Set 247 million years ago in what is now South Africa, The Moschops (2000) is a faux nature documentary focused on a genus long extinct. Trainor describes his animated film as being "about the origin of compassion in the animal kingdom."

A male God bestows upon animals the gift of self-awareness, which they promptly use to express guilt for their behavior. This moral breakthrough is somewhat undermined by the appearance of humans, whose invention of magical belief systems degrades the whole of Nature.

A male God bestows upon animals the gift of self-awareness, which they promptly use to express guilt for their behavior. This moral breakthrough is somewhat undermined by the appearance of humans, whose invention of magical belief systems degrades the whole of Nature.

In the blue-green light of the tropical rainforest, among the creeks and boulders and fallen trees, humankind's closest relatives drift in and out of meditative states. Also features a hippo and a tapir.

Like an antiquated nature documentary from Mars, The Ordovicians fills the screen with weirdly twitching objects.

A bat tells his story. He lives near a Mayan temple in a cave with bats of nine different pitches. His mother cares for him, teaching him to echo for worms. But all is not idyllic: his brother dies learning to fly; not everyone gets along (babies can be attacked by bats of other pitches). After three years, his sexual urge materializes, and he mates with many females. God speaks to him from time to time, giving solace and advice. Drinking water, finding worms, and enjoying sex bring happiness. But extinction may loom for his species, and regardless of his wish to live forever, death does await.

Luis Buñuel’s observation – “You can find all of Shakespeare and de Sade in the lives of insects” – was the inspiration for this experimental horror movie, in which human actors wordlessly enact the life-cycles of wasps and bees. Its purpose is to depict with emotion, humor and unnerving specificity an alternative society that really exists and has nothing to do with human beings. A highly stylized depiction of nature in all her deceitful glory.

Simplistic drawings portray the myths and rituals of the ancient Moche civilization as interpreted by the filmmaker from the artwork on Moche pottery, inspired by Donnan McClelland's "Sex and Death."

Simplistic drawings portray the myths and rituals of the ancient Moche civilization as interpreted by the filmmaker from the artwork on Moche pottery, inspired by Donnan McClelland's "Sex and Death."

Simplistic drawings portray the myths and rituals of the ancient Moche civilization as interpreted by the filmmaker from the artwork on Moche pottery, inspired by Donnan McClelland's "Sex and Death."