Thesis title: How to Visualise Power Dynamics and Alienation in Urban Spaces Through Animation Documentary ?

Animation documentary | Genre: Social Issue Length: 5.30 min

Written and directed by: Sara Saffari

''It is all about space not over the skys but on the ground''

I developed this film as part of the Re:Anima Joint Master’s Degree Program in Animation (www.reanima.eu). Over the course of two years, I traveled and studied across Portugal, Belgium, and Finland, undertaking both artistic creation and research.

The film is inspired by the story of Mohamed Bouazizi — a Tunisian hawker whose self-immolation in 2011 sparked the Arab Spring movement. Throughout this work, I visualized the vulnerabilities of lower-class communities who face structural violence under urban control policies and bureaucratic systems. This Film stands as a protest by itself and Its primary goal is to raise awareness and provoke thoughts.

How Much for How Many

Woman, Life, Freedom

Director / Animator

Animation Music video | Length : 2:30 min

This project was a collaboration with a singer on a music video highlighting themes of women’s rights and resilience. We approached the subject poetically, using symbols and metaphors to convey its message. The animation combines 2D frame-by-frame techniques with rotoscoping from real footage.

Overseas

Animation Documentary | Genre: Social Issue | Length: 6:30 min

Co-director/ Animator/ Concept artist

In September 2024, me and the group of directors from the Re:Anima Joint Master Program traveled to Vila Nova de Milfontes in southern Portugal, where we spent a week recording interviews with the immigrant community in the region. After that, we moved on to Montemor-o-Novo, another city in the south, where we stayed in an artist residency organized by the studio Stórias em Movimento to start producing an animated documentary based on the recorded audios.

Even though we were divided into groups to focus on different parts of the production, the collaboration stayed very open and fluid. We were constantly helping each other across areas like sound design, character design, and animation. For example, the two GIFs I included here were created together with Tommaso Zerbi, where we shared the work of animating, designing, and coloring.