The Old Man and the Bird

Dennis Stein-Schomburg : 2015

Snowflakes drift through the forest. An old man, as old as the hills, lives alone in a remote hut. Now in the winter of his life, he has survived his great love. The winter is so cold that he can barely move his limbs. When a robin flies against his window and falls to the ground the old man first has to pause for thought. Then he pushes open the heavy front door and stomps outside to help the bird. Out in the deep snow his strength begins to fail him. But no sooner does he take the tender creature in his hands than a change comes over him. Life radiates in luminous colours and returns to the old man's hut. As it used to. Or is this just one last memory? A rumination on love, on bidding farewell and the cycle of life. Dennis Stein-Schomburg's animated short premiered in the Generation 14plus section at Berlin International Film Festival 2015.