ANT SISTERS (2018) 4'
Animated short
Anna Lindemann & Emma Komlos-Hrobsky | text
Anna Lindemann & Sarah Shattuck | animation
A woman takes inspiration from the social lives of ants in a letter to her own estranged sister, and discovers what it takes to survive as a collective. The short animated film “Ant Sisters” draws from scientific research on the evolution of eusociality to weave a tale about the complex dynamics of human and ant sisterhood.
Film Stills
Supported by the University of Connecticut School of Fine Arts Dean’s Grant and the Office of the Vice President for Research
Thanks to the Carl W. and Marian E. Rettenmeyer Army Ant Guest Collection, Jane O’Donnell, Janine Caira, the AntU Team, the University of Connecticut Department of Digital Media and Design, the Women of FEMeeting 2018, and Yohei Igarashi
Special thanks
Screening & Exhibition History
2021 Bristol Science Film Festival, official selection, Bristol, UK (juried festival, online screening)
2021 Precision: Illustrative Techniques in Arts & Sciences, curated exhibition, Eastern Connecticut State University Art Gallery, Willimantic, CT (curated in-person and online exhibition) Exhibition catalog
2020 “Five Days of Cinema and Science” produced through #LabMeCrazy Science Film Festival, Museo Ciencias, University of Navarra, Spain (in-person and online screenings)
2019 “A Modern Bestiary” March 2019 issue of Labocine (a subscription-based “Home of Films from the Science New Wave” with monthly issues of curated films).
2019 “Evo Devo” October 2019 issue of Labocine (monthly issue of curated films)
2019 #LabMeCrazy Science Film Festival, finalist for short fiction film category, Pamplona, Spain (juried festival, screening)
2018 5th Annual Raw Science Film Festival, official selection, Los Angeles, CA (juried festival)
2018 World of Women Film Fair Middle East, semi-finalist, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (juried festival, screening)
2018 SCINEMA International Film Festival, official selection, Australia (juried festival, screenings in locations across Australia and on online through Australia’s Science Channel)
2018 Imagine Science Film Festival, official selection, New York, NY (juried festival, screening and panel-discussion)
References
For more about the evolution of eusociality in ants
“Phylogeny of the Ants: Diversification in the Age of Angiosperms” (2006)
C. Moreau et. al.
“The evolution of eusociality” (2010)
C. E. Tarnita et. al.
“Caste development and evolution in ants: it’s all about size” (2017)
W. Trible and D. J. Kronauer
The Social Conquest of Earth (2012)
E. O. Wilson
The Carl W. and Marian E. Rettenmeyer Army Ant Guest Collection