (2010), and has animated Backyard Stories (Kaja Polmar, 2006) and Grandpa is a Raisin (Piotr Sapegin, 2006). From his production company Nubbsjangs Productions he develops and his own projects and also carries out commissions. He has also worked on numerous documentaries and teaches animation. In 2007 he started to work on The Tower, which finally had its premiere at the Annecy Festival in 2018.