Story
One rainy afternoon, to the sounds of a mournful bell, F. finds himself buried underground. In this stuffy, dark and unknown environment, time seems to be standing still, the sound of insects walking is deafening and meeting even a worm can be disastrous. His only solace, the sound of the rain that regularly assures him that he will again get to see the light. Deep into the earth, without the ability to act in the present or shape anything in his future, his anguish turns existential. But also something inside him starts to change. He feels pain. His skin breaks out and erodes. His painful loneliness is soothed by a desperate female voice next to him. He tries to reassure the lovely girl, and that gives him strength to endure his own confinement. That, and the comforting rain. “Tomorrow you’ll get out”. F’s anxiety returns, when he hears the horrifying sound of the ghastly worm eating his beloved. With that, the pain comes back as well. His skin pops and -this time- he shoots out as a beam and pierces the earth with his… leaves? Yes. Because F. is the first bean, as the little girl cries out - the little girl, who, along with her father, planted him in the field. And F. is not -as he thought- near the end - he’s at the beginning.
The stop-motion animation film UNDERGROUND, aiming to tell a story about the cycle of life presented by two opposite perspectives.
About the project
Based on Naya Koutroumani’s short story “Underground”, the film presents the life of Φ., who lives in the abyss of the underground world. The plot takes place in the countryside and unfolds in two different levels; the pitch dark underground and the colorful farmland above. Through the director's sensitive approach, any preconceived idea is deconstructed and the audience comes to realize that what seems to be the case, sometimes is not.
The unpredicted twist of events at the end is what ignites the purpose of the film. “The paradox regarding our hero, creates the need to mold characters who intrigue us, open up our eyes to little explored worlds and craftily encourage us to focus not only on topical but also on existential concepts.” explains creator Yiannis Christoforou.
The aesthetics of the film, with its designs, colors and general vibe, build an atmosphere which smoothly fluctuates between the two presented worlds. “UNDERGROUND creates a dreamy aura, but without losing its sense of realism.” Yiannis says and continues “By using simple idiolect we managed to create a visual poem without distracting the viewer with complicated semantics.”
Meet the creators
Yiannis Christoforou studied filmmaking at New York University's SCE and a Berlinale Talent Campus alumni. He started working in the industry as a film editor and from 2001 until this day, works as a director and producer in animation projects, documentaries and commercials.
His strong presence in the local and International festivals can be remarked from his award-winning projects “Toy Life” and “The departure”, for which he received awards.
Roos Mattaar is a Dutch stop motion artist. She studied art at the Bristol School of Animation in the UK. From the beginning, her talent was evident. Her graduation film Moonbird (2014) won the RTS Student Award. After graduating, she worked as a puppet maker for Mackinnon & Saunders and then for John Wright Modelmaking.
Her creativity, however, led her to the independent animation scene, where she continued working as a puppet maker and animator on award-winning music videos.
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