The Icebreakers

On a bright winter's day, in the land of fluffy hills and frosted trees Piglet and his best friend Cow are having fun, ice-skating on a lake. Here's another fantastic flip performed by Piglet but suddenly a strange 'boom!' comes out of nowhere: they see a monstrous Fish staring at them from underneath. Scared to death they run off quickly but Piglet loses his skate so he must go back and this time he notices that the eyes are rather sad, not scary - they are actually asking for help! Vigorously trying out all means of upside down communication, they finally get it: fish need to breath, they are dying! A way to drill a hole is found but what a shame, Cow is stuck in it, upside down! A mysterious new world she sees in the water when suddenly the Fish opens its mouth as if ready to eat poor Cow but ...ah! The Fish actually saved her: with a massive stream of water it spouted Cow back to the air. The friends hug each other, happy and thankful as all the fish around them, breathing freely.

Director’s statement
I am a father of two little girls. I see how every day they open a new piece of puzzle of how the world works, curiously perceiving the constructions of society that we built for them. Kids are very fast in separating good things from bad by building a big wall in between and very often when they meet someone who looks or acts differently, they immediately put them on the other side of this wall. Screening this metaphorical story I want to illustrate that wall as the ice of the lake - how important it is to be open and attentive to others, be them weaker, smaller or just different. Stop motion is the biggest passion of my life. This is my 2nd short and if the first one was a great adventure, this time i know what I am doing. :) It will be funny and exciting, with lots of gasps and pants. The materials and colors of the film will give a warm feeling, all set design (even ice and water) and of course puppets will be hand made, creating this supernatural feeling.