Animator Signe Baumane turns her gaze inward for My Love Affair With Marriage, a semi-autobiographical musical exploration of love, sex, romance, and gender as viewed through the lens of neurochemistry. A Greek chorus of Latvian village women and a friendly neuron inside our protagonist’s brain connect the film’s multiple thematic threads, as we follow young Zelma from childhood to young adulthood and into middle age, through several marriages and across multiple continents, in search of true love. 

From Greek mythology to reproductive biology, from Moscow to Toronto, My Love Affair With Marriage takes a creative, light-hearted look at the human desire to find the person who will finally make us feel complete. Using both two-dimensional and stop-motion animation, Baumane blends earnest vulnerability and dry humor. It’s a film that’s both deeply personal and relatable to anyone who’s ever lost themselves in a romantic relationship.--Karen McMullen