Winner of the USA film fest.
The clay artist was Jon Grigsby, and almost all of the 4,000 or so photos that make up the animation were lit by candlelight.

"...Plato is saying that humans are all prisoners and that the tangible world is our cave. The things which we perceive as real are actually just shadows on a wall. Just as the escaped prisoner ascends into the light of the sun, we amass knowledge and ascend into the light of true reality: where ideas in our minds can help us understand the form of 'The Good'"

-Source: Wikipedia