Away

“Away” is the debut feature film of the Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis, whose film tells of a fantastic journey which essentially leads through the human unconscious. As the only survivor of a plane crash, a young boy wakes up on a deserted island. The island is not completely uninhabited, however, for there are various animals and a sluggish monster, a sort of walking shadow that is after everyone’s blood and “sucks” it from those who do not defend themselves against it. To find his way back to humans, the boy must get to the other side of the island. His first and most difficult test on this journey is his encounter with the monster. It follows the boy slowly yet persistently – just like the fears we all must face again and again. Only when we look fear in the eye can we continue to move forward.
Gints Zilbalodis avoids any reference to emotionality. This means the boy – the only human being on the island – has a distinctly expressionless face. Even courage and friendship are detached. Nevertheless, the film has a profoundly psychological dimension. It is as if the boy were trying to wriggle out of a nightmare. And just like in a dream, when we want to scream or run away but can’t, time and space, tempo and volume do not conform to conventional ideas in this sometimes meditative, sometimes dynamic film.
Like the animation film pioneers of the last century, Gints Zilbalodis made his film all by himself, including the computer animation, editing and music. “Away” is an impressive example of how free and independent an animator can be in their work – and, in the case of Zilbalodis, how he uses financial and technical constraints to his advantage. The film recently won the Contrechamp Award in Annecy.