Of her uber-creative animated collage of found objects and urban observations, Kaho Yoshida says, “Berlin Playground” is a mini film inspired by her experience of moving to Berlin. “I moved to Berlin in March and I immediately fell in love with the DIY, edgy, free-spirited hangout spaces in Berlin,” she told us.

“I started referring to them as dystopian playgrounds. With the city changing so fast, I wanted to make a film to celebrate these corners of Berlin without fetishizing the history and the struggles of the city.” When asked about the very apropos street materials used in the short, she said, “I built most of the sets out of trash I found on the streets of Berlin. I got some wood from the scrap section of a hardware store for 20 cents. I wanted to make something pretty out of what might be considered ugly, because that’s what people seem to do in Berlin.”

In addition to being the most fitting of tools, Kaho’s materials actually take a step toward addressing her impetus for creating this particular piece. “With the city changing, I wonder how long these dystopian playgrounds will survive,” she said. Leaving the streets of Berlin memorialized, as well as a bit cleaner, proves this up and coming animator to be as innovative as she is resourceful.