Work
Art director and concept artist for animation.
Working with cultural institutions and independent film — animated documentaries, short films, communication campaigns on social and scientific subjects. I direct on smaller productions, and art direct and design on larger ones.
Working with cultural institutions and independent film — animated documentaries, short films, communication campaigns on social and scientific subjects. I direct on smaller productions, and art direct and design on larger ones.
Dear Lotta
2D Animated TV Series Development · Personal Work
Work
Land is the story of an encounter: between a young migrant and a drunk grave robber, between reality and myth.
Animated in rotoscope, the film draws on the migration crisis on Lesbos and the broader experience of migration, letting myth surface inside something very real and very present.
Animated in rotoscope, the film draws on the migration crisis on Lesbos and the broader experience of migration, letting myth surface inside something very real and very present.
Directed by Angelica Lena and Teodora Pasquinelli
Line Producer Yorgos Zervas
Animators Angelica Lena · Alessandro Novelli · Ines Teixeira
Actors Jasmin Momen · Meah Nikos Spirelis
Sound design and mix Stelios Koupetoris
Line Producer Yorgos Zervas
Animators Angelica Lena · Alessandro Novelli · Ines Teixeira
Actors Jasmin Momen · Meah Nikos Spirelis
Sound design and mix Stelios Koupetoris
Land was selected for funding by ERT's Microfilm Programme, the Greek national broadcaster's long-running scheme supporting short film production, and produced with Libellula Productions.
It went on to screen at Animasyros, the Drama International Short Film Festival, the VOID Animation Festival and the Brussels Short Film Festival, among others.
It went on to screen at Animasyros, the Drama International Short Film Festival, the VOID Animation Festival and the Brussels Short Film Festival, among others.
Work
Four 30-second animated pieces, each unpacking a different aspect of Leonardo da Vinci's The Virgin of the Rocks — made for the National Gallery's communication channels and in-gallery screens, as part of the exhibition dedicated entirely to the painting.
Creative Direction: Sentio Space
Director and Art Director: Angelica Lena
Animation: Cactus Motion
Creative Direction: Sentio Space
Director and Art Director: Angelica Lena
Animation: Cactus Motion
Work
Têtes de mules follows young people from Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, French Guiana, caught up in cocaine trafficking to mainland France. Among them a young man preparing to become a drug mule, a woman serving an eighteen-month sentence for transport, and a former convict now working in prevention. Directed by Camille Toulmé, the documentary aired on France.tv slash in April 2025, produced by Mélisande Films and Nova Production with support from the CNC.
The documentary was nominated at Figra Festival 2026.
The documentary was nominated at Figra Festival 2026.
Directed by Camille Toulmé
Production Mélisande Films, Nova Production
Animation and Art direction Alice Bibette, Angelica Lena
Animation assistant Thibault Delbecque
Editing Baptiste Amigorena
Director of Photography Hafça El Moussaoui
Production Mélisande Films, Nova Production
Animation and Art direction Alice Bibette, Angelica Lena
Animation assistant Thibault Delbecque
Editing Baptiste Amigorena
Director of Photography Hafça El Moussaoui
Animation was used alongside the live-action footage to anonymise subjects, and to add another layer to their stories. The art direction had to be handled carefully: adding to the documentary footage without overpowering it, and without slipping into heavy-handed or infantilising dramatisation of a complex story.
To do that, I relied on abstract textures and glitches inside the character's silhouette, to show discomfort building up until it's encompassing.
Visually, I looked for a style that could merge with the footage: a graphic language somewhere between video collage and hand-drawn elements.
To do that, I relied on abstract textures and glitches inside the character's silhouette, to show discomfort building up until it's encompassing.
Visually, I looked for a style that could merge with the footage: a graphic language somewhere between video collage and hand-drawn elements.
Work
FutureNHS is a collaboration platform that empowers NHS workers to connect, share, and learn across boundaries safely.
To promote the platform, CDS Agency asked me to design and animate the touching true story of a NHS midwife who set a national network on the topic of Foetal Monitoring, in order to create a national standard and lead better practice.
