“An Honest Meditation” was created against the background that sometimes one needs a little dose of humour to cope with the news cycle and its incessant stream of often devastating messages. This poetic animation builds on the visual illustration style of esotericism, using typical elements such as celestial bodies or a figure on a lotus seat to transport the viewer into the meditative world of tranquillity and relaxation. The animation, in muted shades of green and orange, uses 2D and 3D techniques to immerse the viewer. It sometimes plays with distorted proportions as if in a dream and contrasts this calm keynote with what at first glance looks like a classic meditation instruction. However, it uses a sample of Jason Headley’s audio guide “F_ck That: An Honest Meditation”, which ironically reflects the hype around yoga and mindfulness, for example with the advice to sit calmly and relaxed on a cushion and breathe in power and “breathe out bullshit”. The deceptively real, almost hypnotic imagery of this animation is aimed at making the viewer smile.

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Statement by the Jury

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The animated film “An Honest Meditation” captivates with its excellently produced simulacrum of a meditation video that takes aim at the hype and market of the spiritual with a wink. Visually, it adopts the canon of interlocking geometric shapes as well as the typical visual elements of esoteric cosmology and even the narrator remains vocally congruent, but it all contrasts strongly with the content and thus provides unexpected comedy.