Celebrated as a children’s author for books such as The Three Robbers and Moon Man (the film adaptation of which also screens this month), Tomi Ungerer’s distinctive animation has also addressed political issues with the protest posters he produced supporting America’s civil rights movement and damning its war in Vietnam, while his vivid works of erotica indicate a wild imagination that refuses to be contained.

Born in the Alsace region and marked by a tormented youth growing up during World War II, Ungerer’s wanderlust took him to New York, Nova Scotia and West Cork, where he currently resides. Brad Bernstein’s documentary portrait celebrates Ungerer’s work with charming animated sequences and there are contributions from supporters and contemporaries, though it’s the interviews with Ungerer himself that make it compelling. White-haired, chain-smoking, passionate and eloquent, Ungerer’s genius is evident. (Notes by Sunniva O’Flynn.)

Moon Man opens at the IFI on December 27th.

Don’t forget we now schedule weekly.