Lollipop

 Lollipop emerged from my longstanding emotional response to stories of child abuse and sexual violence, which I encountered growing up and later through close friendships with people who shared their experiences of abuse and its lasting effects. These encounters made me increasingly aware of how trauma can extend far beyond the original experience, shaping relationships, memories, and even the ways suffering is passed from one generation to the next.

Rather than depicting violence directly, I wanted to explore a quieter but equally important question: can someone who has experienced profound pain choose not to pass it on?

The film follows G, a weary carnival worker burdened by an unresolved past, whose encounter with a young girl brings him face to face with memories of his own childhood. Through their subtle, almost wordless connection, G is confronted with the possibility of responding differently to the pain he has carried.

Through hand-drawn animation, I wished for Lollipop to explore the fragile intersection of memory, vulnerability, and human connection and to examine how seemingly small encounters can awaken buried emotions and create the possibility of change. Rather than offering a conventional story of redemption, the film centres on a quiet but meaningful act of compassion: the decision to interrupt a cycle of inherited suffering.

At its heart, Lollipop is a reflection on the possibility of transforming painful memories into empathy, and on the courage it takes to ensure that the suffering we inherit does not become the suffering we inflict on others.