To promote the platform, CDS Agency asked me to design and animate the touching true story of a NHS midwife who set a national network on the topic of Foetal Monitoring, in order to create a national standard and lead better practice.
Client NHS
Agency CDS
Produced by Sentio Space
Directed by Angelica Lena
Rough animation by Max Golding
Sound Design by Vanni Bottacini
Agency CDS
Produced by Sentio Space
Directed by Angelica Lena
Rough animation by Max Golding
Sound Design by Vanni Bottacini
Concept Art
Final Styleframes
A selection of my favourite scenes
Work
Main title sequence for Romanzo Famigliare ("A Family Tale"), a 12-episode drama series aired on Rai 1, directed by Francesca Archibugi and co-produced by Rai Fiction and Wildside.
The story follows Micol, a sixteen-year-old clarinet student at the Rome Conservatory, who becomes pregnant by her young clarinet teacher, Federico. Her pregnancy forces her mother Emma — who had herself become pregnant with Micol as a teenager and left her wealthy family— to confront her own past. The series is a multigenerational portrait of two families across Livorno, weaving together themes of motherhood, inheritance and reconciliation.
The titles were hand-drawn using 2D frame-by-frame animation combined with rotoscope.
The story follows Micol, a sixteen-year-old clarinet student at the Rome Conservatory, who becomes pregnant by her young clarinet teacher, Federico. Her pregnancy forces her mother Emma — who had herself become pregnant with Micol as a teenager and left her wealthy family— to confront her own past. The series is a multigenerational portrait of two families across Livorno, weaving together themes of motherhood, inheritance and reconciliation.
The titles were hand-drawn using 2D frame-by-frame animation combined with rotoscope.
Music by Battista Lena
Voice by Nada Malanima
Animation by Ivana Gloria, Eleonora Gambula and Angelica Lena
Voice by Nada Malanima
Animation by Ivana Gloria, Eleonora Gambula and Angelica Lena
Work
A 14-minute immersive film commissioned by the commune of Ramatuelle to mark ten years of the Pampelonne beach redevelopment scheme, screened continuously through the summer of 2025 inside an 11-metre geodesic dome installed directly on the sand. Produced by TADAMM! Féérie Immersive, the film traces the beach's history and future across five sequences: the landscape, the 1944 Provence landings, the glamour of the 1950s and Brigitte Bardot, tourism, and the challenges of climate change.
Produced by TADAMM! Féérie Immersive
Commissioned by the Commune of Ramatuelle
Creative Direction & Compositing: Alice Bibette
Art Direction & Asset Production: Angelica Lena
Voice Over: Alexandre Damiani
Runtime: 14 minutes
Venue: Plage de Pampelonne, Ramatuelle
Dates: 28 June – 25 August 2025
Commissioned by the Commune of Ramatuelle
Creative Direction & Compositing: Alice Bibette
Art Direction & Asset Production: Angelica Lena
Voice Over: Alexandre Damiani
Runtime: 14 minutes
Venue: Plage de Pampelonne, Ramatuelle
Dates: 28 June – 25 August 2025
I worked on art direction and asset production alongside Alice Bibette on creative direction and compositing.
What follows is a selection from the sea sequence specifically, since it was the most animation and art direction intensive part of the project, tracing the work Posidonia oceanica, or Neptune grass, does to hold the seabed together, and how anchoring and overfishing undo it.
What follows is a selection from the sea sequence specifically, since it was the most animation and art direction intensive part of the project, tracing the work Posidonia oceanica, or Neptune grass, does to hold the seabed together, and how anchoring and overfishing undo it.
Work
Work
In 2023, the National Gallery held a board presentation to launch its Bicentenary programme, and I worked on the suite of material built to support it: fourteen animated loops and a one-minute explainer trailer.
Each loop introduced one of the year's events, and the trailer opened the whole presentation.
I developed the concept, style frames and storyboards throughout. Given the tight timeline, I ran two teams in parallel to meet the deadline: a small studio on the trailer, and three animators on the loops.
The material was later reused across the Gallery's public communications.
Each loop introduced one of the year's events, and the trailer opened the whole presentation.
