A man wakes up alone and builds civilization from cardboard. What could go wrong?
'"Weleer/Once" tells the the rise and fall of an entire cardboard society. It's about construction from scratch, nostalgia for 'village life' and the intrigues between villagers during a time of crisis. After a man wakes up in an entirely empty world, he soon finds a piece of cardboard. Gradually the man starts to build his cardboard village, looking for the ideal society. When more villagers start to appear, the empty world gets a civilized character. After days of hard labor the cardboard village finally is ready. The villagers gather and soon a big party is organized. Although most people are satisfied and enjoy their life in this new environment, you can still feel the darkness overshadowing the peaceful village... . When more and more economic problems rise, the existence of the village is at stake.
Production
Cardboard worldbuilding that puts Hollywood budgets to shame
Direction
Maes squeezes an epic into 13 minutes
Director
Robbe Maes
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The cardboard aesthetic isn't just budget—it's fragility made visible, every structure literally recyclable and disposable like the society itself.
Made by Belgian students, this became a festival circuit darling for compressing centuries of political theory into a craft project gone wrong.
BE
