Film: "In the Mirror" Retells Snow White In An Age of Selfies and Social Media

The most frustrating thing about In The Mirror is that we have no idea when we'll be able to see this intriguing retelling of the fairy tale. In this time of a pandemic, with social-distancing and lockdowns, when we are forced to experience much of life outside our homes through a lens, it's very timely to see a fairy tale being retold with this focus. (The film is, however, Latvia's official Academy Awards selection for the coming year, so fingers crossed it will be available for the general public to see somewhere online soon.)

The award-winning, Latvian film director, Laila Pakalnina, who also wrote and produced the film, had the idea of retelling Snow White through the lens - literally - of the selfie, after spending a lot of time getting messages from her distanced daughter and realizing its potential as a very different form for creating a feature film. Pakalnina also realized that using the communication form of social media - while generally thought of as a film and photography medium - is actually very different from film in general and provides a very unique set of technical challenges to create film quality selfie-stylizations, as well as making for a very interesting reflection of current societal values - a theme that dovetails perfectly with Snow White. 

From an interview with Cineuropa:

Cineuropa: How did you start developing In the Mirror?
Laila Pakalniņa: At first, I had the idea of exploring selfies as a form. Somehow, my daughter started communicating with me through selfies – she wasn't sending me still portraits, but short video messages. Then I understood there was something to dig into there. But working with mobiles wouldn't have been interesting enough for me. For sure, I knew I needed professional cameras, horizontal framing and, most probably, anamorphic lenses because I like to work on the mise-en-scène, not just on someone's close-up. I realised it was a very interesting form that could be used to communicate and show people the world through a self-portrait. The next idea that came to me was a fairy tale, Snow White. I somehow realised that what this stepmother was talking to was a mirror, so it was already a selfie! I wanted to offer that tool to all of my characters

Using selfie-culture for a narrative is just as much about what the screens capture in the images as it is about what's actually being said in any dialogue, perhaps even more so, and it requires a completely different mindset and approach from regular filmmaking. It's a bold experimental film, playful and contemporary, which requires the audience to give up their usual way of watching movies and to see the story unfold largely via "selfie shots" (think stills/photos as well as short Tik-Tok-length videos) with the actors talking directly to the camera, but even more intimately than one would see in a documentary. In this film, the actors were required to be in contact with the camera (and the Director of Photography), almost hugging it as they delivered their lines or hit their marks, or, for example in the case of running, having the camera attached to them.

It effectively uses the stark contrast (and fairy tale appropriate) colors of black and white, all while the actors deliver their dialogue as directly to the audience as anything ever done before. There's no doubt the audience is being made to feel uncomfortable on purpose, with the high stylization, but it underscores the story it's telling so very well.

From the Cineuropa interview, again, essentially commenting on how black and white is a great shorthand for retelling a fairy tale in film:

What about the choice of filming it in black and white?
Usually, when you film in black and white, it's easier to organise framing, as it's not that chaotic. We weren't looking for an easy way to do things, though. But this is a fairy tale, and black and white leaves the viewers some room for fantasy. I believe that when you watch something shot in black and white, perhaps you see it as it is for the first few minutes, but then you can unleash your imagination and see the colours.

Take a look at the trailer - and remember: there will be selfies! (it takes a bit of an adjustment on first viewing):

Pakalnina also chose to set her contemporary take in a gym, of all places, which, at first, sounds absurd, until you begin to realize all the implications of fitness, body image, youth-obsessed culture, and our continual preoccupation with self-image now that smartphones and social media are central to much of society. The cast she chose is full of athletes, dancers, body-builders, extreme sports players, and other non-professionals, all making for a "carnivalesque" atmosphere. Snow White herself is played by Elza Leimane, a renowned prima-ballerina in Latvia, something Pakalina says (in her Q&A for the film festival) was invaluable in having to take her challenging and very unusual direction for this approach to filming.

In The Mirror is billed as a darkly comic fable, which has shown to make for lively screenings at festivals. Here are some notes from reviewer Stephen Dalton at The Hollywood Reporter, who attended the Black Nights Festival in Tallinn, a.k.a. PÖFF24 (which we assume was social distanced, considering all the interviews and presentations were done via zoom and similar tech - something Pakalina commented on as being oddly appropriate and on theme when being interviewed!):

Smartly using a 200-year-old folklore story to satirize the narcissism and body fascism of our social media-saturated age, it consistently breaks the fourth wall in witty and inventive ways.

... this Latvian-Lithuanian film (Ed. - created with English subtitles) is mostly shot on agile hand-held cameras and clothed in lustrous monochrome visuals. Even if the storytelling is disjointed at times, In the Mirror never looks less than ravishing, while kinetic editing and a pulsing techno score help to keep energy levels at a maximum.

This foray into fairy tales is not the first for filmmaker Pakalnina. The summary on the PÖFF24 festival film site explains a little more of her approach to combining tales with social commentary:

Fairy-tales are stories which we are told as children and which we recognise in all sorts of characters around us as adults.

With her creative works which determinedly experiment with the language of film and the narrative, director and screenwriter Laila Pakalniņa has become renowned both at film festivals far away and right here at PÖFF last year with her documentary "The Spoon". Her film "The Shoe" intertwined fairy-tales with social criticism at Cannes as early as in 1998. After "Cinderella", she this time takes on "Snow White" We can all remember the evil stepmother whose sinister nature manifested in boundless self-admiration as she demanded daily praise from her reflection? Today, people talk to their reflection regularly multiple times more than the evil stepmother ever did throughout the entire fairy-tale.

...In this story, everyone talks to their reflection, which playfully comes from the perspective of the viewer. What does a person who only looks at himself see and what goes unnoticed on the background of all that? "In the Mirror" proposes answers at a high artistic level, while also daring to use the piquancy of absurd humour.

