Orbit is a film and installation project about the relationship between humanity and the sun. It consists of:

- a 7 minute short film,
- an interactive installation,
- a flexi disc,
- and a print series with associated animations.

The short film had its festival premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in January 2019 (the film is distributed by Bonobostudio). The interactive installation was presented at Rotondes, Luxembourg in 2024 as well as TOKAS Hongo in Tokyo in 2020, and before that also at WORM UBIK in Rotterdam in April 2018 and the TAFF Festival in Finland in August 2019. The ORBIT flexi disc was launched in January 2019. This is a playable and filmable record with the film’s soundtrack and one of its phonotrope designs embedded in it. A series of monotype prints incorporating the orbit designs was produced on an artist residency at the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, California in January 2019. Some of these prints were re-animated, creating videos that can be displayed alongside the prints themselves. Four of these prints + animations are in the collection of the Kala Art Institute Gallery.

On this page you can see images and videos related to each iteration of the project, including a trailer for the short film, a documentation video of the Tokyo installation, a documentation video of the flexi, and an excerpt from one of the animated print videos. To purchase a flexi disc, email tess@tessmartinart.com.

ORBIT Short Film:

Logline:
Spinning drawings guide us along the flow of energy through our planet, and let us ponder our place in the natural cycle.

Credits:
Film by Tess Martin
Music by Jason Staczek
Camera by Matija Pekic

Made possible by:
Netherlands Film Fund
Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie
Rooftop Films
Centrum voor Beeldende Kunst
Gemeente Rotterdam
I-Park Foundation
Djerassi Resident Artist Program

SCREENINGS:

