A Short Vision (1956)

Country of Origin: UK
Year of Production: 1956
Running Times: 10 mins
Length: 600 ft
Format: Eastmancolor
Ratio:
Sound:

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Company: BFI Experimental Fund
Producers: Peter Foldes, Joan Foldes

SCRIPT
Script: Peter Foldes, Joan Foldes

DIRECTION
Directors: Joan Foldes, Peter Foldes

ANIMATION
Animation: Joan Foldes, Peter Foldes

MUSIC
Music: Matyas Seiber

PLOT SUMMARY

A mysterious force appears in the sky and obliterates everything in its path, razing the countryside and levelling whole cities. In the poignant final image, all that remains is a small flame about which flutters a solitary moth, itself eventually devoured by the flame.

CAPSULE REVIEW

A horrifying short animation made by Joan and Peter Foldes under the auspices of the BFI Experimental Fund. A potent warning of the dangers of nuclear war, it depicts an allegorical act of mass destruction so powerful and unsettling that this brief but cautionary tale prompted the BBFC to make it the first British animated film to be awarded an 'X' certificate.

AVAILABILITY

UK
Theatrical Distributors: British Film Institute Experimental Fund / Intercontinental

TIMELINE

1956
July
Day Unknown: UK - theatrical release

2003
November
3: UK - start of a series of screenings at the Tate Britain, London, as part of the A Century of Artist's Films in Britain season. Shown daily from this point onwards.

2004
January
25: UK - last screening in A Century of Artist's Films in Britain season at the Tate Britain, London.

KEYWORDS

animation, end of the world, moths

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009