LIAF 2024: The Hyperboreans - Feature

Filmmakers Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña are a Chilean stop-motion animator duo based in Santiago, collaborating since 2007. Their experimental films reinterpret Latin America's religious symbolism and magical rituals, employing techniques like photography, drawing, sculpture, dance, and performance.

This, their second feature film 'The Hyperboreans', begins with a washed-out, blurry TV screen, emphasising the filmmakers' obsession with the power of images. This collagistic fairy tale, infused with Carl Jung's ideas and the occult, uses stop-motion, Brechtian theatre, and silent film to explore Nazism's disturbing legacy in Chile. Filled with peculiar humour and existential dread, The Hyperboreans is a masterful yet unsettling work of art. It weaves together themes from Chilean history, the occult, right-wing conspiracy theories, and Jungian psychology. Directors Cristobal Leon and Joaquin Cocina expertly unify these elements into a deeply entertaining experience. Mind-blowing!

This programme is screening as part of the 2024 London International Animation Festival, a 10 day event across London and online from November 22 to December 1.
Please visit liaf.org.uk/ for the full festival details and schedule