 And expanding a little on how the filmmaking style reflects the tale, in the review from THR:

Pakalnina and her cinematographer Gints Berzins consistently conjure up arrestingly surreal images: a team of strongmen lugging a burning car through a blizzard, a man asleep under a giant rock, the underside of a squirrel perched on a glass roof. Even when they make scant narrative sense, these quirky tableaux serve as dreamlike symbols in the spirit of Fellini, David Lynch or Sally Potter. Berzins also makes dynamic use of depth of field, shifting dramatic emphasis by switching from crisp to blurry focus. But most of the film's striking close-ups were actually shot by the actors themselves using digital cameras mounted on a custom “selfie stick,” a bold new kind of collective collaboration. 

The film reportedly follows the fairy tale narrative fairly closely but it's more how it's told that surprises and makes it fresh, rather than how the plot is modernized. Here's an example of how the tale is told via Cineuropa:

Overall, the piece works on two levels. On the one hand, it arouses the viewer’s curiosity to find out how certain aspects of the original fairy tale will be staged (and manipulated) within the bizarre characters’ world; on the other, it prompts an obvious reflection on the pervasive role of smartphones in our life, ready to document every single moment (even a successful round of burpees), to ramp up our levels of narcissism and to make our emotions appear more spectacular. In this respect, one of the initial scenes – the one set at the funeral following Snow White’s mother’s passing – is a good example of said dichotomy, as we see the father filming his own despair with the coffin in the background, followed by a number of relatives and acquaintances approaching him one after another and almost glad to be in the frame.

The Q&A with the filmmaker (spoken in English for PÖFF) is definitely worth a watch. Pakalnina explains her inspiration and challenges in creating a film this way, which is unusual at least, and possibly groundbreaking, and provides much food for thought. It certainly makes us want to hunt down her previous reworking of a fairy tale in The Shoe*. Scroll to the bottom of the Festival page and hit the play button under the Q&A with the filmmaker (right above the social media icon links). 

(For extra-interested fairy tale film-buffs and filmmakers among our readers, click HERE for a brief, but informative, behind-the-scenes peek at the filmmaking on Instagram. We also recommend reading the rest of the Cineuropa interview for specific filmmaking techniques used for the "selfie-aesthetics".)

Good news for US audiences: Los Angeles-based Oration Films signed up world sales rights ahead of the film's Tallinn premiere. We'll be keeping an eye out for this one!

* DVD with English subtitles available for purchase in the US! Summary of the film HERE along with an interesting interview with Writer-Director Laila Pakalnina, and her very different Cinderella.

A Timely (and Gorgeous) Red Riding Hood PSA

 

Look at this beautiful and timely PSA created by award-winning filmmaker Lisa Stock! 

Lisa is a long time fairy tale friend, whose work we greatly admire, and we are always blown away by the unique use of fairy tales and myth in her work. She was kind enough to answer some questions for us about this wonderful PSA. 

Read on for a wonderful example of how using fairy tales today can be impactful and empowering, and how an artist who truly understands the bones of a fairy tale can re-envision them effectively to be both timeless and relevant today.

Hi Lisa! Thank you so much for answering our questions today. We were so thrilled to see this gorgeous PSA and can't wait to share it and encourage others to do the same.

Thank you for including my PSA on Once Upon a Blog! As numbers rise and holidays approach I wanted to create something that would inspire - a reminder to take care of ourselves and others - not just Covid, but flu, colds and anything else in the air.

Your PSA is so very timely! What was your inspiration?

This has been such a challenging and exhausting year - finding energy to push through a bit longer can be overwhelming. With holidays (and travels) coming, I wanted to create something imaginative - letting Genre take us outside ourselves to reinforce a much-needed message.  We're getting there!

The figure is clearly a Red Riding Hood character while at the same time very contemporary, but also wonderfully artistic. We know you're a long time fairy tale aficionado and have often referenced various tales in all your mediums. Why did "Red in a pandemic" seem appropriate for this project?

Yes!  I've always associated Red with a journey. We've all been on our own journeys this year into the big, bad wood. At the same time - many are traveling more, either to see family for the holidays or going back into the office for a day or two a week. But mostly, Red's a fighter. She takes on the wood and the wolf by using the wisdom her grandmother taught her to persevere. 

We like how instead of giving the DANGER- WARNING!! signals you could have used with a Red Riding Hood character for a fear-inciting PSA, that instead you show her as assertive and unafraid; much more of a "be smart - take back the narrative" message. There are so many ways Red can represent us and, after a lot of negative and fear-based messages in social media, it was, frankly, a relief to see Red representing a bold positive. Was that something you envisioned straight away, or something that developed as you were working?

You said it - her being assertive and looking the viewer in the eye with her mask on, as if to say "No big deal".  Those three guidelines - wearing a mask, washing your hands, social distancing are small things to ask to help ward off a debilitating illness and keep everyone healthy.

Your model is the perfect contemporary fairy tale figure. How did you find your Red Riding Hood for your shoot?  

That's the wonderful Kayla Klatzkin!! We first met when she auditioned for a part in TITANIA. Those who follow my work will recognize her from the TITANIA Winter Scene (and she'll be in the larger project too). She can morph into any character I give her - it's nice to have a muse like that. She's also appearing as "Glass" in my upcoming experimental take on Cinderella, and will be seen as Dorothy in an Oz-inspired panorama I'm shooting in Dec. It helps that she lives two blocks from me, and is game for anything - but truly, Kayla gets the fantasy world and how to make it seem very natural, this is why I think she pulls it off so well. 

What precautions did you (have to) take for the various aspects of this project?

