Ball Lightning
A story of love, resilience, and surviving the trauma of war
A film created with Students, Alumni, and faculty from the Animation department at Lesley University College of Art + Design

Ball Lightning, a 12 minute frame by frame animation, is the true story of a refugee who fled the personal and social effects of Soviet run East Germany after the end of WWII and emigrated to the United States in the 1960s. The story is told through the eyes of the surrogate daughter that she raised after she was forced to give away her own infant daughter as the iron curtain rose. Gusta serves as an example of survival, kindness and the fortitude of human resilience. The film is dedicated to her lost daughter, Esther, a reminder that the children separated from families because of war are never forgotten by those who love them.
This film was funded in part by grants from ASIFA Hollywood Animation Educators Forum, the Cambridge Cultural Council as part of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and Lesley University.






