Shadow Puppets by Chuck Gamble is a 10-minute animation about the "Orwellian life of a man whose sole job is to push buttons — and discovers freedom by making shadow puppets. (Letterboxd)"
Animated in a stark black and white palette, this beautiful yet tragic story depicts a man's bleak existence in a totalitarian work where his only source of joy and freedom comes from making shadow puppets with his hands.
When an act of cruelty inflicted upon the man leads to the loss of his fingers, he must find another way to make his shadow puppets. This film was made in 1994 and featured at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival.
This is a phenomenal short animation with a lot of soul. It made me feel equal amounts of dread and hope. I love how the inked, sketchy, black and white animation style gives this film the feeling of an artistic comic book. The artistic originality of this film makes it stand out as a story of human cruelty and finding the light within the darkness.