Thank you for asking. Production was allowed to return to NYC in late July. My pre-production meetings take place over zoom and so far, I've only done outdoor shoots. I wear gloves, a mask, keep my distance, and have plenty of wipes and hand sanitizer. If Kayla can't fix a hair out of place, I'll approach her and she will wear a mask until it's time for the photo - though for the PSA she could keep it on. Kayla did have an indoor shoot later that week and told me they required her to have two negative Covid tests immediately prior to shoot day (the production company scheduled the tests and paid her for that time).  For upcoming larger or indoor shoots - it's testing + one team at a time on set or with the actor. We're making it work!  It's just so great to be back at it!!

We totally get fashion shoot vibes but love how we just want to look as classic, chic (and a little bit badass, boldly and smartly going places) as she does, rather than (just) want the coat and hat. Was that intentional? If so, how did you find that balance?

Yes. We have so many opportunities in mythic/fairytale photography. I certainly appreciate the beautiful dresses and magical locations I see on Instagram, but I always look for/yearn for the story. Just one small element can make your point and move the image from fashion to foretelling. I'm not changing the message - wear a mask, wash your hands, social distance - I'm wrapping it in a mythic skin and giving it a new perspective - one that I hope will catch everyone's eye anew. 

We're loving the homage to Magritte. How did that come about? What made you connect Magritte with Little Red and/or a pandemic? Can you explain a bit about your inspiration in his work? (Ed. - for those who aren't familiar with his paintings, motifs, and location use - I'll put a little reference set of pics at the bottom for folks, as you did for your announcement)

Thank you! I so love Magritte. Once I had the image of her looking straight at the viewer in mind, Magritte's painting "Son of Man" popped into my head. Instead of an apple, it was a mask. Instead of a black bowler hat, it was red - bold, Fall-like colors, changing seasons, change - so many changes this year. But endurance too. I'm a huge Magritte fan and decided to continue the theme throughout the PSA as his symbols lend themselves beautifully to journey and to fairytale. What really inspires me about his work is two-fold: 1. The clean, direct use of symbols and metaphor, and 2. How he places his subjects into their landscapes/roomscapes - they often become one. Anytime I'm creating (film or photograph) I consider how the surrounding environment is also a character or subtext for the story.  To that end - I'll let you and your readers in on a little secret. I purchased the red bowler hat in these images a few years ago for a Magritte inspired project that will one day still happen - hopefully in the next couple of years.  (wink)

For our fairy tale film fans, do you have any fairy tale projects you're currently working on that you'd like us to keep an eye out for? Has the pandemic caused you to consider your work with fairy tales differently? 

Yes to all. Using genre to heighten reality and let each viewer place themselves in the story has become more profound this year. Currently, I'm working on:

• ASHENSONG - an experimental short film based on Cinderella. Set in the 1970’s and following a photographer as she explores the themes of Glass, Ashes, and Midnight. Ultimately, they will lead her to confront her own demons and voices from the past - and a doppelganger trapped in the woods. Covid has directly hit this production with one of my models being split between NY and Hong Kong. After our initial production meeting in late February, she returned to Hong Kong and hasn't been able to get back to the U.S. Rather than wait for all travel restrictions to lift, I've found a wonderful photographer in Hong Kong who is going to photograph her images for the project there. But I look forward to having us all under the same roof for the film's premiere in 2021!

• THE TOWN - this is a series of fantastical moving images, or video portraits that highlight the townspeople (and what lies beneath) where Titania exiles herself to heal. TITANIA will be moving forward in a new way - the narrative and the roll out to audiences will be in groundbreaking fractures of art and narrative. I'm very excited about how this will unfold and we'll launch it at a live TITANIA event in NYC in 2021. Then online @TitaniaFilm 

• FRIDAY NIGHT THEATER & the AMERICANA MYTHIC SERIES - My wonderful patrons on Patreon see everything first and I have quite a few mythic exclusives lined up for them starting this month! I'll be continuing in the style of the PSA by blending genres, artists, ideas to give a slice of Americana, myth and current situations. For instance - once I hit 50 patrons on Patreon I'll be creating a microfilm that mixes the fable of The Scorpion and the Frog with two iconic mid-20th century figures addressing our willingness to trust someone's true nature  - even if harmful. I've assembled a really amazing group of actors, an historical consultant and costume designer and others to help bring these microfilms to life! Come join us - www.patreon.com/LisaStock - subscriptions (in which you see all final projects) start at $1.

The PSA is so very eye-catching; beautiful but also very clear in its message. Where can we expect to see it? 

The PSA was done on my own. I'd be delighted to have people share it - I and the PSA can be found on social media @LisaStockFilm.

Thank you so much for your time today Lisa. We hope many people see your PSA and are encouraged to boldly care for themselves and others this Thanksgiving and holiday season.

You heard her folks: go spread the images!

Use Lisa's PSA to encourage and inspire people to live their best - and healthiest - lives.

Lisa Stock is an award-winning filmmaker based in New York City. Called “a skillful alchemist at work” by Faerie Magazine, her films have been featured in festivals and screenings around the world including London, New York, Austin, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Sydney, aired on PBS, and chosen as a Project of the Day on Kickstarter. Lisa’s work combines the spontaneity of myth & magic with the more somber side of reality to paint vibrant portraits of healing and personal truth. (Bio page: https://www.lisastockfilm.com/about)

The U.S. As Sleeping Beauty Right Now... (Thursday, Election Week, 2020)

It seems apt that Sleeping Beauty is taking center stage as the fairy tale representative for the USA right now. The whole world is watching a too-close battle for the next Presidency while the US wakes up to just how divided the "United States" actually is. 

But for these few days, everyone is focused on colors... and the "dress", rather than who will be wearing it and what it really will look like when it's "being worn".  (Independently green Flora, isn't being much help either.)

No matter what happens, there's a lot of work to do.

(Click on the embedded short videos below for a light-hearted summation of the current election #mood.)

