Opening Christmas Day, "Waltz With Bashir" is a film with a rather intriguing structure; an animated documentary that tries to blend factual history with abstractions of dream and memory. Writer/director Ari Folman, captivated by his friend's recurring dream about his time in the Israel Defense Force and his service in
Though Folman may not be a household name in the
In sitting down with Folman, I discussed the role of animation in film today and asked why, he feels, animation has just now reached the point where it can be accepted on a level like this ("Waltz with Bashir" is the one of two animated documentaries this year, following "Chicago 10"). He also discusses his next film, an adaptation of Stanislaw Lem's "The Futurological Congress" which, in addition to once again employing the use of animation, will be his first English-language film.