Annick Teninge visited Portugal's Cinanima and found a lively festival that has made a real impact on its host country. Includes a photo gallery.
The 24th edition of the Cinanima International Animated Film Festival was held November 6-12, 2000 in Espinho, a city located on the northern coast of Portugal. The festival started in 1976 as a spin-off of a local cineclub. Originally founded in 1956, within the cultural section of the local sports club, Espinho's cineclub broke up a few years later due to political repression, only to spring up again in 1976 after the national 1974 revolution. For over two decades, Cinanima has been promoting the art of animation, with high-quality international programs and a constant focus on education. This is notably demonstrated by the creation of workshops for kids in local schools, and this year's presentation of "10 years of Anilupa," a children's workshop located in Porto, with a film program, workshop and exhibition of optical toys. Cinanima also supports other local projects such as the renovation of an old factory into a permanent workshop center, with a museum, permanent animation and multimedia workshops and a training facility.
Changing Espinho
Cinanima's action certainly bears fruit. Locals such as Abi Feijó and José Miguel Ribeiro are now internationally renowned animators. Abi was an art student when he heard about the festival in 1977. He knew nothing about animation -- there was no animation school in Portugal then, and there is no animation school now. He packed a bag, with enough food for the week, and went to Espinho. Although the entire program amazed him, three animators particularly impressed him: Caroline Leaf, Co-Hoedman and Marcos Magalhães. Since then Abi has attended every edition of the festival, except one, when he was doing an internship at the National Film Board of Canada/NFB (the mention of the NFB in Marcos' film credits had led Abi to inquire about working there). Over the years, Abi, and his studio Filmografo, have won several awards at Cinanima and other international festivals. This year, Abi won both the Cartoon Portugal prize and the prize for best Portuguese script for his brand new film, Clandestino. José Miguel Ribeiro, director of The Suspect, is the most awarded Portuguese director to date, with 18 awards including the prestigious Cartoon d'Or 2000. José Miguel credits both the Cinanima festival and Filmografo for his success.
This year, Cinanima had a new space, the Multimeios Center, an interesting closed building, which, from the outside, looks like Noah's ark. This ambitious construction was completed to host all kinds of cultural activities in Espinho, including Cinanima. In August, shortly after its opening, the Portuguese premiere of Aardman's Chicken Run, in collaboration with Cinanima, was proudly held there. This new center allows the festival to have one location for the festival office, theater and exhibition space. Now the festival organizers won't have to beg for empty stores to install their temporary offices and deal with last minute electricity and phone connections, etc.
Programming and People
Among others, this year's program included: German films of the '90s, with films from six different art schools; a tribute to La Cambre, a famous Belgian school; a retrospective of Brazilian animation; and a focus on prestigious U.K. puppet-makers Mackinnon and Saunders, with a film program, workshop and great exhibition of puppets, including puppets from Tim Burton's Mars Attacks and Steffen Schaeffler's The Periwig-Maker, featuring the little girl with her flaming red hair. Unfortunately, the puppets from Barry Purves' films were not included, since they are permanently exhibited at the U.K.'s National Museum of Film Photography and Television located in Bradford.
This year's programming was laced with a recurrent parent-child theme, featuring a wide range of filial feelings and emotions, from the most unspeakable to the most beautiful. Although they have a very different approach, both The Hat (Michèle Cournoyer, Canada) and Daddy And I (collective, South Korea, best first film award) treat child abuse in a very powerful and moving way. Run Of The Mill (Borge Ring, Denmark) shows parents' inability to help their drug-addicted child, despite their unconditional love. Me, The Other (Marie Paccou, U.K./France) portrays a young woman who learns how to integrate her childhood into her life as a woman and a mother. In The Periwig-Maker (Steffen Schaeffler, Germany), although the plague affected little girl is not his daughter, the periwig-maker struggles with a natural caring feeling when he is faced with the dilemma of helping the child or drawing back. In The Night, Regina Pessoa, last year's winner of Cinanima's young Portuguese prize, tells a story where a mother and her child's loneliness is seen through the kaleidoscopic eye of the little girl. On a lighter note, Florence Henrard's Sortie de Bain (Bathrobe) and Lili et le Loup (Lili and the Wolf), from La Cambre's program, illustrate with humor and tenderness a little girl's rebellion against her parents. Finally, Father and Daughter (Michael Dudok de Wit, U.K.) beautifully portrays a daughter's longing for her lost father. This 8-minute story unfolds in what seems to last only a few seconds, in a very moving and visually stunning film. Father and Daughter won the Cinanima 2000 Grand Prize and the Journalists' Prize.
Another interesting component of Cinanima was the presence of festival old-timer Bob Godfrey. Throughout the week, this witty British director managed to entertain everybody, from young animators to old friends. Bob was not born yesterday and has an interesting view on today's industry, illustrated with funny comments like, "A camel is a horse designed by committee." He also talked about a recent encounter he had with a TV producer in the U.K.. He asked: "What's with sending all the work overseas?" The producer replied: "Bob, you don't want the third world to starve, do you?" To which Bob answered: "Well, I am starving!" Bob's new film, Millennium -- The Musical, is a funny musical extravaganza celebrating a thousand years of British history from Bob's point of view. "What is the message? Is there a moral?" You'll have to see the film to find out!
Cinanima 2001 (November 5-11) will mark the festival's 25th anniversary. This anniversary will coincide with the launch of the Casa da Animação (Animation Center) in the neighboring town of Porto, which will be the European Capitol of Culture in 2001. The Casa da Animação center will feature film programs, exhibitions, seminars and workshops. To celebrate this exceptional year, Cinanima's organizers have promised an exceptional program. Rendez-vous in 2001!
The Cinanima 2000 program and a complete list of winners is available on the festival's Website.
Annick Teninge is the general manager of Animation World Network.A French native, Annick began her animation career as Assistant Director at the Annecy International Animation Festival, a post she held for six years.
