King Combucha is a still-drawing movie, with an original voiceover and soundtrack. It takes inspiration from a genre that was popular in the 1960s, and simply known as "still image film", a film made of still drawings and based on editing and camera movement, rather than animation or live-action. King Combucha is written and produced by Israeli artist Dan Allon and Finnish artist Ari-Pekka Leinonen. The film was created during a residency at Hordaland Kunstsenter in Bergen Norway in 2020, and was completed by working remotely, between Israel and Finland during 2021.
It narrates a story of two misfortunate travellers, who cross paths unintentionally three times during their trips, affecting each other's destinies. The outline of the story is a "journey story", based on three diaries Allon's had written, starting in 2001 on a trip to Peru. It then goes on to 9/11 New York, and ends during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Brazil. It incorporates some 400 drawings, divided into three chapters, accompanied by two narrators, opening up their feelings, thoughts, and dreams. The characters deal with their vulnerability, lack of self-confidence, and self-deceit, while they explore unfamiliar territories, carrying the profound feeling "someone's paradise could be someone else's hell". They have overlooked the privilege they had while travelling, even when they chose to travel when it was almost impossible. This film is also about proportions: choosing to focus on small self-centered details, when the world seems to collapse.
Based on a story by
Dan Allon
Script by
Dan Allon & Ari-Pekka Leinonen
Drawings, Voice-over and Drums by
Dan Allon
Music, Sound Design, Voice-over and Post Production by
Ari-Pekka Leinonen