I developed the concept, style frames and storyboards throughout. Given the tight timeline, I ran two teams in parallel to meet the deadline: a small studio on the trailer, and three animators on the loops.
The material was later reused across the Gallery's public communications.
Client The National Gallery
Made at Sentio Space
Directed by Angelica Lena
Loops' animators Noah Mauchly, Max Golding Wilkens, Tom Bates
Explainer video's animators Studio Desk and Martha Halliday
Sound Design by Benjy Barkes
Made at Sentio Space
Directed by Angelica Lena
Loops' animators Noah Mauchly, Max Golding Wilkens, Tom Bates
Explainer video's animators Studio Desk and Martha Halliday
Sound Design by Benjy Barkes
The brief called for a simple, hand-drawn black and white style that wouldn't clash with the paintings themselves, which were going to be heavily present throughout the animation. The art direction stayed clean, playful but restrained — celebrating the spirit of the event without overpowering the material.
Work
A one-minute animation for BBC StoryWorks and Viatris, unpacking how medicines are manufactured and distributed around the world.
I was solely responsible for storyboard, design and animation, starting from Viatris's existing palette and playful character design and pushing it toward something more handmade — brushstroke textures, a warmer, more human quality.
Sound design and voiceover were produced by Sentio Space.
I was solely responsible for storyboard, design and animation, starting from Viatris's existing palette and playful character design and pushing it toward something more handmade — brushstroke textures, a warmer, more human quality.
Sound design and voiceover were produced by Sentio Space.
Work
A one-minute explainer video for the Articulation Programme, The National Gallery's national public speaking initiative for young people.
The film introduces the programme's spirit and aims through a dynamic, concise visual language, designed to present the initiative to a broad audience in a short format.
My role was of art direction and animation direction: visual concept development, storyboard, and production oversight.
The film introduces the programme's spirit and aims through a dynamic, concise visual language, designed to present the initiative to a broad audience in a short format.
My role was of art direction and animation direction: visual concept development, storyboard, and production oversight.
Client The National Gallery
Produced by Sentio Space
Directed by Angelica Lena
Animated by Michelle Brand
Sound design by Benjamin Barkes
Produced by Sentio Space
Directed by Angelica Lena
Animated by Michelle Brand
Sound design by Benjamin Barkes
Work
Talisker House is Chapter one of The Master Betrayed, an interactive exploration of the work of psychiatrist and philosopher Dr Iain McGilchrist, made by Sentio Space.
The project is built around ten hours of exclusive audio, recorded with Dr Iain McGilchrist over three days in 2017 at his home, Talisker House, on the Isle of Skye.
I was there when the conversation was recorded, and I later directed the opening Chapter of the project.
Work
Casa Parini is an Italian textile brand that produces beautifully soft bed sheets using 100% hemp, one of the world's most eco-friendly crops.
I developed their initial logo. The design took inspiration from the shape of the hemp leaf, of how it could also resemble a star, therefore a starlit sky that calls for a dreamy, sleeping comfort.
Work
Studio Ran held a competition to illustrate the Italian poster of the film Wadjda. I was happy to know that the director personally chose my illustration. Studio Ran then finalised the poster to what is today.
Work
This is a compilation of my character animation work for various projects. Storyboard, design and animation by me.
Work
Hi, I'm Angelica, an Italian artist based in Leipzig.
I trained as an illustrator in Rome before moving into animation.
I studied at Central Saint Martins and worked as in-house Art Director at a London animation studio before going freelance.
I work across the whole pipeline — storyboards and animatics,
concept art, character design, style frames, character animation, compositing — on documentaries, museum pieces, short films and campaigns. I also work as an illustrator for digital and print.
Open to commissions, but feel free to reach out for any reason — even just to say hi: angelica@lenangelica.com
I trained as an illustrator in Rome before moving into animation.
I studied at Central Saint Martins and worked as in-house Art Director at a London animation studio before going freelance.
I work across the whole pipeline — storyboards and animatics,
concept art, character design, style frames, character animation, compositing — on documentaries, museum pieces, short films and campaigns. I also work as an illustrator for digital and print.
Open to commissions, but feel free to reach out for any reason — even just to say hi: angelica@lenangelica.com
