Paper Memories: A Touching Stop-Motion Search for Happiness in Old Photographs

The many-award-winning short film Paper Memories by filmmaker and photographer Theo Putzu came out three years ago, but we only stumbled across this brilliant piece recently. Put together from some 4,000 photos, this short stop-motion experience captures loneliness, hope and lost love in a beautifully sad and ultimately heart-warming way.

The man in the video has lost the love of his life, and not a moment goes by that he doesn’t remember it. But one day, while looking through some of her old letters, he finds a series of old photographs, and so they embark on one more journey together.

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Through the photos, she leads him on an excursion through the city, and as he finds the location where each picture was taken, she moves on to guide him to the next.

The film reaches its dramatic ending at the beach, where the woman in the photograph smiles at him, and then goes to sit by the water. Moments later, he returns the smile, magically steps over and into the photograph, and joins her by the waves.

Touching, heartwarming, and visually brilliant, our words really can’t do justice to the film. Check out the video for yourself to understand why, and if you like what you see, you can find more of Putzu’s work on his Vimeo profile.

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