Monkeys and Lumps, 2003
16mm B&W
This film is a hybrid of drawn animation, live action and puppetry. The central theme is the unknown or the “other” and our efforts as individual humans to understand our place and relationship with the unknowable. There are several subjects woven into the film. These are: facial expressions of human and non-human primates; space training and missions of chimpanzees; human study of monkeys (symbolized by the image of Jane Goodall); interactions between humans and animals (taken from news reports); lumps-- organisms that wash up on beaches that fit no known life forms (also called globsters); and, extra-terrestrials. The film's character, Ima Plume (pronounce EE-MA PLOOM), is a chalk-talk specialist or public illustrator who draws before small audiences. Her chalk talks are represented in the hand drawn animation segments. (Marvin Felheim Award Special Jury Prize , Ann Arbor Festival , 2004)
