ARACHNE, 4min,. France
Directed by Clara ZÄNGERLIN
Arachné is a famous weaver. One evening, as she thinks of a negative review of her work, her questions and anxieties appear in the form of a double spider that she fights throughout the night.

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Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
I always liked fantasy, and I wanted to explore the psychology and fragility of a character. At school, I'd heard about the myth of Arachne. In ancient Greece, she was a famous weaver who was transformed by a goddess because of the pride she took in the success of her art. This story interested me because of the relationship between the artist, their art and the gaze of others. I also decided to adapt it to the 17th century, because it was the golden age of tapestry in Europe, and it's an era with an aesthetic that I love.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
The film was a graduation film first, so it took me about a school year, a little more, to make the film. I started the film in September 2022 and finished it in January 2024.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
I would say insecurities and art.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
The biggest obstacle was having to make the film alone. This was a choice made by my school. But I realized that it was many roles to manage at the same time: I had to be my art director, my background designer, my character designer, my 2D animator and the person managing exchanges with the voice actors and the composer, all at the same time. Fortunately, towards the end of production, some friends helped me with the clean of the animations.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
I think, at first I was a bit afraid of critics like Arachne. But right away, I was very pleased to find out what viewers thought of the film: what had caught their attention in the film and how they understood it. I would like to thank people who complimented the music choice. The composer, besides Bach, is Gorkem Agar, a talented Turkish composer who lives in France. About the color palette, it took time to figure out colors according to the story.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
I've always loved telling stories. It wasn't long before my love of storytelling turned to drawing. So naturally, I decided I wanted to tell stories through moving pictures.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
The film I've seen the most is Across the SpiderVerse, which came out last year. I had a bit of an obsession with it and went to see it 4 times in the cinema.What I appreciated most was the film's graphic richness, with varying artistic styles that correspond to different characters and yet find a way to work together.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
It was great to hear all the positive reviews. I'm grateful for that. However, I think it would be good to help the filmmakers if people also brought up how they could have done things differently, without going into gratuitous nastiness of course.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
I think the site is very well designed for updating the status of an application via the platform or the site.

11. What is next for you? A new film?
I would love to make new films, but this time as part of a team. We are already talking with some friends about animated shorts we would like to make as soon as possible.