Shots from MIFA.

Politics struck the MIFA in an odd way. The conference, even the hotel, was plunged into darkness by the electricians union, with a power outage timed perfectly to coincide with the visit of the French minister of culture and communication, Renaud Donhnedieu de Vabres, to the market. The shutdown was staged in protest to the French government's plans to privatize the electric industry (should they be taking some notes from Californians?). The market had more than 200 exhibitors and 1,200 industry professionals, representing 900 companies from 50 countries. Most avoided the stuffy exhibition tent, as business was conducted briskly in the Imperial lounge, patio restaurant and lobby. Presentations and professional meetings, the 3^rd NPAR (Non-Photorealistic Animation and Rendering) scientific conference, held in the Imperial's salons were absolutely packed and too hot and stuffy to sit all the way through.

While some exhibitors report success attracting business and connecting for co-productions the heart of the MIFA is now in the lounge. Perhaps organizers can just charge for the coveted tables and forego booths for an extended lounge area, which more resembles the wheeling-dealing atmosphere and activity of the Martinez and Majestic hotel bars during the MIPCOM and MIP-TV markets. Many called MIFA an important opportunity to finish closing deals started at MIP-TV in March as well as a good way to maintain contacts before MIPCOM in October. That and they like the location - Annecy.

As for the films, 263 made up the Annecy 2004 official selection, representing 34 countries. One wonders why they felt compelled to select so many. I found for myself, and many others expressed this as well, that most of the films lacked storytelling and timing. There were a few memorable films in each program, some for quality and some for being so awful. The student film programs generally outshone the professional short programs.

Many of the films were beautiful executions of art, but lacked a story. They were images that could have hung in an art gallery, but were instead strung together on film. They moved but they didn't bring to life characters or a story, the essence of filmmaking, whatever the medium. I couldn't help thinking if animation schools were concentrating more on technique and not starting with story. Animation starts with the storyboard and not the inverse, it starts with the story, conveyed then by the images on the board.

In the television and motion picture academies, the judges frequently pass on nominating work for certain categories. Perhaps the selection committees and judges should adhere to the tenants of French cooking where more is not better?

AWN’s Dan Sarto hanging out with the celebs Ray Harryhausen and Leslie Iwerks, respectively.

Highlights of the festival programs included a visit with stop-motion/visual effects wizard Ray Harryhausen, who was available through most of the week for chance encounters. Many mentioned seeing the retrospective of the Halas and Batchelor studio (Animal Farm). Teased by a six-minute preview of Folimage's Raining Cats and Frogs, people crowded the theater to see the finished film.

The presentation about Ub Iwerks by his daughter, Leslie, Iwerks, was enlightening to many to discover not only how her father was responsible for designing Mickey Mouse, engineering animation feature production ala Disney and was one of the most prolific animators ever, but also his many pioneering scientific contributions to the optical and visual effects world. Many knew him in one realm but were not fully aware of his accomplishments in the other, this modern-day Renaissance man, a Leonardo de Vinci for his inventions and interests.