William Kentridge: Stereoscope

There’s a desperate urgency in the animation style of South African artist William Kentridge, who draws and erases and redraws again in Stereoscope, a short 1999 film about the lingering effects of Apartheid on South Africa. Everything happens very quickly; blue lines zip around Johannesburg, connecting people and industries, while cats turn into bombs and protestors riot in the streets and a string section mourns in the background. It’s easy to follow until it’s over, when you realize that there was no actual story to speak of and you’ve just been left with a lot of vague, nightmarish impressions.