A is for Ant
2025 · 10m · UK
Directed by Jack Davison
Genres: animation, experimental, family
Tones: dark, surreal, whimsical
A surrealist journey through a children's alphabet book where each letter is represented by an animal — playfully characterized by both actors in handmade costumes and live creatures, created in the spirit of early avant-garde movements like Surrealism and Dada.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Renowned photographer's debut as a surrealist alphabet book with handmade animal costumes and live creatures — the Svankmajer/Quay lineage is high-bar, and 'A is for Ant' as an entry into Dada is a real swing. Curious.
Jack Davison is a major still photographer, and reimagining the alphabet book through Quay-and-Švankmajer surrealism is a precise debut gesture — handmade costumes alongside live animals is the right material vocabulary. Worth following closely.
Photographer Jack Davison's first film with actors in handmade costumes, real animals, and stop-motion in the Svankmajer/Quay lineage — that's the right reference set for an alphabet-book-as-surrealism brief. Ten minutes, 11K views, and a serious BTS conversation with Shona Heath suggests this isn't a one-off lark.
Reviews
While the tone feels dark and eerie enough for adults, there's a sense of earnestness and an appropriately handmade quality to the film, and despite the lo-fi feel, there's joy to be found in the film's intricate details.
An imaginative and clever project, filled with unexpectedly striking photographs, all wrapped up in a tightly thoughtful design — undoubtedly one of the most joyful and surreal projects recently published.
Festivals
- Brooklyn Film Festival 2025