Zwermen (Murmuration): A Gentle Transformation in Stop Motion
In a quiet nursing home, a man begins to change. Feathers appear among thinning hair, his voice turns to soft chirps, and a strange lightness overtakes him. While others carry on with their daily routines, Piet feels the pull of something new — perhaps a new kind of freedom.
Murmuration (Zwermen), the debut stop-motion short film by Dutch filmmakers Janneke Swinkels and Tim Frijsinger, unfolds as a poetic meditation on ageing and renewal. Produced by Peter Lindhout of Spotted Bird in co-production with Beast Animation and MurMur Animation, the 12-minute film captures a delicate balance between realism and magic, between the grounded stillness of a nursing home and the transcendence of flight.
Premiering in the Official Short Film Competition at Annecy 2025, Murmuration went on to win the Jean-Luc Xiberras Award for a First Film, marking an impressive debut for the creative duo. Distributed by Miyu Distribution, the film has since drawn attention across the European festival circuit for its emotional restraint and its deeply tactile approach to storytelling.
Swinkels and Frijsinger developed the idea over nearly a decade, beginning with Swinkels’s earlier documentary project about her grandfather’s pilgrimage to Rome. “I spent a lot of time visiting him in the nursing home,” she recalled in an interview with SEE NL. “The quiet rhythm there was so interesting and inspiring — it stayed with me.”
The filmmakers chose stop motion precisely for its sense of presence. Working at Holy Motion Studio in Arnhem, Netherlands, they constructed every puppet, prop, and set largely by hand. The characters’ soft, fabric-based textures and the careful lighting by Peter Mansfelt create a warmth that grounds the surreal transformation at the story’s heart. Rather than treating the metamorphosis as fantasy or tragedy, the directors invite interpretation — is Piet truly turning into a bird, or is this a poetic reflection of decline and acceptance?
The soundtrack, composed by Dutch musician Roos Rebergen (of the band Roosbeef) and Sjoerd Bruil, adds another layer of tenderness. Their score drifts between melancholy and uplift, echoing the flight of the titular murmuration.
The directors describe the project as both a learning experience and a leap of faith. Without prior experience in stop motion, they took on nearly every task — from puppet fabrication and set design to editing — while raising their young daughter. “It took years to build trust with funders and collaborators,” Frijsinger said. “But being hands-on in every detail helped us understand what the film really wanted to be.”
By the time the final shot arrives — an empty room, an open window, and a few scattered feathers — the story lands on a note of peace. Rather than mourning what’s lost, Murmuration finds grace in letting go.
Supported by the Netherlands Film Fund, Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), Limburg Film Fund, and others, this Dutch-Belgian co-production demonstrates how stop-motion’s handcrafted intimacy can breathe life into universal themes of time, transformation, and quiet joy.
Murmuration (Zwermen) is distributed internationally by Miyu Distribution.