Accurate. https://t.co/6YIKQuzEwa

— G. Thornton: Femme Fa(iry)tale (@inkgypsy) November 6, 2020

America right now🤷‍♂️🇺🇸#elections #ElectionResults2020 #DonaldTrump #JoeBiden #USElections #USA #Memes #DisneyPlus #TrumpvsBiden #Disney #makeitblue #VOTE #ElectionNight pic.twitter.com/29PfEDD7cR

— Sid Paulus (@sid_paulus) November 5, 2020

"Make it blue!"

"Alice In Lockdown" Reflects How Maddening the Pandemic Has Been To Date

All images in this post are by Marta Zubieta ©2020

"Equating the dream logic of Lewis Carroll with the lived political reality of Covid19. Alice in Lockdown is a self-directed illustration project where Zubieta explores the confusion and self-transformation journey we have gone through since the beginning of Lockdown. Bringing vibrant colour to often bleak subjects, Zubieta explores the millennial culture and its issues through pink-tinted glasses, neon colours, and dreamy characters. Zubieta found in Alice the perfect metaphor to explore the reality she was living in during the outburst of Covid 19." (Summary from martazubieta.com)

Marta Zubieta's quarantine-created "Alice In Lockdown" series has been getting a lot of attention on social media and it's easy to see why. The "logical nonsense" world of Alice In Wonderland speaks perfectly to the surreal challenges we've all been faced with since going into lockdown.

What isn't as well known is how this Spanish artist (based in Bristol, UK) came to create her paintings. It's a little more than "artist expresses feelings visually when stuck at home"... Here are two excerpts from Zubieta's first blog post as her new series was developing in May 2020:

First piece: Alice in Lockdown: Alice trapped in the new reality, in this piece I combine pop culture symbols and pastel colours to express the feeling of fake comfort in our houses while we are being hyper controlled.

The idea started at the beginning of the lockdown when some art contests where happening working with the concept of self-isolation and staying at home. I imagined myself trapped in my house forever and I envisioned Alice when she grew really big and got trapped in the Wonderland house.

My social commentaries about how coronavirus was being handed in England weren’t very welcome on Facebook so I thought I would put this social commentaries in pictures. The result was even better than expected, people who would normally criticise conspiracy theories were very impressed with the artwork even if when looking close you can find symbols of conspiracy theories.

 

...Second piece: Down the Rabbit Hole: Alice going through the rabbit hole of our digital world, a hyperreal maze of content that tell us what to believe, what to do, what to buy, and how to entertain ourselves, does that rabbit hole ever reach an end?

With this piece I want people to question themselves about their everyday interaction with the digital media and how it influences the way the think or act. I want to talk to everyone but I am sure it will resonate with my generation the most.

Zubieta's next post speaks about how she wanted to express the warped reality we all suddenly found ourselves in, and her thoughts on how to go about it so it would be heard.
From her second progress post:

Following my research of storytelling and the hero’s journey from last year, and my previous essay about hyperreality and its relation with social media, I wanted to get a broader knowledge on archetypes and the power of these in combination with pop culture for communicating ideas, as a global visual communication that goes beyond language, location or race.

What is the purpose? I want to create art that tells the other side of the coin, In a period where lot the artwork is being created to make us feel uplifted and hopeful, I want to create artwork that empathise with the feelings of impotency, loneliness, connection addiction, and misunderstanding of the uncertain situation we live in. (Ed.: All emphasis in bold is by OUABlog.)

 

She goes on to explain that by using a very familiar character and archetype, she can more immediately express well-known elements and it was Alice in Wonderland that resonated with her experience in quarantine, straight away (for example, Alice growing so large she can't fit inside the house anymore). As a result, she can immediately refocus the lens, twisting the images to express well-known aspects of the story in a different way and encourage people to consider things from this perspective. In a very real sense, it's a short-hand that allows for very direct communication with whoever sees the art.

It's clear in part this is because the rules - which society needs to live by for a stability - become distorted and topsy-turvy. What's less obvious to the viewer (or reader of Alice) is that by beginning from an illogical place but still attempting to proceed logically, is quite literally maddening. The more we apply logic, the less it makes sense, which is the opposite of what should happen. As a result, reality becomes even more distorted than it would have if the absurdity was thrown into the middle of something normal; something that wasn't already twisted. The madness of a situation - in our case, a pandemic in the middle of political upheaval - tends to creep up on Alice (us), until we realize that we've been trying to make sense of something nonsensical for a long time, only to find ourselves suddenly overwhelmed and exhausted, not knowing what to do or how to keep coping. It's a very real challenge.

Zubieta writes: 

Going down the rabbit hole in the book is a representation of going to the unconscious, connected with lockdown, the covid-19 seems to be the hole that has trapped us all at home, making us having to deal with our inner monsters but also with the voice we listen the most: the media.

Inner Jungles: How do we make sense of the outer world in our intimate spaces? (@wordincanvas)

Zubieta also connected with James Tuson (@wordincanvas), a writer who creates poems and spoken performance pieces based on other visual artist's work, and asked that he add his words to her images. (We adore artists collaborating!) Here's an excerpt of one of the results:

Alice in Lockdown

Have we gone mad?

Down the habit hole

...At least the hedgehogs can now roll free through our empty parks

Why sometimes I’ve disbelieved as many as six explanations to all this before breakfast

Getting curisor and curisor as the days drag on

Curious little oysters aren’t we whilst its’ all convenient for us in our shells.

Hell I even find myself talking to the flowers...

You can read Tuson's whole poem at the bottom of Zubieta's post HERE. We've included another excerpt by Tuson with a different thought process, a vignette, created in response to the Tea Party scene below.

