Witness: An Organima Film

This film began as a series of studies, and the final ~5 minute short film documents both my animation findings and personal discoveries throughout the process.

Witness was a multi-year long project where I learned about animating with organic matter, but resulted in me beginning to restore my childhood view of the world.

“Organima” is my ongoing practice of exploring animation with organic material.

Thank you to all of the talented artists and friends who made this come to life.

Created by Nik Arthur
Script by Nik Arthur and Jodre Datu
Producer: Nik Arthur
Executive Producer: Ben Wittkugel (Ploeg Arts)
Artist Manager: Ben Wittkugel (Ploeg Arts)

Tch co-directed with Emi Takahashi
Uu co-directed with Anna Chandler, animation support by Marvin Lau
Ksha-sha co-directed with Emi Takahashi, made in collaboration with Masumi Rodriguez and Elena Kirby

Score: Will Miller, Jonah Yano, Ouri, Hinako Omori, Daniela Andrade, Ivy Boxall

Title Design: Emi Takahashi, Anna Chandler, Nik Arthur
Credit Design: Anna Chandler
Audio Mastering: Sam Hall

Special Thanks: Toko Hosoya, Alex Siber, David May, Emily Allan, Dominique Di Libero, Jeff Tence, Rai Louie, Kelsey Duplain, Enoch Ncube, Connor Garel

I acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts

The Entities

01 Dodeda

Ancient beings found on old stone surfaces. Their rings indicate their age, not marked by time, but by life stage. The Dodeda can be found on real rock surfaces all over the world as petroglyphs. In this fashion, each animation frame was carved into stone.

02 Jujuru

Jujuru are wood eating eels found in maple wood. They swim around the flowing knots and grain, eating away the wood like beetles. Their form is made from the soundwave of scraping wood.

03 Bewrop

The life that lives in the wetlands. Bewrop is a small splash made sentient, discovered on Montreal’s Mont Royal marsh.

04 Tch

Small lives explore a leaf to create homes for their young to grow. Inspired by the Maple Eyespot Gall, we animated with leaf flesh on a leaf skeleton.

05 Uu

The Uu is/are the spirit of sunlight, who do not have a clear border between individuality and togetherness. It is both a singular being and a culture of beings. The Uu are made from refracted light, often found on indoor walls and ceilings.

06 Ksha-sha

Ksha-sha is a displaced life, described as ‘invasive’, embedded into a 180-page brick of paper made from ‘dog-strangling vine’.

Behind The Scenes

2025-2026 Official Selections

Edinburgh International Film Festival, 2025
Slamdance Film Festival, 2026
Hiroshima Animation Season, 2026
Kaboom Animation Festival, 2026
Calgary International Film Festival, 2025
PÖFF Shorts (Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival), 2025
Rockaway Film Festival, 2025
Science New Wave, 2025
Anifilm International Festival of Animated Film, 2025
Fest Anča International Animation Festival, 2025
Mammoth Lakes Film Festival, 2026
DoBeDo & Reely Film Club Analogue Animation Special, 2026
Viborg Animation Festival, 2025
Euganea Film Festival, 2025
TOFUZI International Animation Festival, 2025
The Portland EcoFilm Festival, 2026
Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma, 2026
Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation & Technology, Best Experimental Animation (Silver), 2025
Novella Film Festival, 2025
North Park Film Festival, 2025
Les Sommets du cinéma d'animation, 2025
Utah Arts Festival Fear No Film, 2025
Daisy's Film Yard, 2026
Weird Market International Short Films [Market], 2026
Feinaki Beijing Animation Week [Market], 2025
Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival [Market], 2025
Los Angeles Animation Festival [Honorable Mention], 2025

Index

Nik Arthur is an experimental animator and filmmaker, interacting with organic matter and physical materials.

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