Letter Tape

This is a lovely animated documentary, a touching portrait of a small moment in a family's formation. It is 1952. He is in Malaya, last hurrah of colonialism during the emergency and all that. She is in London, in its East End, an Australian practising midwifery in a city that still bears the scars of the Blitz. In a booth, speaking into a "wretched instrument", a "confounded machine", she talks to her fiance.

What she speaks of, and her listening paramour, are hand drawn and created in collage. Rowena Crowe's juxtaposition of historical record (some vinyl or acetate, in fact) and pencil animation is charming. "Real genuine fogs" and other recollections are ably presented - there is a small fantasy sequence, which is the weakest part, but there are photographs, and pieces of diary, and the planning involved in a wedding between a couple who are between countries.

Jessica Wells' music and Sam Petty's sound mix help fill in the gaps between the drawings and history. A message from the past, an intriguing and wry portrait of a previous age, Letter Tape is an amusing delivery.