Station of the Dead

Soyoung Park

Czech Republic

Synopsis

In this animated short, a girls learns a method for making soup for the dead, and in the process learns a lesson about life.

REVIEW

One of the most innovative and touching shorts on the festival program this year, "Station of the Dead" utilizes an intriguing style of stop-motion animation to depict a parable about life and death. Two figures, one seemingly older woman and one younger female apprentice, occupy a strange realm that appears to be a gateway to the afterlife. When the clock chimes, depositing a soul into their realm, the older woman stirs a spoon in a pot and serves a bowl of soup in a shell to the new visitor. This act is what allows the soul to pass peacefully into the afterlife. The older cook teaches the younger cook how to stir the pot with the tenderness and patience of someone who is teaching their own successor. The art and images in this film are chillingly beautiful, and sound is employed with superb grace. A unique rumination on life and death.

-Michae J. LoPresti