Joko
2024 · 15m · Germany, Poland, Czech Republic
Directed by Izabela Plucińska
Tones: absurdist, dark, darkly comic
A young factory worker named Joko supports his entire family until foreign delegates order him to carry them on his back; under peer pressure he complies, but red blisters erupt and each new rider permanently fuses to him in this grotesque plasticine allegory of exploitation and domination.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
600 handmade plasticine puppets, exploitation allegory where coworkers fuse to the worker's back forming permanent red blisters — that's properly grotesque, properly Eastern European, properly committed. Fifteen minutes. Yes.
Plucińska's plasticine allegory of exploitation, with delegates physically fusing to a worker carrying them — 600 handmade puppets, her own clay technique — is genuine Eastern European political animation in the lineage of Dimensions of Dialogue. Fifteen minutes; visceral and earned.
15:23 Izabela Plucińska plasticine allegory with 600+ handmade puppets using her self-developed clay technique (plasticine 'painted' for smooth color blending) — that's a signature material practice. Foreign-delegates-permanently-fused-to-your-back as an exploitation metaphor reads heavy-handed, but Plucińska's craft authority is real.
Reviews
A salty and sociological fable with a satirical twist. Mothers, lovers, masters and servants all come together in the end to make this one funny tall tale.
An extraordinary clay animation, exposing the absurd and grotesque reality of the world we live in.
Festivals
- Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2024, Best Original Music Award for Short Film
- Animafest Zagreb 2024, Grand Prix
- Animator International Animated Film Festival 2024, Grand Prix
- Etiuda & Anima International Film Festival 2024, Grand Prix Golden Żmij
- Manchester Animation Festival 2024
- Brooklyn Film Festival 2025
- Emile Awards 2025, Best Character Design and Backgrounds in a Short Film