NO FOOD NO MONEY NO JEWELS (2026)
Directed by Eve Sussman, Simon Lee, Angela Christlieb
35 minutes
A group of factory workers – Bear, Rabbit, Owl, Pig, and Donkey – are caught in a cycle of ridiculous labor, endlessly moving water around a scaffolding tower. Shot on a theater stage, where the characters are unable to exit, and at the Frankfurt Zoo, its own kind of stage with caged protagonists, NO FOOD NO MONEY NO JEWELS follows the trials and tribulations of workers clocking in at a makeshift factory. The film is both a literal and cinematic collage, merging vérité footage with a constructed theatrical set: a shifting arrangement of life-size found photographs make up the backdrop for each scene. The script combines original text, channelings of famous people, and rewrites of stories from House at Pooh Corner. In NO FOOD…, food becomes an object of obsession as the workers kill time in the break-room, search for treasure, and collude against the boss. What emerges is a story about work, authority, and the desire to escape. The film culminates in an epiphany: "Never stop dancing," as the characters waltz and the theater, with them in it, spins off into space.