I enjoyed chatting with fellow Beatles freak Tess Martin about our other shared fixation: The Netherlands. What business does their coffee have being so good? How easy is it to be a working artist there? Is the countryside really like those old Dutch paintings? Find out within.

Tess Martin is a film and visual artist based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She brings her perspective as someone who was raised between cultures to exploring themes of belonging, identity and connection. Her short films, videos and installations address our vulnerability: in relation to nature, the onslaught of time and the precariousness of memory. Tess has both a classical fine art and an animation background and these come together in her work: she pushes the conceptual potential of hand-made animation and the narrative potential of site-specific pieces. 

How Now, House? investigates our yearning to leave traces behind through the prism of one house in Rotterdam. Using archives, personal memories and the philosophy of time, the film questions whether a space can ever really belong to one person, or time period, at all. How Now, House? will be screened at the upcoming London Short Film Festival, Jan 23-Feb 1, 2026.

Get your hands on a Camp Snap Camera for $5 off by using my link! https://www.campsnapphoto.com/INDIALOMBARDIBELLO

Links to points of discussion:

• Tess Martin's website


• Tess Martin's Instagram


• The Holidays at Metrograph


• The Animator's Friend on Instagram


• Camp Snap website


• Animator's Picnic - NYC


• How Now, House?


• 1976: Search for Life


• The Animator's Animations


• Science New Wave Festival - NYC


• Alice Saey's website


• Nienke Deutz's website


• Kaboom Animation Festival


• The Animator's Playlist


• Revolution in the Head by Ian MacDonald


• The Animator's Favorites


• Leon & Cocina's website


• Anifilm - Czech Republic


• Animafest Zagreb - Croatia


• Annecy International Animation Festival - France


• Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam - Netherlands


• International Film Fest Rotterdam - Netherlands


• Turku Animated Film Festival - Finland


• Animateka - Slovenia


• Kristie Kish's website


• Brooklyn Public Library


• St. Joost School of Art & Design - Netherlands


• Dok Leipzig - Germany


• London Short Film Festival - UK

The Animator's Friend is hosted by India Lombardi-Bello, an animation educator based in New York City. In this series, India creates a platform where animators get to talk about themselves outside the context of their work. A questionnaire format, inspired by the 24 frames per second of animation, allows for personal, lighthearted, and unexpected conversation.

Credits:

• Recorded, produced, and edited by India Lombardi-Bello


• Booking assistance from Beth Quittman


• Digital marketing assistance from Arnesh Kundu


• Music by Cloutmeyer


• Design by Sawyer Rippon


• I thanked an overwhelming amount of people in the recording, so here I'll just thank these linkable entities: Mother's Milk, Commodore II, and Malt Adult.