Edie Deffebach

A woman wakes up on a London night bus and is provoked by a series of passengers; setting her on a bloody journey of self-discovery.

Charting the particular, baffled and morbid character of English attitudes to mortality, The Animal Drums depicts the specific influence of urban space on the psyche. Recalling the tableu film-making of Peter Greenaway and the lyrical disjunction of Harold Pinter, The Animals Drums is one of the first significant British feature-length poetry-films of the 21st century. London disappears under the ground of the film’s ambiguous protagonist, who is half victim, half perpetrator. Gently mad, positively lost, we follow our host through the bounds of a changing, money-washed capital city. Fusing documentary technique, montage and theatrical set pieces, the film features appearances from authors like Iain Sinclair and Stewart Home, alongside actors like Edie Deffebach and Lotje Sodderland, The Animal Drums is unique representation of modern London in old England.

Over the course of one long, wintry day, Liv and Emilia struggle to salvage their precarious relationship.