Director/animator Frédéric Schuld at Fabian&Fred in Hamburg, Germany: “The idea for the film is based on an early childhood memory of a bird falling down my grandparent’s fireplace. It is one of those vague memories that stay with you.

“After researching the systematic abuse of the 19th-century children chimney-sweepers, I connected the dots. Like in my previous film Carlotta’s Face I use hand-drawn 2D animation with a personal style to create unique access to a multi-layered story of fate through metaphoric images.

“The main challenge was to find the right visual approach and setting for the story while working on a very tight budget.”
 

 
Production: Fabian&Fred
Director/animator: Frédéric Schuld