Animafest Zagreb 2008

Far and away the best parts of the festival for me were the special programs. "Anima Docs" alone was well worth the entire trip to the festival. Curated by Erik van Durnen and Gerben Schermer for the International Documentary Film Festival 2007 in Amsterdam, the five programs give us a chance to decide for ourselves if the animated documentary is fiction posing as reality or not.

Winsor McCay's 1916 Sinking of the Lusitania is an obvious propaganda piece designed to stir up anti-German sentiments during WW I. At the other end of the spectrum, in Springtime in Sant Ponc (2007), Swiss animators Eugenia Mumenthaler and David Epiney recorded the results of a drawing workshop for mentally handicapped people. It gives a glimpse into their thoughts and fears via animation.

Even though I have seen John Canemaker's beautifully animated The Moon and the Son many times, it never fails to completely enthrall me. Dennis Tupicoff's gut-wrenching film His Mother's Voice moved the entire audience. This Australian film uses the voice-over of a mother whose son was shot, with visuals created by Dennis. He told me that he had originally heard the woman talking in a radio interview, which had such an emotional impact on him that he had to animate her story.

"Out of Africa" brought to the screen animation from the entire African continent. The special "Africa Kids" program was for children of all ages. The 35 films in the four screenings covered diverse topics, from political and social issues to folk legends, in styles including puppet animation, cut and drawn animation and 2D computer animation. The screenings gave me a window into a vast, diverse continent that I regret to say I do not know enough about.

Clare Kitson, renowned animation researcher, author and former curator at Britain's National Film Theatre, was the recipient of this year's Outstanding Achievement in Animation Theory award. She was part of the "Meet the Authors" sessions, and it was fascinating to hear her speak about the time she spent in Russia talking with Yuri Norstein for her award-winning book Yuri Norstein and Tale of Tales. The book not only looks at a film that is considered to be one of the greatest animated films ever made, but also delves deeply into the personal references that Norstein infused into the film. To further her understanding of Eastern-bloc animation, she learned Russian, which enabled her to talk to Norstein without the aid of an interpreter. As curator of the British National Film Theatre, Clare opened the eyes and minds of British audiences to animation from around the world, especially Russian and Eastern European works that had been unknown until then in Western Europe. The "World Classics" program presented by Clare included such great films as Chuck Jones' immortal What's Opera Doc? and Raoul Servais' Harpya. For those who had heard her speak the day before about Yuri Norstein and his wonderful film Tale of Tales but hadn't had the opportunity to see the film, she included it in her program.

Priit Parn was awarded the Zagreb Animafest Lifetime Achievement Award. There were three screenings of Priit's impressive body of work, as well as Parnography, Hardi Volmer's brilliant 2005 documentary about Priit and his work. I once again saw classic films that I love, such as Karl and Marilyn and Night of the Carrots. We also got to view several commercials that he made. His wife Olga Marchenko joined him on stage to talk about their first collaboration, the 2007 film I Feel a Lifelong Bullet in the Back of my Head, which is part of an Estonian poetry/animation project. They went on to discuss their new film Life without Gabriella Ferri, which they were going to finish editing once they arrived back in Estonia. As a special surprise we were also treated to Raphaell Gianelli Meriano's new short documentary Night Without the Pope, which shows Priit and Olga at home on the occasion of his 60th birthday. You get a private glimpse into how these two creative people work, as they draw together, while singing a duet, on a glass window at their home overlooking the Baltic Sea.

As part of the "Women in Animation" screenings, Joanna Quinn presented two programs of films that have had a significant influence on her career. An Animafest "Historical Overview" screened women's films, traveling in time from the 1933 French film Night on Bald Mountain by Claire Parker and Alexander Alexeioff, to Jean Gratz's 1992 Mona Lisa Descending A Staircase. Croatian women animators were also spotlighted in a special screening, and a special presentation of Lotte Reiniger's Adventures of Prince Achmed was accompanied by a live piano score as part of this salute.

