The Fayum Mummy Portrait that Looks So Familiar

I remember discovering the Fayum mummy portraits (as a reader, rather than the Jesuit priest who did uncover some of them back in 1615) and have returned to them time and time again.  It is fascinating that realistic images of the faces of people who died so long ago can still be seen by us today. Dating from around the 1st to the 3rd centuries AD, roughly c. 30 BC to AD 300, they were produced in the Fayum area of Roman Egypt, mainly during the early Roman Imperial period, and were attached to mummies as realistic painted likenesses of the deceased.

In this video, Alexandra Olsman, one of Sotheby’s specialists in ancient sculpture and works of art takes a look at one in particular (and I guess it’s up for sale, this video being by an art broker). Unlike many of the portraits, this particular chap is obviously middle-aged (the majority are of young adults and children).  It’s an honest “warts and all” picture but what Olsman does is answer a question that has intrigued many.  Were these portraits drawn before or after the death of the “sitter”?  The answer is a little more complex than you might expect – and, of course, based on a certain amount of guess work as we do not know who these people were, let alone how or when they died.

Watch this fascinating video below:

Luger - Starring Hack Whitehall

Generation gaps often express themselves in viewpoints, perspectives and attitudes – and often those of the older generation can become to seem a little extreme to others. Kept within the family, they can be, well, swept under the carpet.  However, sometimes help has to be called and in Tom’s case he has turned to the services of a pair of very different nurses, Gloria and Helen to help look after his ailing nonagarian grandfather. 

The carers, played by Lolly Adefope (Ghosts - UK version) and Ellie White (The Windsors) sit down for a chat with Tom (Jack Whitehall) and he soon discovers things he never knew about his "grandpa", including the titular luger which he finds in a biscuit tin.  Whitehall is well known for his previous stirling comedic turns in Bad Education and Fresh Meat. This short film, directed by Freddie Waters (Peacock) and written by Freddy Syborn (Bad Education) stands out because it is so character driven (it mostly takes place in a single room), rather than depending on a big budget or flashy setting to interest the viewer.  Each character is beautifully written and acted and we get a real feel for the personalities involved in this “situation” comedy. 

Watch Luger below:

Forevergreen

Forevergreen tells the story of an orphaned bear cub, rescued from almost certain death by a benign spirit of the forest – which in this case comes in the shape of an old and wise evergreen tree.  The tree teaches the young cub how to survive and a parent-child bond is created between the two.  That is, until the cub reaches those difficult teenage years and is accidentally introduced to the allure of fast food left behind by humans.  A chain of events is set in motion in which desperate decisions must be made…

This charming animated short, written and directed by Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears was created by a team of over 200 people who all donated their free time to create what is a beautiful piece of visual storytelling.  As you can imagine, as it was an after hours project, it took some time to make – over five years in fact.  On a simple level it works as an extended metaphor – don’t give your kids junk food.  Flippancy aside, Forevergreen tells a simple yet profound tale of sacrifice and parenthood and how this can spread out, like the leaves of a tree, over generations.

Watch Forevergreen below.

Frankfurt Hyperlapse

Frankfurt in Germany has been around for at least 1200 years, so it has amassed a certain amount of history in those years. Much of it was destroyed during the Second World War and reconstructed later but today the city hosts a myriad of gleaming new tower blocks in the banking district, too.  Kirill Neiezhmakov has been making timelapse and hyperlapse films for years and I am not sure whether this is the first time he has captured Frankfurt on film, but the results are compelling to say the least.   In this hyperlapse, he experiments with seamless AI morphing transitions to go from one place in the city to another and I must say that they work a treat.

Kirill approached the shoot knowing time and conditions were against him. Heavy rain, dark skies and the loss of his folding bike limited his mobility, reducing a planned three-day shoot to barely a day and a half. Despite this, he captured 20 hyperlapse sequences, selecting 17 for the final film. The dramatic weather became an asset, with dense, rolling clouds contrasting sharply against Frankfurt’s steel-and-glass skyline. Kirill also continued his AI morphing experiments, seamlessly transforming old and new architecture. Each hyperlapse was created manually, moving the tripod frame by frame to achieve a natural, organic flow.

Windy Day

I love a visual, extended metaphor in the morning.  This animated short by students from the École des Nouvelles Images in France has the tagline “Wind carries away destinies.”  However, I think it is truer to say that this particular wind drives people to them.  The story is very simple, but beautifully told.  In a park we meet the various people enjoying their time there – a young couple with their child, and even younger couple discovering love for the first time, an old man with his dog and the harassed businessman trying to do a little work while having his lunch.  All are destined to meet the wind – but what will become of them?

This charming animation was directed by Martin Chailloux, Ai Kim Crespin, Élise Golfouse, Chloé Lab, Hugo Taillez, and Camille Truding, with an original score by Camille Riey (MAAAV). It was produced by Julien Deparis, and the sound mix was created by Pierre-François Renouf.