Delete Beach

Lemming or Burner — how will they remember you? Set in the near future, Delete Beach is a tale of a schoolgirl who joins an anti-capitalist resistance group. In a society in which carbon-based energy is outlawed, but which continues to toil under the regime of expansion, inequality and control, petroleum is the fighters’ refuge. They abuse it, squander it and hand their bodies over to the sea, in the hope of themselves becoming fuel for the struggles of future generations. Inspired by eco-feminist themes which propose anime as a political genre, Phil Collins’ short film riffs on the ongoing transformation of the beach from a trope of enjoyment and leisure to a contested site of adversity and trauma. Following anime’s recognisable aesthetic and storytelling strategies, the collaboration with STUDIO4°C, one of Japan’s leading animation studios, and composer Mica Levi brings to life a world at once familiar and disquietingly corroded, left unmoored of any certainty in an age after the end of an oil-dependent economy.

Written & Directed by Phil Collins / Overall Animation Director and Character Design: Marisuke Eguchi / Original Soundtrack: Mica Levi / Animated by STUDIO4°C / Character Animation Director: Rie Mitake / Effects Animation Director: Bora Lee / Art Director: Yushi Honjo / CGI Composite Director: Akiko Saito / Animation Producer: Ryohei Fujihara / Voice Actors: Asami Yano, Kohei Aoyama / Sound Design: Jochen Jezussek / Sound Effects: Katsuhiro Nahajima / Composite Studio: NAZ / Title Design: Yui Fujimoto / Digital Mastering: Concept AV / Translation: Nao Suzuki / Produced by: Siniša Mitrović (Shady Lane Productions), Eiko Tanaka (STUDIO4°C), Trond Gullaksen and Kaspar Synnevåg (North Sea Productions)

Delete Beach was commissioned by Bergen Assembly, with support from Vestnorsk Filmsenter and in co-production with HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin.