A documentary film in production

'The Puppet and The Power' plays witness to the world’s most anarchic puppets and their masters, who address puppetry as an art of defiance and socio-political change presenting stories that dance on the razor's edge of free speech.  Over the centuries and still now, where injustice and social controls stifle citizens, the puppets challenge authority, often with impunity, but at other times with grave personal danger to the puppet masters. From Iran to Syria, France, Russia and Ireland, puppeteers still use the shield of the puppet to challenge authority in a world where pressure on public expression is as strong as ever.

---

Our brand new short animated film 'Build That Wall'  2016

'BUILD THAT WALL is a four-minute-long stop-motion animation film, set in an imaginary Trump Town, USA.  Gary Friedman, an internationally renowned puppeteer who has added animation film to his credentials, has created and built Trump Town and all its inhabitants in his Melbourne studio.

Trump Town with its simple folk, are ruled by an authoritarian figure residing in a giant castle, overlooking the town. The leader, accompanied by his model wife and body guards, is seen delivering a speech over the town’s newly installed speaker system, during which he explains that he will build a wall.

“I have in the past year, become fascinated by the themes of walls, barriers, borders and boundaries. We seem to have a resurgence of separating people, communities, towns and countries internationally.”
​
Gary Friedman Productions’ creative work has always had serious purpose and often a political and sharp satirical edge.  Born in South Africa, Friedman used street puppetry in the early 1980’s to speak his anti-Apartheid message and he has generated numerous other community and educational initiatives, both within South Africa and internationally.
For more, go to: buildthatwallfilm.com