The Mad Hatters Invitation the official Tea Party, by James Tuson, @Wordincanvas (excerpt)

The Mad Hatter inconveniently invites you to attend the corona party, come come all we must commence with this befuddlement and such it’ll be very very rude indeed if you don’t fall in line and keep your distance at our signs. We’ve gone to great many lengths to make this as straightforward for you as possible. Improbable you say? Do you have any idea why a raven is like a virus? Unkindness! Now now let’s not dampen spirits you’ve only just arrived, you must, you must have a cup of tea and have a go on our sweet sweet 5G, it’s truly the best in all of silly gits end. Am I making sense? (Continue reading HERE.)

Being fascinated with how people connect and use fairy tales for expression, reflection, and to consider changing social narratives, we also wanted to include this fascinating mind-map (below - click to enlarge) of the development process that Zubieta included on her blog. There is no commentary attached to the image but it's easy to see how the idea grew, marrying the resonant story to fairy tales and fairy tale characters and archetypes. (You can spot references to Peter Pan in there, along with Chihiro from Spirited Away.) It's clear that what wasn't palatable for people to see discussed (as she mentions, on Facebook) was a lot easier to consider and reflect on, by using the vehicle of fairy tales, fairy tale imagery and a reframed familiar story for people to think about on their own terms. 

It's an excellent study in the use of fairy tale relevancy and why revisions of beloved tales can be more communicative than regular forms of communication. In a world where it's harder and harder to trust words being spoken by authorities and the media, and many people are polarized, minds closed and defense mechanisms operating on a hair-trigger, sometimes it takes the reframing of a familiar fairy tale to bypass barriers and speak to the shared experience we are having. 

That's powerful stuff.

Going down the rabbit hole, in the book, is a representation of going into the unconscious. (When) connected with lockdown, Covid-19 seems to be the hole that has trapped us all at home, forcing us to deal with our inner monsters but also with the voice we listen to the most; the mass media. (Zubieta)

You can support Marta Zubieta and find her work online in the following places:

Main website: martazubieta.com

Instagram: @onirical_zubieta

Etsy: OniricalZubieta

Twitter: Marta Zubieta @oniricalZubieta

Facebook: @martazubieta

#Folktaleweek Picks of Day 1: "Home"

This week is a week of opportunity for fairy tale and folktale people - to find new tales, tales new to them or new takes on tales they know - as well as a fantastic way to find fresh artists. As we wrote in an earlier post, artists from all over the world are posting their take on a prompt with a folktale theme, all week this week.

Search for #folktaleweek and #folktaleweek2019 - some folks are only using one or the other, though most people are tagging their entries with both hashtags to be more easily found. (Instagram is the main posting space.) If you like any of these, do go and find them on Instagram and let them know. Every participant is trying to stretch themselves and greatly appreciates the encouragement.

Though we are not yet certain if we will have time, we will attempt to share some standouts from every day that are bring posted. There are HUNDREDS though! So there's always a chance we've missed a few, or haven't had time to review all the entries, but this is more about sharing the incredible variety and creativity being created this week, specifically on folktales and fairy tales, so we hope you will go and have a look at the hashtags yourself. We chose for different styles, unusual scenes of known tales and most often, lesser-known tales beautifully done.

Today's prompt is HOME.

Note: As far as fairy tale and folklore trends, apart from the usual Red Riding Hood, Golilocks and Hansel & Gretel, we noticed there were a LOT of Baba Yaga and her chicken house interpretations, and a LOT of selkie women heading 'home' too. 

Enjoy - credits, and any pertinent notes, are below each image.

IG @shellsnroses

Artist comment: Day 1: Home. -Little mounds of earth are the homes of the fair-folk.

IG @laia.pampols

Artist comment: Day 1: Home 🏠 - ‘The wolf and the seven little kids’ was my favorite tale when I was a child.

IG @shelley_laslo

Artist comment: I chose to go with my first association with the word “Home”- the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In it, curious Goldilocks trespasses into the home of the Bear family, how rude!
I decided to treat this piece as a double spread, as I wanted to practice creative compositions in my visual storytelling.

IG @theuglymugwort

Artist comment: This is my interpretation of the Claddagh, a well-known Irish symbol usually in the form of a ring. The Claddagh goes back several hundred years and it’s said to have originated in a fishing village in Galway. Story has it that a silversmith, named Richard Joyce, was captured and enslaved to a Moorish goldsmith, sometime in the 17th century. While in captivity, he fashioned a ring with the symbols of the heart for love, the hands for friendship and the crown for loyalty. After 14 years, Joyce was finally released and was able to return home to Galway where he gave the ring to his long-lost love and was married. ⁣

IG @elitsa_nn

Artist comment: “A samovila does not a home make” is said of the samovili, nymph-like creatures in Bulgarian folklore. If you steal their shirt (red here, white traditionally), it renders them unable to fly and allows you to take one as a wife. In one fairy tale a man who did this hid the samovila's shirt by walling it in the house walls. After years of marriage the samovila sees a single thread sticking out, and tugs on it, retrieving her shirt and (thanks to her superhuman strength) destroys the home she has been confined to.

IG @alioliart

Artist comment: “On its 52 mile (8,5 Scandinavian mile) long way from The Rottnen Lake to the sea, The Ronneby River squishes itself through a geological cleft only 1,5 metres wide. The cleft is very narrow, but is said to have a depth of at least 17 - 18 metres.”

Woo I’m joining #folktaleweek2019 !! Through this challenge I’m going to pay homage to Sweden, my home, through Swedish folktales and fairytales. This first illustration is based on a local tale, in fact the place where this story takes place is just a short walk from my house, I’ve been there many times!
Hope you like this ❤️it was a bit hard translating the story correctly from the original Swedish one. 🙏
Also, I chose to use the border around the picture to illustrate the story as well, so you can read it visually too. 😊

IG @jimbradshaw

Artist comment: The Heceta Head lighthouse is said to be haunted by the ghost of a mother whose baby daughter fell to her death from the cliff upon which it stands. I'm guessing this was her home. The apparition which reportedly has been seen by many has been dubbed “The Gray Lady.” Man, most of the folktales I've been researching are tragic. I'm wanting to lighten these up a little and can't resist adding some of my regular doodle characters which I plan on doing throughout this challenge. They would be sorely hurt if I left them out.

