A wintry poem about the Nordic nature. The sun moves low and days get shorter. Birds fly South, porcelain animals and insects hide from the freezing wind and snow. Only a small porcelain girl wanders the abandoned landscape with no way out. Original Title Linnud läinud Year of production 2024 Length 11' CountryEstonia/Lithuania Shooting Format Paillard Bolex H16 REX-3 Aspect Ratio1.33:1 Language No Dialogue
Director Anu-Laura Tuttelberg Production Fork Film, ART SHOT, Moon Birds Studios Producer Marianne Ostrat Co-producers Agne Adomene, Anu-Laura Tuttelberg Writer Anu-Laura Tuttelberg Characters and Production Design Anu-Laura Tuttelberg Cinematographers Anu-Laura Tuttelberg, Francesco Rosso Cinematographers in Studio Urmas Jõemees, Raivo Möllits Key AnimatorAnu-Laura Tuttelberg Additional Animators Margrethe Danielsen, Olga Stalev, Hung Huei Jen Production Assistants Daniel Irabien Peniche Puppetmakers Anu-Laura Tuttelberg, Heigo Eeriksoo, Ene Mellow, Taivo Müürsepp, Patricia Rodrigues, Olga Stalev Editors Daniel Irabien Peniche, Silvija Vilkaite-Ramanauske Composer Maarja Nuut Sound DesignOlga Bulygo Image Post-production Studio Just Color Colorist Justinas Vencius
Director's Statement On Weary Wings Go By is a stop-motion film shot in nature with porcelain puppets as characters. The film expresses the arrival of winter in the Nordic nature. The sun moves low above the horizon, the days get shorter and shorter. Linnud läinud... is the beginning of a proverb in Estonia that describes the birds leaving and giving way for the winter to come. The film was shot throughout 3 winters on the North coasts of Estonia and Norway. The porcelain puppets were animated outdoors in nature. While I was animating one shot at a time from sunrise to sunset those 3 winters are concentrated into the 10-minute short film to show one season in the life of the porcelain creatures. While animating puppets in nature the light conditions change constantly in the background. The smooth animation of the puppets versus the hectic changing nature around them creates a peculiar presence of time passing by rapidly and brings out the essence and charm of the stop-motion technique The film is shot with an old 16 mm Bolex camera. The 16 mm film gives a special feeling of materiality and texture to the film. It is the second film in a composition of three films depicting different seasons. The first film Winter In The Rainforest (2019) shot in the Mexican jungle was about the summer season, On Weary Wings Go By is about autumn and winter, and finally, the third film will be about spring.
