Film Director: Natalia Ryss.

Script: Natalia Ryss.

Artist: Natalia Ryss.

Animator: Natalia Ryss.

Producer: Natalia Ryss.

Composer: Dmitry Milovanov.

Sound: Dmitry Milovanov.

 

Natalia Ryss, director, script writer, artist, animator, editor. Was born in Rostov-on-Don. Graduated from Art College in Rostov-on-Don (designer) in 1988 and art‐graphic faculty of the Russian State University of Cinematography named after S. Gerasimov. She made about 9 animated shorts as an independent filmmaker and in collaboration with different studios of Moscow.

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Non-conventional structure of narration, expressive editing and mixing of different art-techniques (torn paper, drawing on glass and wet paper, self-created photo- and video-filters...) - is a distinctive style of her movies.

Since 2015 she lives in Haifa, Israel.

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Filming of "Itsihitanantsu" took a year and a half. The most difficult stage was searching for characters and stylistics, creating the film's visual atmosphere and immersing in the material. After the scenic solutions were found, animation and editing went smoothly.

In her film, Natalia Ryss turns to Madagascar folklore. The story is based on a fairy tale "The Itsihitanantsu, or Monster Boy, and a Clay Doll Smeared with Glue." The story, told via animation, offers a new finale and an entirely different interpretation. The cannibal monster is not only defeated by a sharp-witted old man, the villagers also sell it to sailors, and the werewolf finds itself in the heart of the civilized world – in Paris at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

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Apart from the unconventional narration and expressive rhythmic editing, the film draws attention with its original technique: torn fragments of magazines and newspapers form dynamic compositions. The technique reinforces the film dramaturgy, and creates an atmosphere typical of German expressionism. Not only the characters, but also the world around them is in constant motion. There are no static scenes and the characters do not stand out from the background: they are equal visual units; the film looks like it was shot with a shaking camera without a tripod. The author developed a complex and original technique of her own, she gathered compositions from scraps of real newspapers and magazines, and animated them on a computer. The effects of jumps, change of sharpness, frame shifts are a result of painstaking work, and an achievement of the author as an editor and director, since they were actually created manually, obeying the inner rhythm of the creator. The subtle work of composer Dmitry Milovanov strengthens the expression and events drama, emphasizes the dynamics of narration and animation.

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Natalia Ryss web page: http://brookesia.com/category/nr-portfolio/

Natalia Ryss Vimeo channel: https://vimeo.com/user1486275

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To watch the film "Itsihitanantsu":

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