Tito and the Birds

Tito and his father love tinkering and constructing zany machines to learn more about the birds’ song. But Tito’s mother only sees the perils of these experiments and separates from Tito’s father, who from then on is believed to be missing. Years later, the inhabitants in the city where Tito, now ten years old, and his mother live are plagued by a “fright epidemic”: people turn into stones if they are suddenly scared. No one seems to be able to explain it or have a remedy at hand. When Tito’s mother and his best friend also begin to transform, Tito realises that he needs to find help. He happens upon his father, who continued his research and discovered that the local birds can play an important role in curing this ominous disease. By now, he has refined the madcap machines from the past. He never abandoned his mission, even though no one ever believed the machines would really work. Now, they even become the key factor in freeing the people from their misery: the birds’ song fights against evil.
“Tito and the Birds”, the animated film debut by Brazilian director Gustavo Steinberg, is a heroic story with unconventionally drawn characters in a dystopian world. Visually, the director has taken his very own path: the characters and settings are depicted in a signature style, with painting on glass not modelled on any classic forms. (xn)