Discover Samantha Moore’s mystical animation Treasure
We are pleased to share Samantha Moore’s archaeological inspired animation Treasure online on the Summer Solstice.
The animation is inspired by the discovery of the Shropshire sun pendant in 2018, which was the most significant finding of a Bronze Age artefact in Europe in the last hundred years. Its pristine crafting, evoking the rays of the sun, calls into question everything we think that we know about the community that made and eventually sacrificed it. Samantha Moore worked with a team of archaeologists and historians from Shropshire and the British Museum to ensure this representation is authentically portrayed.
Treasure tells two irrevocably intertwined stories, centuries apart; a treasure hunter’s tenacious search through the Shropshire Marches (a stunning, rural area on the border between England and Wales), and a community led by a mother whose precious sacrifice provides a connection through the ages.
Watercolour paintings and hand drawn animation create a timeless and beautiful celebration of the enduring power of love and human connection. Layers of colour, light, and texture bring to life the atmospheric, 3,000-year-old narratives that have shaped the landscape of Shropshire.
Added to this, Elizabeth Purnell’s score beautifully carries the emotional weight of a community centred on the sun, and a man whose obsession leads him to discover a spectacular treasure.
Treasure was first presented in exhibition at Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery in autumn 2021 and has since been screened at festivals including Norwich Film Festival, British Shorts, Athens Animafest, On the Pulse Festival and Animafest Zagreb. At the Midlands Movie Awards 2022, Treasure won Best Animated Film, and was also nominated for Best Short Film, and Best Music.
Samantha Moore previously collaborated with Animate Projects on the production of award-winning, animated documentaries Bloomers (2019) and Loop (2016), and together they have just completed A Language of Shapes (2022), a fairytale based on the scientific research of the Mostowy Lab at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Treasure is a film by Samantha Moore, produced by Animate Projects, commissioned by Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery and funded by BFI NETWORK via Film Hub Midlands, awarding funds from the National Lottery.
