Balance 2008

Balance (2008)

Short Animated Film

Logline

A fictional world gathers around a giant scale. Human differences disappear as bodies are weighed together. The scale has a name: Democracy.

Overview

Balance is a black-and-white 2D animated short film written and directed by Mobarez Javanmard.

The film presents a surreal global ritual in which people from different races, ages, genders, and beliefs are transported by helicopters and dropped onto massive scales. Individual identities are rendered irrelevant as all bodies are treated as equal units of weight.

In the final moment, the engraved name of the scale is revealed: Democracy.

Rather than portraying democracy as an abstract ideal, the film frames it as a physical system neutral, indifferent, and mechanical where equality exists only through imposed balance.

Film Details

• Year: 2008
• Format: 2D Animation
• Color: Black & White
• Language: No dialogue
• Type: Short Film
• Written & Directed by: Mobarez Javanmard

Festival & Recognition

• Democracy Video Challenge
  Official Finalist
  Washington, D.C. — 2008

Media Coverage

Following its selection at the Democracy Video Challenge, Balance was featured and promoted by Voice of America.

An on-air interview discussing the film was conducted with Kambiz Hosseini, with participation from Jonathan Margolis of the U.S. Department of State.

Archival materials from the broadcast, including the interview footage, are preserved.

Context

Balance represents an early exploration of abstraction, systems, and equality in Javanmard’s work.

The film precedes his later focus on controlled surrealism and psychological minimalism, functioning as a foundational experiment in treating political concepts as physical structures rather than narratives or slogans.

Availability

• IMDb listing available
• Archival materials available upon request

Written & Directed by Mobarez Javanmard