A Black Rail's Tale

A tiny Black Rail guides us through South Carolina’s former rice plantations, revealing how landscapes engineered by enslaved people have become a refuge for one of North America’s rarest birds.

ANIMATION | 5:10

Director Biography - Lynn Tomlinson

Lynn Tomlinson is an artist and award-winning director of animated short films. She uses a unique clay-on-glass animation process, manipulating thin layers of modeling clay frame by frame to create painterly images under the camera. This handcrafted approach allows her work to come to life through shifting perspectives and on-screen transformations.

Her films explore environmental themes, often imagining how non-human beings might view humanity’s impact. Lynn’s award-winning animations have screened around the world at venues including the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and the Pompidou Center, as well as international animation festivals such as Annecy and Ottawa International Animation Festivals.