If You Have Never Wanted to Visit the Dolomites, You Will After You Watch This

The Dolomites are one of those places that once seen are never forgotten.   Located in northeastern Italy, they form a part of the Southern Limestone Alps and they were recently visited by filmmaker Michael Shainblum.  The aerial shots are by shot by Andrew Studer.  Together these very talented men perfectly capture the changing weather conditions around these most mystical, enigmatic of mountains.

Is Nuclear the Answer?

Difficult question of the day #283 – in order to reduce carbon emissions, should we go down the nuclear path, at least for a while?  That and a number of associated questions are answered in this video made for the Science Museum in the UK by tinmouse.  The knee-jerk reaction might be a “no” – of course there are dangers involved.  However, when weighed up against the alternatives, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps…

Take a look at the video below.  It make help you make up your mind about where you stand!

Dare to be Fabulous

Alessandro is a gangster’s son – and as such he has an awful lot to live up to.  He desperately want to prove himself to his father, but despite being forbidden to do so, decides to rob a new night club in order to show that he can live up to what he believes are the family’s expectations of him.  However, when he and his accomplice get to the club, they discover that robbing its denizens might prove a more challenging prospect than they anticipated.  And Alessandro is for one great big surprise into the bargain.

There are tropes at work here - the desperate son seeking a father’s approval, the heist gone wrong, the double life - but they’re handled with such panache and confidence that the story feels fresh and full of heart. In fact, it plays with gender performance and expectation in ways that evoke Victor/Victoria, but with a contemporary pulse and cinematic finish that belies its student origins. It's sharply paced, beautifully designed, and emotionally satisfying. So, congratulations to all involved — especially the directors João Buosi, Yangjia Chen, Adam Meziane Philipps, Carla Sampaio da Silva, Xinxin Qin, and Zhen Zhou, student filmmakers from the renowned Gobelins school of visual communication and animation in Paris.

Watch Dare to be Fabulous below.

Hidden Treasures: The Socio-political Cartoons of Winsor McCay

Winsor McCay, cartoonist and animator died in 1934 but he set the standard in animated movie making that others, including Walt Disney, were duty bound to follow.

He was also well known for his newspaper comic strips, Gertie the Dinosaur and Little Nemo in Slumberland. However, his socio-political cartoons have been somewhat overlooked, perhaps because of the success of his strips and animations.

Here is a selection of those cartoons from the years 1929 and 1930 – in some ways very similar to our own. 80 years may separate the days the cartoons were drawn but has so much really changed? Image Credit Flickr User Anna Jumped

Image Credit Alan Light

The debate still rages today (both at home and abroad) about US interventionist policies in other countries.  At the end of the 20s isolationism - almost the opposite - took a significant hold on both the people and the politicians.  The crash of '29 made the country more inward looking and determined to fix its own problems rather than interfere with those overseas.  For McKay, who spent the last eight years of his life at The American newspaper creating editorial cartoons for Arthur Brisbane, his flair for cartoons put him in the right place at the right time. His job was to engage the reader’s eye and so persuade them to read the editorial. As such he was to tackle many of the social issues of the day, including the economy, prohibition and human nature in general.

What do You Have to do to Get a Drink Around Here?

Image Credit Flickr User Wildxplorer

From the largest mammal to the tiniest insect we all have to drink. If we don’t we die. Over at the Ark in Space they are focusing on the little guys, the ones which you can hardly imagine need much water. Indeed, sometimes they can be in danger of being carried away in their enthusiasm to sate their thirst. Thanks to some wonderfully macrophotography we get to see this most vital of functions being carried out – with some gusto – by a host of insects. Drink up!

The Spirits of Yakushima

This is something truly atmospheric.  Last year, director Steve Atkins took a hike through a Japanese forest.  The result?  Inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke, plus the (easily believable) idea that Yakushima’s forest are inhabited by spirits, this remarkable piece of film shows us the island moss-covered wooded landscapes with ancient cedars in abundance.  It doesn’t just look like a mythical world – it is one.

Hats off, too, to  Rob Martland for the haunting soundtrack.

Living The Dream

We’re a little late to this particular party, but give us a break.  We were only introduced to the animation work of Ben Meinhardt  recently, when he released the deliriously adorable “We’re Kinda Different” a few week ago.  Please check that out, too, if you have a moment.  However, this song is for all of you us who find things in common with the hero.