‘Turn On’ group exhibition, Rotondes Explorations Culturelles, Luxembourg
Márgenes Film Festival, Madrid, Spain, Nov 24-Dec 3, 2023
OFF Screen, WORM, Rotterdam, June 7, 2023
Labocine online magazine ‘Scientific Musicals’ edition, January 2023
Wild Summer of Art, Part II, group exhibition, BRUTUS, Rotterdam, Aug 6-Sept 4, 2022
Best of Cardiff Animation Festival, UK, Jan 16, 2022
Gallery Striegl, Bonobostudio program, Sisak, Croatia, Dec 18, 2021
L’Alternativa, Barcelona, Spain, Nov 15-Dec 5, 2021
Lublin Film Festival, Lublin, Poland, Nov 19-27, 2021
Un Festival, C’est Trop Court, special program, Mouans-Sartoux, France, Sept 23, 2021
Japan Media Arts Festival, Special Site, Sept 23-Dec 24, 2021
Tartuff, Black Nights Film Festival, Tartu, Estonia, Aug 2-7, 2021
Fest Anca, Zilina, Slovakia, July 1-4, 2021
Festival Cinéma Jeune Public, Lausanne, Switzerland, Nov 25-29, 2020
Cardiff Animation Festival, UK, Oct 24-Nov 1, 2020
Animatricks Animation Festival, Helsinki, Finland, Oct 15-18, 2020
Flipbook Film Festival, Skopje, Macedonia, Aug 7-13, 2020
New Directors New Films Festival, Portugal, Aug 2-9, 2020
Japan Media Arts Festival, 2020
Animakom, Bilbao, Spain, July 6-12, 2020
Landshut Short Film Festival, Landshut, Germany, March 26-27, 2020
Media Wave online film festival, Mar 1-April 28, 2020
Cosmic Rays Film Festival, Chapel Hill, NC, Mar 6, 2020
Animac International Animation Film Festival of Catalonia, Lleida, Spain, Feb 28, 2020
Regensburg Short Film Week, Regensburg, Germany, Mar 11-18, 2020
Revolutions per Minute Festival, U-Mass, Boston, MA, USA, Jan 31-Feb 3, 2020
Malt Adult Animation Show, Columbus, OH, Dec 7, 2019
Festival Tous Courts, Aix-en-Provence, France, Dec 3-7, 2019
Kort Film Festival Leuven, Belgium, Nov 30-Dec 7, 2019
Anilogue International Animation Festival, Budapest, Hungary, Nov 27-Dec 1, 2019
Animasivo Animation Festival, Mexico City, Mexico, Nov 27-Dec 1, 2019
Exground Film Fest, Wiesbaden, Germany, Nov 15-24, 2019
Sound Unseen, Minneapolis, MN, Nov 12-17, 2019
Kaboom Animation Festival, Amsterdam, Nov 14-15, 2019
Kasseler Dokfest, Germany, Nov 13, 2019
Zinebi International Festival of Documentary and Short Film of Bilbao, Spain, Nov 8-15, 2019
Leeds International Film Festival, UK, Nov 6-21, 2019
New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival, Japan, Nov 4, 2019
CRAFT International Animation Festival, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Oct 28-Nov 2, 2019
Banjaluka International Animated Film Festival, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Oct 24-28, 2019
Milwaukee Film Festival, WI, Oct 18-31, 2019
Animafilm Baku International Animation Festival, Azerbaijan, Oct 18-20, 2019
Shnit Worldwide Film Festival, Bern, Switzerland, Oct 17-27, 2019
Nice Short Film Festival, France, Oct 11-18, 2019
Drunken Film Festival, Oakland, CA, Oct 9, 2019
Anim’est Bucharest International Animation Festival, Romania (International Short Competition), Oct 4-13, 2019
KloosterKino, Nijmegen, Oct 5, 2019
Animatou, Geneva, Switzerland, Oct 4-12, 2019
Netherlands Film Festival, Utrecht, Sept 27-Oct 5, 2019
Shortcutz Amsterdam, Sept 24, 2019 - WINNER BEST EXPERIMENTAL
Animation Block Party, Brooklyn, NY, Sept 21, 2019
Message to Man International Film Festival, St. Petersburg, Russia, Sept 18, 2019
PIAFF, Paris International Animation Film Festival, France, Sept 17-23, 2019
Squeaky Wheel Animation Festival, Buffalo, NY, Sept 6, 2019
Linoleum Festival of Contemporary Animation and Media Art, Kiev, Ukraine, Sept 4-8, 2019
Animanima International Animation Festival, Cacak, Serbia, Sept 4-7, 2019
Belo Horizonte International Short Film Festival, Brazil, Aug 30-Sept 8, 2019
Odense International Film Festival, Denmark, Aug 26-Sept 1, 2019
AricaDoc, Arica, Chile, Aug 26-31, 2019
ORBIT short film and installation at Turku Animation Film Festival, Finland, Aug 21-25, 2019
Pleinbioscoop (Open Air Cinema), Rotterdam, Aug 11, 2019
Aggregated Animated Shorts, Oakland, CA, Aug 2-31, 2019 - WINNER, Best Technique Audience Choice and Narrative Jury’s Choice Award
Insomnia International Open-Air Animation Film Festival, Kaluga, Russia, July 18-22, 2019
Anibar International Animation Festival, Peja, Kosovo, July 20, 2019
Animations on the Big Screen, Artscape, Baltimore, MD, USA, July 19-21, 2019
Anima Mundi International Animation Festival, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo, Brazil, July 17-28, 2019
Under the Radar, Vienna, Austria, July 1-5, 2019
Fest Anca International Animation Festival, Zilina, Slovakia, June 27-30, 2019
De Kortste Nacht - Het Beste van de Buren, Kort Film Festival Leuven, Belgium, June 21, 2019
Snake Alley Festival of Film, Burlington, IA, USA, June 20-23, 2019
Sardinia Film Festival, Italy, June 15, 2019 - WINNER, Best Video Art
Seattle International Film Festival, Seattle, WA, USA, May 27, 2019
Rotterdams Open Doek Festival, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, May 26, 2019
Rooftop Films Summer Series, New York, USA, May 17 + Aug 2, 2019
Anifilm International Festival of Animated Films, Trebon, Czech Republic, May 07-12, 2019
International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Go Short presents: Best of Dutch Shorts, May 03, 2019
Experiments in Cinema, Albuquerque, NM, USA, April 16-20, 2019
Athens International Film and Video Festival, OH, USA, April 08-14, 2019
GoShort International Short Film Festival, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, April 03-07, 2019
Ann Arbor Film Festival, MI, USA, March 26-31, 2019
Tricky Women Animation Film Festival, Vienna, Austria, March 13-17, 2019
International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Netherlands, January 24, 2019 - WORLD PREMIERE

OTHER HONORS:
Finalist, Lions Films Award, Rotterdam, May 2019
Theater Rotterdam Media Wall - November-December 2019

ORBIT INSTALLATION:

‘Turn On’ group exhibition, Rotondes Explorations Culturelles, Luxembourg, Jan 19-Feb 11, 2024

TOKAS, Tokyo Art and Space, Hongo Jan 11 - Feb 09, 2020

Turku Animated Film Festival, Finland, Aug 2019

Out of Frame, Out of Line, Out of Order, Out of Paper, WORM, Rotterdam, April 2018

Read the interview and review on Zippy Frames.