'Freedom or comfort which would you choose?'

This poem is taken from the book Recital - An Almanac

Written, Produced & Spoken by John Siddique
Music by Katie Chatburn
Animation and Concept by Daniel Spellman
Art Direction, Supervision, & Co-production by Walter Santucci

Elder Moon is one of a series of 13 animated films based on a sequence of poems from Recital -- An Almanac (Salt). The poems are based on the Full Moons of the year and the Celtic mythology which names each moon after a letter in the ancient tree alphabet. Elder Moon is a Shamanic poem in that it seeks though the meaning of the text and the rhythm of the poetry to create a space in which awareness can evolve and healing can take place.

The film was created when I was British Council Poet in Residence at California State University in Los Angeles. Made with determination, love, and goodwill. Animation director Walter Santucci, his students, friends and myself set to work before passing the pieces to composer Katie Chatburn. My aim was to gave each artist a free hand in what they came up with in response to the poems, interjecting as lightly as possible.

Another new film will be released at the next full moon.

Please support our work by sharing this film far and wide. You can also support future work such as this by picking up a copy of Recital through your local bookstore, it is important for the future of the arts that we also act in the offline world. If you would like to show this film at a screening, festival or as a TV broadcast - please get in touch as we are keen for the work to be seen.

johnsiddique.co.uk
katiechatburn.com
evilcatland.com
saltpublishing.com