IG @ashley_mckee

Artist comment: I’ve chosen to focus on Appalachian tales, namely Jack Tales. For “home” I chose Jack and the Northwest Wind. The wind blew so hard and cold that it was coming through the cracks in the walls of the shack jack lived in with his mother. He set out on a quest to stop that old wind, but a series of fortunate events changed his luck, allowing him to provide his mother with food, wood for heat, and golden eggs. He forgot all about stopping the wind that blew fiercely outside, finally cozy and content at home.

IG @papersilhouette

Artist comment: I chose the Korean folktale, The Heavenly Maiden and the Woodcutter 선녀와 나무꾼

IG @sash_d_art

Artist comment: The first prompt is "home" and here you can see Baba-yaga's izbushka (or little peasant house) on chicken legs. Do you know that:

• Baba-yaga is the most popular character of Russian fairy tales;
• She is rumoured to eat little children though she hasn't actually eaten a single one in fairy tales;
• She usually helps young and beautiful men and women;
• She gets along well with animals. In different tales she has got cats, mice, geese-swans, a giant frog and even a herd of especially swift and fierce horses;
• She lives on the edge of the forest which signifies her "border" status: she is situated between life and death, between the human and spiritual worlds. It's the same situation with her "bone" leg;
• She wields a bunch of magical artefacts: a mortar and a broom for flying, a ball of yarn which can show you the way through the forest to some unusual places, a saucer with a golden apple which can show you everything you want etc.;
• She's got a family! In some tales there are three Baba-yagas, three weird sisters, and sometimes she's got a daughter who is the apple of her eye.

IG @sarahmccollillustration

Artist comment: The folktale i will be illustrating this week is a Norwegian story called “East of the Sun and West of the Moon”. Day 1: (leaving) home!

IG @chaosego

Artist comment: N/A

IG @lalunadraw

Artist comment: Day 1-Home -My story is “House of Baba Yaga” - The legend is about a Witch from the Woods. She is scary and ugly, and eats children. The scariest part about her is that she lives in a house that walks on chicken legs, she uses her walking house to chase after any children she finds so she can catch them, so she can eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Tasty.

IG @madebysmitty

Artist comment: For prompt number 1 HOME, I’ve illustrated, embroidered, and hand-stitched these wee dolls, whose folktale embodies the essence of home for me. Home is a place where everything is not too hot, not too cold, not too hard, and not too soft. Everything is just right. .

I’ve always felt somewhat disconcerted by this flaxen-haired little villain who eats all the bears’ food, breaks their belongings and leaves without offering recompense or apology. Has anyone else ever wondered if this tale was somewhat prescient for how we humans treat the homes of animals today?

IG @sarahjdocker

Artist comment: Today’s prompt was ‘Home’. The House of Wind is an old Indian folktale about greed, jealousy and what happens when you let it get the better of you. In this story a young girl loses one of her only dresses to the wind, and follows it to a palace, home to the Mother of Wind. She is taken through halls of food, silver and gold yet takes nothing from the Mother of Wind but her clothing, which had been put inside a box, in a room with lots of other boxes filled with silver and gold. The girl chooses the lightest box wanting only her dress, and takes it home. She gets home to unfold her clothing to find a bar of gold inside the box too, a gift from Mother of Wind for taking only what belonged to her. Her jealous neighbour has been watching all of this happen, and decides to deliberately throw her own clothes to the Wind, a ploy in hopes of receiving gold at the House of Wind too. She follows the wind to the palace and eats all of the food, wasting lots, then takes away the biggest, heaviest box hoping that it is full of gold and silver. On returning home, the jealous neighbour opens it and finds her clothes, but no gold. Instead, bags and bags of sand. She walked all that way carrying a big heavy box for nothing! 

IG @birnam_wood

Artist comment: Prompt 1 - HOME "Home" - both my home, and the home of the Black Swine of Hampstead. Before London was really even a city, Hampstead was a rural village. A butcher there was preparing to slaughter a pregnant sow when the creature slipped its stall and escaped into the sewers; once safely hidden, she reared her young on the scraps and garbage swept into the sewers they now called home. From there, successive generations grew bigger and wilder and meaner in the sewers of London, where they remain to this day, bristly and stinking and half-mad with the darkness. They linger there still, unable to traverse the rapid flow of the subterranean River Fleet and leave their dank underground home. Should they learn how to broach the current, though, it's said that they'll storm the streets of Hampstead, rampage through Holloway, and tear Highgate Archway to the ground. This one owes more than a little to @neilhimself, whose efforts to warn the world about the Black Swine are considered to be fiction, and will presumably be held as such until the creatures learn to swim.

Artist comment: today’s theme is home. After all these years, this is the first time I’ve drawn Baba Yaga’s magical cabin.

IG @kaleigh.ford

Artist comment: Day one: Home. This one is from East of the Sun and West of the Moon, which was one I hadn’t heard of but really enjoyed!

IG @gunns_designs

Artist comment: Of course I’ll be sticking with the wildlife theme as always 👌🏻 So, first up is this piece inspired by ‘The Nightingale’ 🌿 #FolktaleWeek2019 A literary fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Anderson about an emperor who prefers the tinkling of a bejeweled mechanical bird to the song of a real nightingale. When the Emperor is near death, the nightingale's song restores his health. I’ve used oriental inspiration for the patterns and colour palette.

