Plastic Bag

One of the most humble, yet immortal, characters to ever grace the screen is the star of this poignant and original short film. We are introduced to Plastic Bag on a nameless beach, where he is trying to end it all by joining the rumored Pacific Vortex. We follow Plastic Bag—voiced by the indubitable Werner Herzog—from his first breath, through an existential quest for his maker and then for the elusive end: death. Award-winning filmmaker Ramin Bahrani (Man Push Cart, 2005) skillfully creates—with an inanimate object as unobtrusive and ordinary as a plastic bag—a character with emotional complexity. He also manages to weave in an environmental message that resonates on a level only possible through fiction. —EL