Christopher Coleman‘s “The Magnitude of the Continental Divides” is an animated short that explores the ways we define ourselves and our nations. “It is a journey between many locations in various states of withdrawal and aggression,” he explains. “Borders become weaponized and damage is always dealt from afar. The individual is caught in the midst, unable to separate themselves, unable to define identity without place.”
It was also selected as the grand prize-winner of Babelgum’s Metropolis Art Prize 2009 (the world’s biggest contemporary art competition) by a jury that included Isabella Rossellini, and screened along with other winning videos on a giant jumbotron in Times Square last night. Coleman took home $20,000, which he plans to use to install solar panels in his home to power his filmmaking efforts.