It is very short – but it delivers its message and once you have done that, why hang around? Emily Dickinson once said “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tune without the words - and never stops - at all."  Well, this particular ditty does have words (which will probably implant themselves in your head and keep coming back, probably in an ironic way).  Meinhardt himself optimistically announces this animation with – “Another in my I Hope This Doesn't Age Well Series”.  See, it springs eternal, it really does.

The Remarkable Teamwork of Weaver Ants

Over at our sibling site, arkinspace, there is a feature on the remarkable weaver ant.  When they need to make themselves a new home (and the way that they do it is hinted at in their name!) then a little teamwork goes a long way.  It may seem impossible, but slowly but surely they work together to make themselves (and their offspring) a new home.  Learn more about this fascinating species at arkinspace.

Yakka - Award Winning Australian Short Film

The devil, so they say, will make work for idle hands.  So it is with brothers Luke and Riley, the dual protagonists of  Yakka.  You can tell from the outset that, if they were in some suburban area with alternative company, that they would probably not have the time of day for each other – chalk and cheese.  However, they’re stuck in the middle of a secluded Australian estuary and they are, effectively, the only company that they have.

Their father is neglectful – and the film more than hints that their relationship with him is one of fear and violence.  There is no mother to be seen (no doubt she scarpered a long time ago) and the boys seem borderline feral, bruised, unkempt and unhappy.  This makes Yakka sound like a gloom fest, but it really isn’t – not that you’re going to see any pole-dancing unicorns here either, that’s for sure.  What it does do, really well, is paint a picture of the strained relationship between two very different brothers who, without proper parental care, have learned how to  fend for themselves (with all the resultant consequences of their choices).

Starring real-life brothers, Jiya and Javi Vander Straaten (above, with Grant Lyndon, who puts in a brief but assured appearance as their father), Yakka was written and directed by award-winning Australian filmmaker JackShepherd. The film has won a number of award, including Best Film at Port Shorts Film Festival 2024, Best Director at Canberra Short Film Festival 2024, Best Live Action Film at Sydney Lift Off Festival 2024, Best Cinematography at Sydney Lift Off Festival 2024 and Best Cinematography at Global (UK) Lift Off Festival 2025.

Watch Yakka below.

A Teenager Brings a Pop Star to Tears by Covering His Song on Live TV

This is great. In one of the most emotional moments ever broadcast on France’s The Voice Kids, 14-year-old Louis D stunned the nation - and the show’s judges - when he sang Si j’avais su ("If I Had Known"), a heartbreakingly personal ballad by French singer Claudio Capéo. We don’t normally cover this kind of show on Kuriositas because you have probably have seen it on your own devices before, but most of you reading this are English speakers (if I am to believe the stats!) and may well not have had the opportunity to watch this before.

What made the performance so extraordinary wasn’t just Louis’s vocal ability or maturity. It was the fact that Claudio Capéo himself was sitting just a few metres away - serving as one of the show’s coaches. And the song Louis chose was written by Capéo in memory of his late grandmother.  It’s a song filled with pain – if I had known being the chorus trigger…

“If I had known… I would have told you all the things that I had never told you… that your skin smells like roses… that your wrinkles resemble the waves where children swim.”
“If I had known… that time doesn’t wait… that it would be the first time I saw you for the last time… I would have hugged you tight… I would have said goodbye a bit better.”

You get it. As Louis sang the raw, grief-filled lyrics (now popular at French funerals), Capéo’s face told the story: a mixture of disbelief, pride, and visible emotion. By the final note, he was overcome. All four coaches turned their chairs - a rare unanimous endorsement - and Capéo, visibly moved, rushed to embrace the young singer. “You turned my heart inside out,” he said. “It’s the first time I’ve lived something like this.”

Louis went on to become a finalist in the 2024 season of The Voice Kids France, ultimately placing third. But many will remember him not for the trophy he didn’t win—but for the one-of-a-kind moment he created.

The song, Si j’avais su, is a melancholic reflection on lost chances and unsaid goodbyes. For Louis to interpret it so powerfully at such a young age - and in front of its creator - felt like something more than a talent show moment. It was a shared human experience, captured live.

Even if you’ve never heard of either singer, this short clip might just stop you in your tracks.