Ahwak Runaway

This film was made at the Ölands folkhögskola last week, during a two-day animation workshop. The students chose Kanye West's #Runaway film to work with. We selected a sequence and each student was given one second (25 frames) to reinterpret in any way they wanted.

Most of them printed out the frames, some worked digitally. They began drawing, painting, gluing flowers, and even foil paper onto their frames, playing with masks and blending modes and layering in Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects, and worked late into the night to create this beautiful piece.

As we were putting the frames together the next afternoon, trying to beat the deadline, we were asking ourselves what to do with the sound. At the same moment, one of the girls began to play a song from #Syria on her phone; Jamal Slitine's Hobbi Lak.

It fit beautifully.

The title means "I love you Runaway." We wanted to acknowledge the two cultural forces that we have reinterpreted to make this piece.

I had so much fun with the students. Absolutely amazing. Thank you to all of them for their curiosity and creativity, it has been a refreshing experience. What a superbly fulfilling workshop!?

Thank you so very much, Malin Lindmark Vrijman and Mathieu Vrijman for inviting me to be part of your school for a couple of days, and supporting us throughout. Thank you to Ölands Folkhögskola for allowing a space in which your students can experiment freely and make discoveries every day.