Filmmaker Statement

Inspired by half-memories of the 80s cartoons of my childhood and the work of cinematographer Robby Müller, THE ROLE is a deeply personal journey down the boulevard of broken dreams. A bleakly comic ode to the existential horrors of failing to live up to people's expectations. As with my previous animations, the film was hand-drawn with ballpoint pen and shot on an iPhone, a lo-fi process that lends it the feel of an artefact from the analogue age. For the first time I worked in a 16:9 aspect ratio, to conjure the epic scope of a dreamlike American landscape.