I Have Dreamed Of You So Much

A short animation about the unrequitable love of the horizon for a girl floating in a little boat on the sea. The girl sails across the endless expanse of ocean, never reaching the horizon on the other side. The horizon longs to touch her, but he cannot. Based on the 1926 poem by Robert Desnos, “J’ai tant rêvé de toi” (I have dreamed of you so much), the work skillfully blends vividly hued, painting-like imagery with a gentle narration of the poem to tell a romantic tale of love, with the sharply delineated brush-work evoking the heartbreak of the horizon yearning for his unreachable beloved.

At art festivals or open-call exhibitions I sometimes see pictures that make me think, “I wish I could see this in motion.” My first reaction to this work was that it just might grant me that admittedly self-indulgent wish. The soothing narration and leisurely paced music propel the richly colored visuals forward through free shifts in composition and development that are only possible with animation. The metamorphosing imagery moves with impeccable timing, both overall and in the smallest details. With its exquisitely artistic effects, this is indeed a painting in motion, a masterpiece eminently deserving of the New Face Award. (KIFUNE Tokumitsu)