A story about holocaust victims
We have worked with @romatrial and @stiftungdenkmal to produce an animated short film about the stories of the victims and survivors of the National Socialist crimes against the European Sinti and Roma. The animation is part of the supplementary open-air exhibition of the memorial that opened on October 24, 2022 and will be accessible to the public permanently.
We were tasked to create the animation for the Ujvari family and the story is centered around the youngest family member Adam Ujvari, who died at the age of two. It was an unknown tragic story that happened during a horrific historic time, and sadly, it’s still a relevant topic that echoes many unknown tragic stories in current times. Therefore, we decided to take on this challenging task and wish more people will know baby Adam through our animation.
Our animation style has always been more fun and colorful, and we took a very different direction this time. We did a lot of research and exploration to finalize the treatment. The goal is not only to bring Adam’s story to life truthfully, but also to infuse warmth for the cold and tragic history and provide hope for being better in the future.
RESEARCH of the events
The world we created for Austria in 1940 is stylized, but we also need to make sure the way we present it is true to how it was back then. We have done extensive research on the historical images to help us craft each of the scenes properly.
Tragically there were no survivors alive today from the Lackenbach concentration camp so it is difficult to know how the living situation was back then, but with the help of the historian from the foundation, we were able to bring them to life with factual details.
The toughest part of this project is to create the images of the entire Ujvari family. Since all the family members did not survive the holocaust, we have no photo evidence of how they look except one photograph of Adam. Although we basically have to create the whole family based on our own imaginations, every detail such as their faces, their figures, their clothes as well as their hairs were inspired and referenced from actual historic images from that time.
The Memorial
The Memorial to the Sinti and Roma of Europe Murdered under National Socialism was solemnly opened to the public on 24th October 2012. With it, the Federal Republic of Germany symbolically acknowledges its responsibility for the National Socialist genocide of the Sinti and Roma. On the occasion of its ten year anniversary, an open air exhibition curated by the Foundation will be opened next to the Memorial.
Nine animated short films were produced and displayed for the exhibition. They are the stories of the victims and survivors of the National Socialist crimes against the European Sinti and Roma. These films will be permanently accessible at the Memorial to the Murdered Sinti and Roma of Europe.
These films also premiered at the opening screening at the sixth International Festival of Romani Film AKE DIKHEA? on 24 October 2022.
