Signe Baumane – Extended Interview
Listeners of the Skwigly Podcast will have been made aware of NY-based Latvian animator Signe Baumane in our recent January episode. As a storyteller, protégé of Bill Plympton and highly-accoladed independent animator in her own right, she has become a highly respected staple of the indie scene for her storytelling skills, dark humour and bold subject matter. She is currently in the latter stages of her feature film project Rocks In My Pockets, a fascinating project with a Kickstarter campaign that is very close to reaching its goal (you can still check it out between now and Valentine’s day) and a tremendously insightful production blog that has detailed the process of the film and its backstory for over two years. The film is described as “A story of mystery and redemption…based on true events involving the women of my family (including myself) and their surrender to madness. The film is packed with visual metaphors, surreal images and my twisted sense of humor.”
I was privileged enough to discuss the film with Signe for last month’s podcast, and while the podcast version had to be edited for time and content, in a Skwigly first we’re presenting an extended edit of the interview for your listening pleasure, which you can stream below:
(Caution: Explicit Content)
Other work Signe has been responsible for includes Dentist, Five F*cking Fables, Love Story, Birth and Teat Beat of Sex, the latter hopefully geared for development into its own feature after the completion and release of Rocks In My Pockets. For those interested in backing the film on Kickstarter, incentives include an online link to view the finished film, DVD collections of previous work, cels, sculptures and puppets from the film and much more.
For more information on Signe Baumane and Rocks In My Pockets you can check out the following websites: