Coot
Marlies van der Wel
Netherlands | 2023 | 2’15 | Italian Premiere
A coot and a ferry skipper peacefully coexist along a city river. Their harmony is disrupted when a new bridge emerges, causing the skipper to lose all his passengers overnight.
Fortunately, the bird, typically engrossed in nest-building, unexpectedly becomes the link that revitalizes the ferry’s purpose.
Marlies encapsulated the essence of community unity within a vibrant two-minute animation.
Writer: Marlies van der Wel
Producers: Gijs Kerbosch, Guusje van Deuren, Ingmar Conjarts
Animation: Tessa Stehouwer, Heleen Protheine, Amanda Nedermeijer, Lieke Milder
Music composer: Sjam Sjamsoedin
Sound design: Sharkee Haaifaai
Compositing: Luke Simpson
3D animation: Sjoerd Olislager
Marlies van der Wel
Marlies van der Wel (Soest, 1984) is a Dutch animator and illustrator whose short films have been recognized internationally at prestigious festival such as Berlinale, Toronto Film Festival and Sundance. Her award-winning shorts ‘Jonas and the Sea’ was published as children’s book. Addressing big themes in small packages, Marlies is known for using simple images and words to tell stories that are emotional (but not tearjerkers), universal (yet still personal) and light- hearted (with a healthy dose of humour).