IG @toriboard

Artist comment: I like the colours and the concept but I’m not keen on the composition and would likely restart if I had time, probably make the den more like a human house, especially as part of the song says “cut up the goose with a fork and a knife” indicating a more anthropomorphic image.
I decided to choose a folk song to illustrate, called “the fox”. I remember being fascinated with this song when I had it on cassette as a child :) “The Fox"
The Fox went out on a chilly night/ He prayed for the moon to give him light/ For he had many a mile to go that night/ Before he reached the town-o, town-o, town-o/ He had many a mile to go that night/ Before he reached the town-o/ He ran till he came to the farmers pen/ The ducks and the geese were kept therein/ He said a couple of you are gonna grease my chin/ Before I leave this town-o, town-o, town-o/ A couple of you are gonna grease my chin/ Before I leave this town-o/ He grabbed the great goose by the neck/ He threw a duck across his back/ And he didn't mind the quack, quack/ And the legs all danglin' down-o, down-o, down-o/ He didn't mind the quack, quack/ And the legs all danglin' down-o/ Well the old gray Woman jumped out of bed/ Out of the window she popped her head/ Cryin' John, John the great goose is gone/ The Fox is on the town-o, town-o, town-o/ John, John the great goose is gone/ And the Fox is on the town-o/ He ran till he came to his nice warm den/ And there were the little ones 8, 9, 10/ Sayin' Daddy, Daddy better go back again/ It must be a mighty fine town-o, town-o, town-o/ Daddy, Daddy go back again/ For it must be a mighty fine town-o/ The Fox and his Wife, without any strife/ They cut up the goose with a fork and a knife/ And they never had such a supper in their life/ And the little ones chewed on the bones-o, bones-o, bones-o/ They never had such a supper in their life/ And the little ones chewed on the bones’

IG @joanieyoungman

Artist comment: Day 1: Home - For today’s prompt I chose the Irish folktale, “The House in the Lake.” It’s about a fisherman and his son who live in this hut that is held way up high on stilts in the middle of a lake. The son is sitting out on the platform when an otter swims over and tosses him a fish. He feels bad for the fish and decides to give it a chance, so he throws it back into the water (one reason I liked the story so much- he didn’t follow his dad’s fisherman habit and showed compassion for the fish 🙃🐟) Anyway, this happens a second time the following night-the otter brings him the same fish. Again he saves the fish, but this time when the fish hits the water, it turns into a beautiful swan. - There is more to the story after this, but that’s what I’ve illustrated for today’s folktale prompt, so I will leave it at that.

IG @gizemgozdeucar

Artist comment: #Folktaleweek first prompt: #Home 🏠 I have written my very own fairytale with hidden meanings and metaphors 😍 You can find out what happens next through #folktaleweek2019😊 🐤Once upon a time there lived a man, a lonely man and his bird, who wandered the world carrying a bird house hanging from his neck. He walked from town to town, searching for something he had yet to understand. "Why do you carry this thing around?" "Just put it aside for a while and rest, won't you?" cried the people he encountered. But he never did, he never rested. He never parted from them, not even in sleep. He carried it everywhere, all the time...

IG @nikolina_novosel_nezmah

Artist comment: Folktaleweek 2019 day one - home of Baba Jaga

IG @christinefaustillustration

Artist comment: This is a combination of my picture book style and an older pleinair painting. It's inspired by "Jorinde and Joringel", where an old witch divides young lovers by turning the girls into birds.

IG @mori_raito

Artist comment: Long way home and the first theme for #folktaleweek challenge.

IG @carolinebonnemuller

Artist comment: Day 1: Home - I illustrated ‘going home’ and I used the beautiful story ‘The company of Elves’ from Scotland. I found this story in the great book; The Lost Fairy tales, written by Isabel Otter and illustrated by Ana Sender, published by @caterpillar_books For many Sunday mornings I was reading these magical stories to my son.

IG @bryonycrane

Artist comment: My little offering for #folktaleweek Day 1: HOME. I chose the Brothers Grimm's 'The Mouse, the Bird & The Sausage' 🐀🐦🌭It tells the tale of a bird living in perfect harmony with his little mouse and sausagey friends, until one day he meets another bird who boasts about his own life and implies that Mr. Bird shouldn't be happy with his own. The seed of doubt was sown, so bird gets cross and makes everyone switch up their roles at home, at which point their harmonious life gets royally buggered up and - spoiler alert - the sausage gets eaten by a dog, and the mouse, (who isn't as skilled, nor tasty, a cook as sausage was!) gets accidentally boiled alive. Oops. After his friends' untimely demise, bird freaks out and ends up setting the house on fire before accidentally drowning while trying to fetch water from the well to put it out 🔥. "He who is too well off is always longing for something new / whoever is too well off always wants to try something different", which roughly translates to 'dont ruin a good thing, because the grass isn't always greener'.

IG @lbleckster

Artist comment: Linda Bleck's #folktaleweek piece inspired by the Hawaiian tale "King of the Sharks".

IG @aprilhartmanncreation

Artist comment: Folktale Week prompt “home.” Fossegrim is a spirit who makes his home in waterfalls, and plays the fiddle day and night. A creature of Scandinavian folklore, Fossegrim are always male and they can charm any female with their enchanting looks and music. “The sounds of forest, wind and water play over his fiddle strings” and when charmed, the females are almost always drowned.

IG @adelaydeart

Artist comment: I'm going to do a little story of Robin Hood! Today's prompt is home, so here is Robin Hood and Little John in their famous Oak tree home.

IG @peggysillustration

Artist comment: N/A

IG @kathwaxman

Artist comment: Folktale Week 2019 Prompt 1: House - Aesops Fable, Procreate - When Tortoise decides to skip Jupiter’s wedding because he’d rather stay in his cozy home, Jupiter issues a decree that Tortoise will always carry his home on his back to punish him for his rudeness. I get a sense Tortoise thinks he hit the jackpot ;).

