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The Pendulum

The giant marble statue of Abraham Lincoln that has sat stoically in the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C. for more than a century, comes to life and shares his thoughts on Donald Trump, in the form of poetry.

  • Ollie Rankin
    Director
    Orthogonal, Downloaded, Lip Smackin'
  • Ollie Rankin
    Writer
    Orthogonal, Downloaded
  • Tuba Yalcin
    Producer
  • Ollie Rankin
    Key Cast
    "Abraham Lincoln"
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    Poetry, Political Commentary, Satire
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 53 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 30, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    3,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • World Premiere Film Awards
    Los Angeles
    United States
    October 31, 2024
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Ollie Rankin

Ollie Rankin is a Kiwi-Canadian creative technology pioneer, award-winning multidisciplinary artist and futurist. He’s worked at the forefront of the global visual effects industry, from The Lord of the Rings to Alice Through the Looking Glass and is recognized as a pioneer of virtual reality (VR) entertainment. Rankin has produced music festivals in the metaverse that were seen by millions, has won accolades for his virtual production and virtual reality films, and has contributed to groundbreaking technological advancements in spatial computing. He’s worked with the creators of Fortnight, been an industry advisor to NASA and has repeatedly been recognized as a top ten thought leader in VR. But Rankin’s true calling is as a champion of human destiny. He is co-founder and director of the United Humans Foundation, a non-profit that advocates for collective decision-making based on love, fairness and science. As a writer, poet, performer and director, he challenges the conventional wisdom that exploitation, greed and inequality are inevitable and strives to inspire audiences with the potential for an inclusive, fair and sustainable future.

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Director Statement

No matter where I've lived (and I've been fortunate enough to live in several different countries) the occupant of the White House has always had an outsized influence on the world and, by extension, my life. But even when I've lived in the US as a legal immigrant, I've never been allowed to vote. My only option to have any say in an election that could have grave consequences for all of humanity, is to express my thoughts through words and art. If I'm lucky, my words and art might influence a few people who are allowed to vote.

The poem that gives this experimental animated short its name, is the latest iteration of a piece I first wrote in November and December of 2016, in the aftermath of the election of Donald Trump. Over the past few months, with almost no budget at all, I pulled together a small international team of artists to build Washington, D.C. in the social virtual reality platform, Sansar. Inside that virtual world, we filmed my performance of the poem, wearing an avatar made by breaking apart a digital scan of the statue of Abraham Lincoln.

Thanks to all of our collective efforts, we're launching this goofy, anarchic, poetic thought-grenade into the world. Let's hope it blows up! I am sure "The Pendulum" will blow some minds.