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Michael Dudok de Wit

Michael Dudok de Wit

Directing

Biography

Michael Dudok de Wit (born 1953 in Abcoude) is a Dutch animator, director and illustrator based in London. After his high school education in the Netherlands, Dudok de Wit attended the Geneva School of Fine Arts. In 1978, he graduated from the West Surrey College of Art (now the University for the Creative Arts) with his first film The Interview. After working for a year in Barcelona, he settled in London where he directs and animates award-winning commercials for television and cinema. In 1992, he created the short film Tom Sweep, followed by The Monk and the Fish (1994), which was made in France with the studio Folimage. This film was nominated for an Oscar and has won numerous prizes including a César Award for Best Short Film and the Cartoon d'or. Michael also writes and illustrates children's picture books and teaches animation at art colleges in England and abroad. His most well-known film Father and Daughter (2000) won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, the Grand Prix atAnnecy, and dozens of other major awards. His most recent short film is "The Aroma of Tea" (2006), drawn entirely with tea. All of his films since Tom Sweep feature Michael's trademark brush stroke drawing and his use of ink and watercolour, very much inspired by Chinese and Japanese art. His films: The Monk and the Fish and Father and Daughter were included in the Animation Show of Shows.

Known For

Canterbury Tales
6.9

Six single dramas adapted from six of Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th century Canterbury Tales, transferred to a modern, 21st century setting, but still set along the traditional Pilgrims' route to Canterbury.

Canterbury Tales

2003
The Red Turtle
7.4

The dialogue-less film follows the major life stages of a castaway on a deserted tropical island populated by turtles, crabs and birds.

The Red Turtle

2016
Father and Daughter
7.5

A father says goodbye to his young daughter. In time the daughter grows old, but within her there is always a deep longing for her father.

Father and Daughter

2001
The Canterbury Tales
4.8

Animated adaptation of Chaucer's famous narrative poems, using a variety of groundbreaking animation techniques. On a pilgrimage from London to the tomb of Thomas Becket in Canterbury, a group of travellers from all walks of medieval society recount tales and stories to each other to provide amusement on the journey.

The Canterbury Tales

1998
No image
6.9

Time winds backward through a series of vignettes, tracing through the fate of a reckless baroness and two men who fight to possess her.

T.R.A.N.S.I.T.

1998
Charlie's Christmas
7.8

Grand-Jacques the postman watches a mysterious wicker basket slowly float down from the sky and discovers a baby holding a small bell, and the adventure starts.

Charlie's Christmas

1998
The Monk and the Fish
6.4

A plump and exuberant monk goes fishing, and a playful fish eludes him. First the monk uses a rod and reel, then a net; over and over, he ends up fish-less and wet. Sleepless, he tries luring the fish at night with a bank of candles. He tries a bow and arrow. The tireless and insouciant fish leads the monk through a viaduct, over irrigated steppes, across cisterns, down canals.

The Monk and the Fish

1994
The Longing of Michael Dudok de Wit
8.0

Michael Dudok de Wit was asked by the famous Japanese animation studio Ghibli, to create his first feature length animated film. This would be Ghibli's first international co-production ever. Maarten Schmidt and Thomas Doebele followed Dudok de Wit and his team during the complex creative process for over two years. He is a perfectionist that is used to making his own hand drawn animated films by himself. For this new and timely production, he was assisted by a team of 20 to 30 artists from all over Europe.

The Longing of Michael Dudok de Wit

2016
The Aroma of Tea
5.7

The Aroma of Tea is a 2006 Dutch animated short film made by Michaël Dudok de Wit. It shows how a small sphere travels in a determined and rhythmical manner through landscapes, emerging at the end into a larger sphere of white light. Both the graphic brushstroke and the music, with its haunting rhythms, are strikingly simple and direct. The theme of the film, a quest followed by a union, is as old as time and recognizable despite its limitless variations.

The Aroma of Tea

2006
The Little Circus and Other Tales
7.0

No description available.

The Little Circus and Other Tales

1994
Tom Sweep
5.9

A cute little guy is trying to do the right thing and clean up his neighborhood. However, when he approaches a garbage can to empty it, one thoughtless person after another come by and make an even bigger mess.

Tom Sweep

1992
The Dreamed Journey of Alpha Two
N/A

Once upon a time, there was a little girl, born on the same day as her father, Alpha. That little girl is me, Alpha Two. And this is my story. Since my mother passed away, I've been living with my father. He's a journalist. I listen to him on the radio, and we often play football together. But one day, soldiers attack my father and his radio station, forcing him to flee. Before he left, he promises he will find me again. Now, I am alone, but I am Peuhl. My mother and I are people of the water. Like her, I am a flying fish. I help my father cross the skies, deserts, and seas, guiding him on his journey to Europe. And today, I can finally meet him again.

The Dreamed Journey of Alpha Two

The Interview
7.0

A man interviews people. Michael Dudok de Wit graduated from the West Surrey College of Art with this film.

The Interview

1978