A pair of "Best of Polish Animation" programs focused on films created between 1997 and 2007, and panel discussions covered such topics as "The Animated Documentary: Fiction or Reality," "Film in Africa" and "Women in Animated Film."

The opening night screening was a cross section of films that arrived too late to be juried for competition, but that Artistic Director Kreshimir Zimonic and the Animafest team deemed worthy of viewing. It is a shame that such wonderful films as Koji Yamamura's Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor, Suzie Templeton's Academy Award-winning Peter and the Wolf and Michaela Pavlatova's Carnival of Animals could not be in competition, but it was nice to see them again on the big screen.

By and large I felt that the competition screenings were very weak. I don't know if this is due to the fact that not enough good films were submitted or that the selection committee had very strange tastes. Since the short film competition takes place every two years, I have seen many fine works that fit in this time frame at other festivals. There were a few very excellent films screened, such as George Schwizgebel's beautiful painted-on-cel animation Jeu and Luis Cook's The Pearce Sisters.

One very nice surprise was She Who Measures by Veljko Popovic, who was born in the gorgeous seacoast town of Split, Croatia. This beautifully executed 3D film asks the question, "Are we truly free? Are we slaves to the culture and society that we were born into or is there a way to escape?"

Doxology by Michael Langan from San Francisco brought back a flood of memories when I saw a scene depicting the cliffs above Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Nik and I used to walk our dogs in that exact spot every day. It was also a lovely surprise to see Copenhagen Cycles by United States animator Eric Dyer, with music by my husband Nik.

I feel that the juries did an excellent job with the films they were given to select from. The jury for the "grand competition" -- Joanna Quinn (Great Britain), Moustapha Alassane (Niger), Caroline Leaf (USA/Canada/Great Britain), Igor Kovaljov (Russia/USA) and Danijel Suljic (Croatia) -- gave the best short film in the festival award to The Pearce Sisters by Luis Cook of Great Britain, "for its original and unique graphics and direction which pulls us into the bleak world of two misfit characters." The award includes a festival statue and 2,500 Euros, and Luis will be the honorary president at the next festival.

The Golden Zagreb Prize went to The Runt by Andreas Hykade of Germany. "The jury has given the Golden Zagreb to the film we consider the second film of the festival for its strong, simple, clear design and direction which delivers a powerful and shocking message." Andreas was given a festival statue and 2,000 Euros. Madame Tutli-Putli by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski of Canada won one of the three special prizes that were given at the discretion of the jury.

ASIFA Croatia hosted a lovely brunch for the ASIFA members at the festival. Buba (former head of Animafest Zagreb and vice president of ASIFA Croatia) and Vesna Dovnikovic (secretary of ASIFA International) brought tasty and powerful traditional Croatian liquors, which truly added to the festive air of the party. A good time was had by everyone.

Another nice event was when several of us took the funicular up to the Old Town for the opening of Portuguese filmmaker Regina Pessoa's exhibition of original studies and designs for her film Tragic Story with a Happy Ending. The exhibit was beautifully presented, showing the various steps that Regina went through to create her award-winning film. The setting in the Campana Latrunculorum (The Bell of Thieves) was equally charming. The 13th-century tower is located at the site of the old city wall and the bell was rung every night to signal the closing of the city gates.

A Different Way to See the Festival

The following notes are to give readers a better idea as to how difficult it is to run a major animation festival smoothly. I found the 18th edition of the Zagreb festival to be a mixture of good and bad. In the past I have looked forward to the festival because of its warm hospitality and relaxed atmosphere. Since there was a totally new administration running the festival this year, many people were curious as to how it would operate and what direction the festival would take. There were many big changes this year, most crucially with longtime festival director Margrit Antauer (affectionately known to her friends as Buba) being replaced.

The new staff was very friendly and tried to do everything that they could to make their guests feel at home. Unfortunately, most of them lacked experience running an animation festival, and that showed in their inadequate attention to small details.

It was not until half-way through the festival that foreign guests were provided with daily English-language schedules. The program guide had a weekly schedule in Croatian with a color-coded key on the side in English, but unfortunately many of the colors were very similar, so unless you were in bright sunlight it was very difficult to tell some of the color shades apart. As much as we would all like to speak our host countries' languages, an international festival must provide all information in English as well as the native tongue.

