Director's Statement
My stories are reflections of everyday life; biographies of people we can relate to; friends, eccentric relatives, and the colourful people we encounter in the street. I try to get a balance between humour and pathos, light and shade, comedy and tragedy. I invented a word to describe my films, clayographies, a portmanteau term combining clay and biographies.
As an auteur, I have to wear many hats. One of my favourite roles is the Production Designer. Melbourne had one of the longest covid lockdowns but luckily, I was able to spend my confinement prepping for the film. Over five months I hand drew the 1600 storyboard panels on pieces of paper then moved on to drawing the 200 characters, 200 sets and the thousands of props that needed to be handmade. For this film, I wanted to keep the materials and aesthetic simple, and use four basic materials: clay, wire, paper and paint. Too much stopmotion has become slick and reliant on 3D printers. I wanted to celebrate the clay, its lumps, bumps and imperfections.
I was born with a hereditary shake which I have incorporated into my aesthetic. Every asset had to look flawed, asymmetrical; as if made in a hurry or by someone who was drunk. My character's psyches are imperfect and so I wanted their appearance to match my drawings which are loose, gestural and naive. I have a holistic approach to my work and strive for originality. Art imitates life and vice versa; for me they are inseparable and both art and filmmaking have become my yoga.
Memoir of a Snail Memoir of a Snail
directed by Adam Elliot, written by Adam Elliot, cinematographer Gerald Thompson, editing Bill Murphy, animation supervisor John Lewis, music composer Elena Kats-Chernin, sound designer David Williams, producers Liz Kearney, Adam Eliott, production Arena Media, Screen Australia
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What's On
Nosferatu Nosferatu
Robert Eggers
Friday, 01. 08. 2025 / 21:30 / The Ljubljana Castle
In September 1924, one of the greatest masterpieces of the silent era, F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, was shown in a cinema on Kolodvorska Street. One hundred years later, Kinodvor presents a new version of the expressionist classic as envisioned by Robert Eggers.
Materialists Materialists
Celine Song
Saturday, 02. 08. 2025 / 21:30 / The Ljubljana Castle
Lucy works at a high-end matchmaking company trying to pair up moneyed entrepreneurs with elite bachelors and bachelorettes. When she meets Harry at the wedding of two of her successfully paired clients, she immediately knows that this ‘unicorn’ would be a perfect catch for a lot of her customers. But Harry is more interested in Lucy. And then her ex suddenly shows up… As we could expect from the director of Past Lives, Materialists is not exactly a romantic comedy about a matchmaker torn between two suitors, but rather a lucid examination of the contradictions of love and dating.
Flow Straume
Gints Zilbalodis
Sunday, 03. 08. 2025 / 16:50 / Main Hall
Cat is a solitary animal. However, as its home is devastated by a great flood, he finds refuge on a boat populated by various species, and will have to team up with them despite their differences. In this lonesome boat sailing through mystical flooded landscapes, they navigate the challenges and dangers of adapting to this new world. »A survival epic full of mysteries and magic, it’s an animated epic worthy of Ghibli.« – Time Out. »One of the most moving animated films in recent memory, and, beyond that, groundbreaking too.« – IndieWire. Oscar for Best Animated Feature.