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Quarantine

A post-Brexit pagan dance fantasy about a troupe of Morris-dancing badgers forced to confront the animals quarantined in a facility built above their burrow.

Animation & Artists Moving Image 2018 13 mins

Overview

A post-Brexit pagan dance fantasy about a troupe of Morris-dancing badgers trying to avoid the animal quarantine compound which has been built above their burrow. Living in a border town on the south east coast of England, the badgers are struggling to keep their old folk traditions alive in the face of change. They refuse to acknowledge the plight of their neighbours, the caged quarantine inmates, fearing physical and even ideological contamination, until Frank, a young badger, goes rogue.

Intoxicated by the exotic rhythms drummed out by the resourceful animals on their cage bars, Frank the young badger starts dancing forbidden new steps, risking the wrath of the Morris troupe. But when tragedy strikes, Frank must forge a new friendship inside the quarantine in order to help the Morris troupe survive. Quarantine is a stop-motion exploration of what it will mean to have a new immigration border in a town with a history of far-right support. Drawing on a rich tradition of British animated films about imprisoned animals - Animal Farm, Plague Dogs, Watership Down and Chicken Run - Quarantine is an allegory for our times which asks what kind of cultural exchange can still occur in post-Brexit Britain.