Animafest has traditionally been held the week after Annecy, which was the perfect time for those of us who attend many festivals. After a frantic week of running around and trying to see everything and everyone at Annecy, I always looked forward to a week where both screening rooms were in the same building and you could just walk out from a screening and find lots of friends in the front or back bar. I also missed the long lunches and dinners at the little restaurant behind the festival headquarters. I did make one pilgrimage to the family-run café and had a delicious calamari dinner, but missed the easy proximity of good company from years past.

Instead of the festival being in one central location with two screening rooms, this year's Animafest was located in the center of town, using three separate theaters, an outdoor screening area, and two exhibition spaces. The three locations were not too far apart, but given the torrential downpours we had this year (for which the festival organizers cannot be held responsible), it would have been lovely to have had all the screenings at one site as had been done in the past.

The opening night ceremony was held at Gliptoteka, an open-air cinema in the Old Town area of Zagreb about a 15-minute walk from festival headquarters. It was very nice, but hard to find. British animator Martin Pickles and I walked for 45 minutes looking for the location. The small map that we were given sent us up the hill, where we indeed found an open-air theatre, but it was the wrong one. I talked to several other people who had the same problem with the map the first night.

The amphitheatre was a lovely setting for opening night, but unfortunately the wrong place for the competition screenings. Two competition programs were shown each evening. The first was scheduled to start at 9:00 p.m., but since it didn't get dark until 9:30, they always started late, as did the second program each evening. It was very cold in the late-night open air, and although the staff did provide blankets when they realized how chilly it was, many people left early.

Unfortunately, many members of the audience treated the outdoor screening as though they were at a drive-in movie, getting up in the middle of films to buy beer, lighting cigarettes, and even talking during the screening. I felt very sorry for the animators whose films were shown during the second screening session, but as I told one filmmaker, at least those of us who were still there really wanted to see the films. The competition programs were re-screened in the main screening room the following evening, but unlike previous years, animators were only offered four days of festival hospitality and several of the filmmakers had to leave on the morning following their first screening and missed the chance to be introduced in front of the larger main theater audience. Some animators tried to find hotel rooms at their own expense so they could stay after their allotted time, but there were several other festivals occurring in town that same week, so every hotel was already fully booked.

Even though the main theatre had a café with a few tables, there was not enough room for lots of us to gather after a screening, and so I spent a good bit of time just trying to meet up with friends. In the future the festival should create an inviting, convenient gathering spot with tables and chairs spacious enough to accommodate large groups. Animators go to festivals not only to watch films, but also to talk to each other.

Everyone was treated to a lovely meal every afternoon, but there were only enough places for about half the group to sit down. When I asked why enough seating hadn't been provided, the answer was, "We wanted everyone to mingle." Unfortunately it was hard to mingle with a plate of food in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.

The festival was full of new, young faces and I had the feeling that the organizers were aiming to attract these young, hip animators, in contrast to past years, with the many familiar faces that made this festival an event I looked forward to. Many of the animators that I talked to had never been to Zagreb before, so they had nothing to compare it to.

I am sure the organizers and staff have their hearts in the right place and hopefully they learned a lot this year. Unfortunately, it takes more than a good programmer and the presence of animators to make a well-run festival. Animafest needs a good administrator who knows not only film, but also the mechanics of running a festival and hosting the filmmakers who inhabit this special world. I hope that by the next festival I will once again be able to say that Animafest is a must-attend event.

Complete List of Awards

Grand Competition

Jury: Joanna Quinn (Great Britain), Moustapha Alassane (Niger), Caroline Leaf (U.S./Canada/Great Britain), Igor Kovaljov (Russia/USA) and Danijel Suljic (Croatia)

Grand Prize (festival statue, cash award of 2,500 Euros, and honorary presidency at the next festival): The Pearce Sisters (Luis Cook, Great Britain) -- "For its original and unique graphics and direction which pulls us into the bleak world of two misfit characters."

