Starring Richard E. Grant, Brian Cox, and Karl Markovics, the animated short brings to life the ‘Cambridge Poker Incident,’ the notorious dispute between philosophers Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper.
A Kickstarter campaign just launched for a new animated short film, Wittgenstein’s Poker, which tells the tale of a real-life encounter between two of the 20th century's greatest philosophers, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Karl Popper. The story of their notorious dispute, known as the Cambridge Poker Incident, which culminated in one of them allegedly threatening the other with a red-hot fire poker, is set to be brought to life in hand-drawn 2D animation.
The project is an adaptation of the internationally best-selling book of the same name, written by BBC journalists David Edmonds and John Eidinow. Richard E. Grant (Withnail and I) stars as the voice of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Karl Markovics (The Counterfeiters) voices Karl Popper, and Brian Cox (Succession) voices Bertrand Russell. Russell was present at and actually witnessed the infamous 1946 confrontation.
Christian De Vita directs (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Frankenweenie, PJ Masks) with a musical score by Oscar-winning British composer Stephen Warbeck (Billy Elliot) and a screenplay by Casey Cohen, who also serves as producer.
De Vita said, "Using a traditional 2D animation style, we aim to capture the intensity and brilliance of these iconic philosophers, creating a visually captivating narrative that will immortalize this historic moment on screen."
The Kickstarter campaign, launched by the film’s team, will offer backers exclusive rewards such as scripts signed by all three cast members, a Wittgenstein drawing by Richard E. Grant, a storyboarding masterclass with the director, a 1922 first edition copy of Wittgenstein's “Tractatus,” and a guided tour of the room at Cambridge University where this infamous confrontation took place.
Kickstarter and MIFA jointly launched a call for creators as part of the Annecy International Animation Festival in June. Wittgenstein’s Poker is one of eight short films selected to take part in the initiative.
Additional information is available here.
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
