Swallow's Tonada (in english) and Tonada de l'Hirondelle (en français)
Graduation film from la Poudrière, currently in festivals. Selections include Anima, Animac, Monstra, Oberhausen film festival…
I based this movie on a song I wrote, a tonada, which is a traditional folk music style from Venezuela. One of the most famous ones is Tonada de la luna llena, by Simón Díaz, which really inspired me for this film. I grew up surrounded by venezuelan food and stories, as my mother is from Caracas. Even if I never lived there, I wanted to make a film that would allow me to explore a part of its culture, of my culture in a way.
I was very lucky to work with Diego Ayala Raffali for the music and Dariana López for the voice, both venezuelans living in France. If you want to listen to a version of the film's song, click here.
The film follows Arianna as she slowly leaves anxiety and isolation behind. She then slowly reconnects with herself through touch, sound, taste… I used multiples animation techniques, ranging from rotoscopy, watercolor and stopmotion animation, which helped me create Arianna's sensorial journey.
