Canadian Cal Christiansen animates David Hare’s Wall

Production has started on a digitally animated adaptation of David Hare’s play Wall exploring the British director’s response to the Israeli separation barrier.

Dubbed a documentary essay, the production will follow Hare on the ground in Israel and the West Bank, capturing his personal perspective on the history of the wall and the Middle East conflict.

Hare has written the script and Canadian animator Cam Christiansen, whose previous work includes critically acclaimed animated shorts The Real Place and I Have Seen the Future, is directing.

David Christiansen and Bonnie Thompson at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) are producing the film.

The NFB said in a statement that Christiansen would “immerse Hare’s ideas and characters in a visually rich and imaginatively complex world’ using a mixture of motion capture, illustration, photography, live action and classic animation techniques.

Filming took place in London from December 1-8 in a motion capture studio, recording Hare and other actors performing the director’s documentary script. The production is due to wrap in 2014.

Hare, author of 25 plays and the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of The Hours and The Reader, previously explored the Middle East conflict in Via Dolorosa, which was adapted to the big screen by Stephen Daldry.