Writers: Screenplay by Moya O’Shea, story by O’Shea and Usman Riaz
Director: Usman Riaz
Animation is a mixture of imagination and precision so a story combining the craftsmanship of glass working and the art of music has an obvious appeal for writer/ director Usman Riaz, co-founder of Mano Animation Studios. The Glassworker is Pakistan’s first hand-drawn feature film and the care taken is apparent in the loving attention to detail and the riot of colours running through the movie.
In the present day, glassworker Vincent Oliver( voiced by Teresa Gallagher as a child and Sacha Dhawan as an adult) prepares for the first public exhibition of his work while his father, Tomas (Art Malik) reflects it was not long since he was the teacher and Vincent the pupil. A letter from an old friend makes Vincent reflect on the past.
Living in the seaside town of Waterfront, Vincent is a lonely child. His father insists on home-school to ensure enough time to learn also the craft of glass working. Vincent regularly converses with a Djinn -an imaginary (or supernatural) friend. Newcomer Alliz Amano (Anjli Mohindra) is a possible real-life friend (and maybe even more) being a talented violinist and curious about the process of working with glass. But Alliz is the daughter of Colonel Amano (Tony Jayawardena) who leads an army garrison stationed in the town, so there is potential conflict between the families as Tomas is strongly anti-war.
Despite parental disapproval the children grow close but trouble is never far away. Malik is a rival for Alliz’s affections and, unlike Vincent, has the opportunity to prove his bravery in conflict and help her father when he is in peril. As the war intensifies the relationships between friends and parent-child become more strained leading Vincent to make a rash decision.
Director Usman Riaz takes a nuanced approach to the characters. Love rival Malik shames Vincent by revealing he is the son of a pacifist but is not a clichéd bully, being proud to serve his country in a time of war and capable of bravery under fire. Rather than being a crude philistine Colonel Amano appreciates fine arts and encourages his daughter to learn the violin. Tomas’s objection to the war is calculative much as pacifistic- he resents resources that could be used to make glass being diverted to the military. Indeed, contrary to his principles, Tomas is willing to use his skills to manufacture delicate glass ‘rectifiers’ to power warplanes.
The film makes a visual contrast between the beauty of art and the stark horror of war. A butterfly is used as a visual motif for Alliz, popping up during the children’s games and used as a design for a broach. An innocent afternoon is rudely interrupted as dancing butterflies are replaced by grim warplanes flying overhead. The sculptured pieces of glass are beautiful but fragile – requiring an immense amount of skill to produce but vulnerable and liable to break suddenly. Ambitiously, director Riaz argues the measure of a true artist is to produce original works rather than reproduce those by others, which prompts Alliz to write her own piece of music.
The care taken in the animation at times weakens the drama. The film lingers appreciatively on the ravishing colours and shapes of the glass works but is less confident in depicting conflict so there is little tension except the strain between the characters.
The Glassworker is a ravishing display of the art of animation yet the meticulous approach results in a film in which the viewer might appreciate the quality of the work but fail to become emotionally involved in the story.
The Glassworker is screening at the UK Asian Film Festival 2025.
The Reviews Hub Score
Ravishing but remote
