Lost and Found Fruit: An Animated Exploration of Queer Hope in a Dystopian World
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Zhang, Rai
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Bennett, Gregory
Ramsay, Emily
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Auckland University of Technology
Abstract
This practice-oriented research inquiry considers how a dystopian world, depicted in a storybook illustration style, forms the basis of an animated short film. Central to the film’s iconography is the metaphor of forbidden fruit, representing hope found through companionship and the authentic expression of queer identity. Drawing on dystopian literature ("We", "The Handmaid’s Tale", and "High-Rise"), and short animations ("Model Citizen", "Prince Ivan" and the "Clockwork Heart", "Ce fruit"), the research project depicts a dystopian world where knowledge is power, and knowing becomes an empowering force that cannot be controlled. The study is motivated by my personal interest in preserving individual freedom and self-expression in the face of political and social agents of invisibility and oppression. Using iterative drawing, storyboarding and animatics as methods, this short film demonstrates how a metaphor can convey empowering knowledge and the agency of hope in defiance of dystopic silence and oppression.