The Stain

Mixed live-action and paper maché puppet animation. The disjointed debris of our childhood state still lurking within our adult consciousness act as a painful, disruptive force. A ghost-like little girl keeps tapping on a woman’s consciousness, demanding attention, recalling a traumatic childhood event and thus distorting the woman’s experience of the present.

The hero now looks a bit like one of those stick figures by Giacometti.

Made as one of a four part series exploring different aspects of women and the law, on which all the women animators involved researched and worked as a group, before then making individual films, each quite different in content, tone and style. Based on the real life experiences of Josie O Dwyer, the film uses her voice as commentary, taken from hours of taped conversation with the filmmaker. Different styles of drawing convey her emotions and the devastating effects detention and imprisonment have on young girls put away 'for their own protection'.