IG @coalrye

Artist comment: Day 1 - Home. Lithuanian folk tale ‘Eglė the Queen of Grass Snakes’, very tragic story.

It’s about girl Eglė who was married King of snakes. He’s a handsome one, but turns to a serpent for others. The marriage was happy but Eglė’s relatives didn’t think so. She shouldn’t come back home.

IG @taranealarts

Artist comment: Day 1 of #folktaleweek is #home and my favorite home of lore ever if the chicken leg hit of babayaga. I was always intrigued by Her stories growing up, but not truly afraid of her so much as of her house — roaming the woods autonomously on scaly chicken legs, to capture I’ll-behaves children, or disappear! There are many stories of babayaga and I liked the ones where she behaved unpredictably and had these bodiless magic hands to help her.

IG @blikstjinder_illustration

Artist comment: “The best way to keep themselves warm at HOME was with a blanket made out of human hair” - Day 1 : HOME 🏡 - Doing research for this challenge I found out that the small village I live in is blessed with a werewolf folktale. The tale itself wasn’t that exciting but the inspiration was there to write a tale of my own! I hope you’ll enjoy it!

IG @olenka.illustrates

Artist comment: Day One: For the first prompt I chose the Celtic Folktale which called “Horned Women”. - It’s an old story about a woman who protected her house and family from 12 evil witches. Scary fact: first witch had one horn on her forehead, the second witch had two hornes and so on. So the last twelfths witch had twelve hornes on her head! - I decided not to draw all of that hornes but instead I did that little white moons which in celtic mythology interpret as hornes.

IG @wandatikklaar

Artist comment: The Plant Maiden- One morning a little old woman goes out to milk her five cows. On the way to the field she finds a five- sprouted herb, which she takes home and puts on her pillow. Then she goes back to milk the cows. Suddenly, she hears the sound of scissors falling and a tambourine clanging. The woman rushes HOME to find “a maiden with eyes of chalcedony and lips of dark stone, with a face of light colored stone and with eyebrows like two dark sables...her body was visible through her dress, her bones were visible through her body; her nerves spreading this way and that, like mercury, were visible through her bones. The plant had become this maiden of indescribable beauty. “ Source: Favorite Folktales From Around The World edited by Jane Yolen.

IG @natelledrawsstuff

Artist comment: The first prompt is HOME. For this, I chose part of the story of The Monkey King, who on his misadventures, was imprisoned by Buddha.🐒Buddha did this by tricking Monkey to jump into his palm, where it then magically turned into a mountain, enveloping Monkey in the process. The mountain became Monkey's prison home for 500 years. 😬🙈 A bit of a morbid start to Folktale Week but I promise it will get more lighthearted (somewhat 🤣) as we go along!

IG @misheru_does_art

Artist comment: Day 1: Home - An ANSISIT is a magical being known amongst the Ilokanos of the northern Philippines, who is typically depicted as an old man living in mysterious earth mounds like anthills or caves. He owned the land underground and in the afternoons would roam below the huts or sleep on anthills. He did not like farmers working with tractors for fear of these machines destroying his home. He also disliked sweeping of floors in the afternoons and when offended, he would would cause the offender discomfort like bruising or fevers. - This being is also known in other parts of the country only named differently. In Tagalog, he is known as “Nuno/Matanda sa punso” or literally old man on a mound. In other parts a similar creature transforms into a piglet and causes misdemeanor amongst enemies.

IG @olya_fu

Artist comment: The Raven King. 

IG @emilyhouse.design

Artist comment: Here's my illustration for the 'Home' prompt inspired by the English folktale, Mr & Mrs Vinegar.

IG @chezubo

Artist comment: Folktaleweek 01: Home - Let’s begin Folktaleweek with a story from my Hometown, Hamburg. „Die Hand des Himmels“ („The Hand of Heaven“) - In Blankenese lived an unlucky fisherman. His family was starving and desperate as he was, the fisher went out to sea although a huge storm was coming up. It was worth the risk! Every time he cast the net, it was immediately filled with fish until his yawl couldn’t carry any more. „One last time...“ the fisher thought, and as he pulled the stuffed net on board, a peal of thunder shook the sky. A white, dead hand was laying on the haul and the fisherman, scared to death, set sail and rushed back home. The hand was hung up in the church of Nienstedten, and did not rot for a weirdly long time. At long last it fell down, was burned to ashes and made into a wafer*. The fisherman however, lived a rich and prosperous life, protected by the Hand of Heaven, so the people say. - *the story says the host/wafer is still exhibited in the church, but I couldn’t find further information about that.

IG @rimasvaleikis

Artist comment: Influencer meets his target audience. #kolobok 

IG @sis.bobekova

Artist comment: N/A

IG @victoria_portraits

Artist comment: Day 1: Home 🏡This is the house that Jack built

IG @maxineleemackie

Artist comment: The Girl Who Married A Crow. The #artprompt is #home - the illustration shows the couple returning home. It's an adaptation of a #nativeamerican - Folk tale, and my first attempt at making #digitalart with #procreate (big learning curve). 

IG @oprunenco

Artist comment: My first folktales week. First day secret prompt,, Home " and story ,, Three piglets"

IG @liloobox

Artist comment: Day #1 'Home'. After she finished her chores, the old man's daughter picked the smallest, most ugly looking chest from Saint Sunday's attic and headed home... To be continued tomorrow 🍊...

- This is and old Romanian folktale about two step daughters that I've heard many times in my childhood. To find out the moral of the story keep an eye on my posts for the next 6days🤗

IG @bagu_illustration

Artist comment: First folktale, Home! - #folktaleweek #folktaleweek2019  #home  #goldilocks  #goldilocksandthethreebears

IG @liloobox

TOMORROW'S PROMPT IS SECRET.