In A Way of Being, the Israel-based director Kobi Vogman fashions a rich stop-motion tale from wood and wool. The wordless short follows the journey of a human-like figure as it journeys away from a chair, which is seemingly a place of great comfort, and into a misty void. Vogman and his team explore this exceptionally simple premise with meticulous craft and care. Expressive strings and an ambient soundscape crescendo to a tumultuous storm as the figure finally untethers and leaps into the unknown. Through this swirl of sound and movement, the work communicates acute emotions – respite, anxiety, fear, relief – without the benefit of facial expressions. It’s storytelling is dazzlingly distilled – straightforward, but with subtle contours surely familiar to anyone who’s ever navigated a fraught, foggy journey of their own, and emerged stronger for it.
An animated figure’s world grows enigmatic when he begins to doubt reality
Directed by Jeong Dahee
