On a journey from darkness into light, a man explores his failings as a human being.

Hymn of the Nations, originally titled Arturo Toscanini: Hymn of the Nations, is a 1944 film directed by Alexander Hammid, which features the "Inno delle nazioni," a patriotic work for tenor soloist, chorus, and orchestra, composed by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi in the early 1860s. (For this musical work, Verdi utilized the national anthems of several European nations.) In December 1943, Arturo Toscanini filmed a performance of this music for inclusion in an Office of War Information documentary about the role of Italian-Americans in aiding the Allies during World War II. Toscanini added a bridge passage to include arrangements of "The Star-Spangled Banner" for the United States and "The Internationale" for the Soviet Union and the Italian partisans. Joining Toscanini in the filmed performance in NBC Studio 8-H, were tenor Jan Peerce, the Westminster Choir, and the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2010.

This short animated film was written and directed by Carl Roosens and Noémie Marsily using a mixture of pencil and ink during a residency at the Abbey of Fontevraud in May 2012. It is the first of a series of videos that will be distilled throughout the life of the album - Autour du Lac is the first single from La Paroi du ton Ventre, the second album from Carl et les hommes boîtes which will be released late april on brussels label Humpty Dumpty Records. It testifies a deep desire to strengthen the link between image and music that make Carl et les hommes boîtes a unique project boxes to strong visual identity.