Antisocial

2024

Directed by: Tobias Rothacker

  • With Antisocial, I wanted to consciously blend a cliché-laden Western scenario with unusual and often surreal elements to challenge the audience's expectations. The main character, an archetypal Western hero, is drawn into an absurd chase after supposed enemies, serving as a mirror for deeply ingrained societal norms and prejudices. The plot deliberately plays with familiar motifs and symbols to encourage viewers to question their unexamined viewing habits.

    The decision to use the complex stop-motion technique was more than just an artistic choice for me. It allows me to bring my characters and their world to life as vividly as possible, while also pushing the technical limits and exploring new dimensions of animation. Over 6,000 individual frames were shot for Antisocial, making it my most ambitious project to date.

    The collaboration with the band Pedagogic Torment, of which I am a member, added depth to the film, providing a musical framework that deliberately avoids typical Western clichés. Antisocial is not just a film for me, but also a personal expression of my artistic journey and my fascination with social issues.

Tobias Rothacker

A self-taught stop-motion animator, director, and model maker for film and display based in Gera, Thuringia, Germany. In addition to his deep engagement with stop-motion animation, he has participated in workshops led by Jürgen Kling (Weirdoughmationfilms), a recognized expert in the field.

Through his own studio, Re-Anima-Tro, Tobias has completed several stop-motion projects. His music-animated film Consume Pedagogic, an independently produced work, was released in 2016 and comprises over 3,000 individual frames. Tobias is also a musician in the band Pedagogic Torment, whose music video Consume Pedagogic accompanied an album with a critical focus on societal issues. Through the band, he actively engages with topics related to education and society, fostering creative projects in this context.

His latest project, the stop-motion film Antisocial, completed in 2024, further expands his animation techniques, incorporating more than 6,000 frames and utilizing advanced model-making approaches across different scenarios.