Interdimensional News From Flatland

There is a new force in animated filmmaking, but you won't find him in Hollywood. His name is Ladd Ehlinger Jr. and he is based in Huntsville, Alabama. If that location seems peculiar for the pursuit of animation, put the geographic snobbery on hold and experience Ehlinger's bold and brilliant feature film debut: Flatland.

Based on the pioneering Victorian era sci-fi novel by Edwin A. Abbott, Flatland imagines a parallel universe made up of two-dimensional geometric objects. The hero is a square, literally - A Square, a lawyer who gets caught up in a political power struggle within his country of Flatland. Simultaneously, A Square discovers there are hitherto unknown worlds beyond his: the one-dimensional Lineland, made up of glowing straight lines, and Spaceland, a wild three-dimensional world where the billionaire adventurer A Sphere explains the secrets of height, width and depth to A Square.

Mixing provocative lessons of class struggle, racism and the challenge to closed minds (not to mention a subtle slam about the Dubya-style policy provoking wars for flimsy reasons), Flatland is a mature work of intelligence. And Ehlinger's animation, with its original visions of multi-dimensional universes, is miles ahead of the hideous CGI stuff being churned out by Hollywood.

Film Threat caught up with Ehlinger in his sweet home Alabama (sorry, the reference was too good to pass up) to discuss Flatland .

Q: Why did you decide to make a film of Flatland ? It would seem that Edwin Abbott's source text, with its emphasis on mathematics and Victorian satire, is not easily adaptable to the film medium.

LADD EHLINGER JR.: I always wanted to make a film inspired by Flatland . But not a straight adaptation. Edwin A. Abbott's novella - from 1884 - had great themes of transcendence and perspective that appealed to me. Wonderful work. However, I found the Victorian satire dated. I thought it would be far more interesting to satirize the modern U.S. empire...

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