Memoir of a Snail
The body is a cage, but for Grace Poodle—created by Oscar winner Adam Elliot—it’s the refuge into which she withdraws, just like her pet gastropods. Gracie guides us through her heartbreaking life-story with lovely stop-motion detail, a dramatic score and a wonderfully sad narrative voice. In a tale distinguished by its gothy undertones, and accompanied by the shiny, slimy snail-trails of (sibling) love and friendship, we crawl through Australian desert backwaters, past and stacks stacks of books, towards our destination—Gracie’s maternal, eccentric friend Pinky (and also perhaps towards the meaning of life itself…). (tw)
Adam Elliot about his film:
Like most artists I strive for perfection but know this is a hopeless ambition. There is always a shot I’d like to redo, a line to rewrite; the day the film gets locked is bittersweet. Memoir of a Snail has taken eight years to form and now the film is complete I feel sad the journey is over. We’ve tried our hardest with the budget we had and made many sacrifices to ensure
Grace’s story got told with dignity and respect. They may be just little blobs of clay, but to my team and I, they are real people. Through the magic of stop-motion we truly hope their little lives give meaning, joy, and comfort to those who watch.
is the award-winning Australian creator of what he calls Clayographies, clay-animated biographies about the bittersweet lives of his family and friends. The Australian’s seven animated films include Harvie Krumpet, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2004, Mary and Max (2009)—his most famous work to date—and Ernie Biscuit (2015). Memoir of a Snail, his second feature-length movie, had its world premiere at the 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival. In addition to his work as a director, Adam is an adjunct professor at Swinburne University and RMIT University, both in Melbourne.
