Director: Lee Whitmore
Script: Lee Whitmore
Animation: Lee Whitmore
Photography: Gerald Thompson
Editor: Lucinda Clutterbuck
Music: Burkhard Dallwitz
Poem read by: Patricia Wenger
Production: Ronin Films
Country: Australia
Year: 2019
Length: 13’35”
Awards: Best Animation Short Film Sydney Film Festival 2019
A teacher reads a poem based on a Persian legend to her class of teenage girls. The poem comes to life in an unexpected way.
Lee Whitmore is an independent Australian animator. She began her career working as a graphic artist
and illustrator of children’s books. In 1974 she studied stage design at the National Institute of Dramatic Art
and so began an involvement in the dramatic arts and film. As production designer Lee designed several
short films and two Australian feature films. She was nominated for an Australian Film Institute award for
her work on both these films. In 1984 Lee made her first animated film, Ned Wethered. Her second film, On
a Full Moon was completed in 1997 and was a prize winner at the Annecy and Hiroshima film festivals. Ada
was made for SBS Television in 2002. The Safe House was produced by Film Australia for SBS Independent
in 2006. This won the Yoram Gross Award for Best Animation atthe 2006 Sydney Film Festival and the
Australian Teachers of Media, ATOM Award. In 2018 Lee completed Sohrab and Rustum. This won the
Sydney Film Festival 2019 award for Best Animation. It has been shown around the world.