A Different Dish

A magical story of a mother and son struggling to come to terms with each others way of life. This is an often comic and always poignant tale of a mother entrenched in her traditional values and who cannot understand that her son is gay. He can't abide her old-fashioned beliefs. The Moroccan setting is beautifully created through a rich tapestry of live-action footage, painted images and stop-motion puppets.

(Live Action) Mother, Son, Rabbi Solomon, Dancers

Release date is that of screening at the Hiroshima International Animation Festival.

Filmmakers' statement:

A Different Dish was born out of the collaboration of students at the National Film and Television School, a rich history of rabbis and spiritual healers living in North Africa and particularly prevalent in the middle of the last century. They were revered among local communities for their wisdom and healing powers. A huge amount of superstition existed around them and many would make pilgrimages from distant villages to visit a rabbi reputed for particular powers. They often would have connections with certain illnesses and usually had a certain symbol or animal attached to them which represented certain spirits that they were in touch with in the demon world. Our rabbi was loosely based on Rabbi Solomon the Snake, Shay Hamias's distant ancestor.

Rabbi Solomon was a patron for marriage and fertility. He was also a bit of a mystery and a controversial figure&he practiced Islam as well as Judaism and was cautiously accepted by both faiths. He spread an air of peace and tolerance, but he also became widely reputed for apparently communicating with the spirits of the underworld and even marrying one. Despite his contentious behaviour, people from all faiths flocked to him for advice and blessing.

Reading these histories and legends excited our minds and we began to think how these rabbis related to our worlds and soon the story was forming around us. We wanted to look at the changing world, the meeting of two cultures. To explore how the modern and the traditional could influence each other. We wanted to show that with a bit of willing on both sides, you can begin to understand anyone, and fundamentally that the strength of family can unite you no matter how far you seem to drift from each other. Understanding can be an empowering gift.

Andras Gerevich came on board as writer and was crucial in shaping the story for us, helping portray the universal themes that the crew was drawn to.

Shay is a hugely talented animator with a strong gift for story-telling. He wanted to use stop-motion puppets to build on previous work he had done, notably with "Sarah Beanie's Freak Circus." We also decided to incorporate some other formats to create a rich tapestry of a film. Filming live-action plates for the background and using dancers to represent the ethereal spirit world were natural choices as Shay has a lot of experience in filming dance. Finally everything would be assembled in the computer in a 2 ½ D world rich with texture.

We were keen to create a story with real heart, but that had a sense of humour also and our actors were key to this. David had such tremendous range as the Rabbi and seemed to fit the role instantly 'despite having a thick English accent! Our Mother, Myriam Acharki, has been working in England for some years and has a wonderfully warm bubbly presence that seeped through to her performance, and Dhafer L'abidine captured our Son's wrenching position as he comes to terms with who he is and tries to rekindle his relationship with his mother.

The process was long, as with most animation, but hugely rewarding as we saw each element develop and gradually come together as one vibrant piece of film.