Golden Zagreb Prize (festival statue and cash award of 2,000 Euros): The Runt (Andreas Hykade, Germany) -- "The jury has given the Golden Zagreb to the film we consider the second film of the festival for its strong, simple, clear design and direction which delivers a powerful and shocking message."

Zlatko Grgic Prize (best first production apart from educational institutions; festival statue and cash award of 1,500 Euros): Hezurbelzak, The Common Grave (Izibene Onederra, Spain) -- "For its anarchic stream of consciousness to pursue her stream of vision."

Three Special Prizes at the Discretion of the Jury

KJFG No. 5 (Aleksei Alekseev, Hungary) -- "For its excellent humor."Forecast (Adriaan Lokman, The Netherlands) - "For best non-narrative film."Madame Tutli-Putli (Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, Canada)

Three Special Mentions at the Discretion of the Jury

Sony Bravia: Play-doh (Frank Budgen and Darren Walsh, Great Britian) -- "To a visually surprising commercial."The Beloved Ones (Samantha Moore, Great Britain/Uganda) -- "For its message, told in a personal, accessible way."She Who Measures (Veljko Popovic, Croatia) -- "For using 3D animation in an organic and handcrafted way."

Student Competition

Jury: Regina Pessoa (Portugal), Helena Klakocar Vuksic (The Netherlands/Croatia), Saeed Tavakolian (Iran), Erik van Drunen (The Netherlands), Nedzad Begovic (Bosnia Herzegovina) -- "We travelled through an artistic universe in 78 films. We enjoyed the quality and diversity and we are confident about the future of the medium."

Dusan Vukotic Prize (best student film; Dusan Vukotic Medal and 1,000 Euros): The Irresistible Smile (Ami Lindholm, Finland) - "For its charming and effective humor and simplicity of design. The pleasure and freshness of the animation with touching dramatic details leaves no spectator indifferent."

Three Special Mentions at the Discretion of the Jury

Beton (Ariel Belinco, Michael Faust, Israel/The Netherlands) -- "For the artist's engagement clearly executed, beautifully designed and animated. The film has a strong voice."Camera Obscura (Matthieu Buchalski, Jean-Michel Drechsler and Thierry Onillion, France) -- "For its fresh, outstanding and innovative approach of the medium. It brought the members of the jury in an imaginative world where anything is possible."Can You Go Through? (Banj Ju-Young, Republic of Korea) -- "For a strange but intimately intriguing universe, elegantly designed."

Films for Children Competition

Jury: Patrik Horvat, Paloma Quinn Mills, Anja Sever, Anna Sagadin, Andela Zapcic

Best Children's Film

My Happy End (Milen Vitanov, Germany) -- "It was a hard choice, because there were so many great movies and in the end we had to choose only one. After a lot of hard thinking we came to the decision to give the main prize to the movie which had the most original story, smooth and unusual animation -- which all fitted the profile we were looking for."

Three Special Mentions at the Discretion of the Jury

Animatou (Claude Luyet, Gerorges Schwizgebel, Dominique Delachaux-Lambert, Claude Barras and Remero Andreani , Switzerland)Oktapodi (Julien Bocabeille, Francois Xavier Chanioux, Olivier Delabarre, Thierry Marchand, Emund Mokhber and Quetin Marmier, France)KJFG No. 5 (Alexsei Alekseev, Hungary)

Other Awards

Audience Award Mr. M (best film in Grand and Student Competitions): KJFG No. 5 (Aleksei Alekseev, Hungary)

Best Film (at the discretion of the animation and new media student jury): Skhizein (Jeremy Clapin, France)

Nancy Denney-Phelps has produced music for animation for the past 15 years. She has written about animation and animation festivals for such publications as Animatoons, Film/Tape World, Reel World and the ASIFA /San Francisco news magazine and is a member of the ASIFA International Board. In 2006, Nancy and her composer/musician husband Nik Phelps moved from San Francisco to Gent, Belgium, where they now have their home.