From the Film Maker

My animation explores themes of the hero, the monster within and the saviour. A prominent religious icon, the dragon is also mentioned by Freud as having great significance when it appears in dreams. This quotation from ‘Man and His Symbols’ really inspired the narrative: ‘The hero… must realise that the shadow exists and that he can draw strength from it. He must come to terms with its destructive powers if he is to become sufficiently terrible to overcome the dragon.’ My film tells the story of a woman who takes on her father’s research into a rare sleeping disorder in which sufferers have realistic nightmares from which they can’t wake up. Using hand-drawn and digital elements from Adobe Flash and After Effects, I used the aesthetic to articulate the difference between waking and the unconscious. I focused on illustration and effects to create a piece that was crowded and claustrophobic.

Maliha Basak

A piece inspired by Gustave Moreau, Saint George and the Dragon, 1889-90