13 Cantos of Hell

1955
Sound
20m

Follow Dante through Hell in this progressive silhouette animation with a musique concrÃ¨te soundtrack by talented sculptor Peter King

Go to Hell! This progressive silhouette animation inspired by Dante's Inferno will take you there. Peter King was a talented young sculptor who worked as an assistant to Henry Moore, and was inspired to turn his art towards animation by his association with Lotte Reiniger, as studio neighbour at the Abbey Art Centre, New Barnet. The film was made with a grant from the BFI's Experimental Film Fund, with King also contributing the musique concrÃ¨te soundtrack.

Peter King died at the age of just 29 in 1957, two years after this film was completed and plans for another film left unaccomplished. An earlier motorcycle accident had left him in poor physical and mental health, and his son has suggested that his choice of subject matter for this film was no coincidence. This film ends in the Wood of Suicides, and King would make an attempt to take his own life shortly after.

The Animator's Art

Free from commercial restraints, animators explore their art

After WWII, animation was increasingly recognised as a vital art form in its own right. Commercial work put food on their plates, but animators longed for creative freedom, and many production companies and determined animators created independent works in between paid gigs. Unshackled from commercial concerns, the resulting films were often daring in their pursuit of abstraction or personal expression. Meanwhile, many artists from other media have found that animation adds a vital new dimension to their work. But while such films were celebrated in their community they were rarely shown more widely. This collection showcases often hard-to-see examples of the animator's art at its purest and most individual.