2022, 60‘
TV-documentary with animated sequences
Technique: Digital hand drawn
Directed by: Anita Hugi
Produced by: SRF, Arte
Animation director: Jotha
Software: TVP, After Effects
Teaser and more info on Anita Hugis homepage

“Heidis Alptraum” (Heidi’s Nightmare) is a TV documentary of 60 minutes length. Besides reflecting upon the well known character of Heidi, the little girl from the Alps, it draws the spotlight on her lesser known author, Johanna Spyri. The director of the film, Anita Huggi, directs her thoughts and questions at Spyri herself. Thus the film assumes the character of an essay. Since the Spyri has long passed, the conversation only goes in one direction. But her life and her work speak silently on behalf of her.

Since Johanna Spyri lived in a time before film was invented, footage of her doesn’t exist. Hardly any memorabilia of her is left, in parts because she burned most of her letters before she passed away. Since the film was about her and Huggi wanted to make her presence be felt in the film, she decided to create several animated scenes of Spyri. She was still supposed to stay ephemare, so that there was room for interpretation and the viewer could project his or her own thoughts onto her. After all, we can’t tell for sure who or how she really was.

Under my direction and in collaboration with Studio Asako Film and a team of 5 animators, 14 shots were thus created in the style of charcoal drawings. The few items left to us that we know she used, like the ink box, her quill, the desk, and the room she worked in, were carefully recreated in the animation.