Belgian animators Eve Deroeck and Mélanie Tourneur base “Looper” on a song by Témé Tan, the alias of Congolese-born Tanguy Haesevoets. Haesevoets’ first musical memories are of the rumba records his uncles played at family reunions and the zouk tapes his cousins favoured. After travelling in Andalucía, Japan and Guatemala, it was in Belgium that Témé Tan finally settled and shaped his sound.
Deroeck and Tourneur have distinctly different animation styles but they come together in a great collaboration. Deroeck typically creates long angular figures with smooth dance moves while Tourneur’s animation style is characterised by whimsical half-human, half-animal figures and dense forestry. However, both of their bodies of work consist of illustrations and animations with strong animal instincts and jewel tones.
The animators tap into the dense jungle feeling Haesevoets evokes in his music and fashion the animated film from it. The video is set in a dark blue forest with nocturnal fox men and bird women who, awakened by nightfall, dance agilely around one another and a large campfire. The animations move swiftly into one another and transform into something unexpected as you watch.
Towards the end the animation gets progressively stranger and more beautiful. “Looper” is ultimately a short film that depicts feelings of pleasure and festivity. This hypnotic and surreal film will make you wish you had the stamina for an all-nighter.
