Title: Daughters of the Late Colonel
Foreign Title:
Year: 2026
Countries: United Kingdom and Germany
Language: English
Director: Elizabeth Hobbs
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The opening scene is of a festive summer day on the neighbouring streets of the Colonel’s house. Looking out of an open window, a peek is all that is allowed for the two adult daughters of the Colonel. A window their overbearing, demeaning and controlling father quickly demands to be closed. All the male characters in the story reinforce a rigid adherence to the mores and conventions of the times with respect to women’s rights; still existing today in some cultures.
When the Colonel dies suddenly, the daughters feel lost and concerned about their ability to cope in the future. It takes an unctuous smarmy minister sitting in their father’s chair, proposing to step into his shoes, to wake them up and burst their entrapping bubble.
Hobb’s stylistic choice, supported by the soundscape, is designed to emphasize a handcrafted feel. This results in shaky, vibrating movement but allows the images to move back and forth from single line drawings to full sketches as the daughters gain confidence in their own independence.
Set two years after women won the right to vote in England, this hand drawn and painted animation is a metaphor on women adjusting to their new founded freedoms.
