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Four Souls of Coyote

Áron Gauder
Hungary, 2023, 106 min.

In English and Hungarian with English subtitles.
This film is family friendly.

AIFF Award Winner:
Special Jury Award for Innovative Animation

The film is an alternative and more modest creational myth, in which humans are not at the top of the food chain, nor the king of the world, but only one amongst creatures. The film goes back to the creation, when Old Man created life from mud. His creations are new and unknown and affect the world. Desire and emotions are unknown too, and with their evolution, world is getting more complicated. Through adventures filled with animals, magic, hunger, greed, and the sacred circle of all creations, the story gives us hope that it is not too late to save Earth.

Director's Statement

I would like to present the wisdom of a bygone world. In several cases the perspective of the so-called primitive folks is much more modern than “more advanced” Western thinking. Global warming and the rapid destruction of the environment are shared problems. Thousands of documentaries are being produced about this theme, and a great number of scientists have proven the very facts Native Americans have been talking about for centuries. This film honours the wisdom of a humiliated and crushed nation. As Long As the Grass Grows is an alternative and more modest creation myth, in which the human being is neither the top creature of nature nor the king of the world, but only one of all the creatures. Surprisingly, these archaic myths depict the interrelations of the world quite similarly to modern scientific results. It represents the only alternative to a capitalist society. With the help of the animation, I would like to tell this story in an adventurous way in order to point out that we should live an environmentally more responsible life and that we should respect Mother Nature. The film goes back to the creation of the world, when Old Man and Coyote created life from mud. His every creation is new and unknown and affects the rest of the world. Desire and emotions are unknown, and with their evolution, the world becomes more complicated. “As long as the grass grows,” the Native Americans once said, and they meant eternity. They did not know it might be endangered in the future. Earth has tolerated everything so far but its strength is reducing quickly. We can only save it together.

Category: Animation, Feature, Award Winner.
Themes: Native American, Environment.