Adobe Flash livens up websites with eye-catching animation, and adds a new level of user enjoyment with interactive interfaces and games (like the pong game on the new Studiothink website), but it doesn’t usually come to mind as a way to animate an entire feature film.

But that's what director Ari Folman used with his 2009 Golden Globe-winning film, Waltz with Bashir. A documentary about the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the film was shot with three DVCAMs, then painstakingly transformed into animation by a team of eight animators, four illustrators, one After Effects artist, and one editor, thus creating a very artistic, original and creative production from a very limited budget.

I managed to catch the film shortly after its appearance at the Vancouver Film Festival, and was blown away; It's great to see the same tool we use to give your website a competitive edge on the web can be used in such a powerful way. It's out of theaters now, but set to be released on DVD on Jun 23, 2009. So if you're a fan of foreign films, documentaries, or creative animation, I highly recommend taking a look.