NOW… as for this Panorama stuff… see… I don’t think being selected for Panorama is an insult in the least. In 2004, for example, almost every film in Panorama was worthy of competition… but hard decisions had to be made. Panorama is very important to me… these are films that I remain very confused about… films that I feel maybe I could be wrong about… so Panorama, for me, is not just a survey of the international animation world, it’s like a sneak peak at the “deleted” scenes in a sense (okay… I know that most deleted scenes are deleted for good reason!... but that’s not what I mean here)… you can see 4-5 programs of films that I was uncertain about… films that I thought were good… films that I felt strong enough about to want to show.

Let’s remember that panorama films are being shown in the same venues, for the same audience. It’s not like you’re being tossed on a video monitor in a corner of my basement. So, really, aside from the fact that you don’t get offered a free hotel room, (you still get a comp. pass — something that TOO MANY OF YOU take for granted), and you’re not competing for a shiny trophy, what’s the problem? Buyers, recruiters, festival programmers etc.… are all there watching your work all the same.

And you know what? I can’t tell you HOW many times I’ve had people say to me at a festival (whether it’s Ottawa or Zagreb or Annecy) that they thought the Panorama screenings were better than the competition. I’ve said so many times that separating the GREAT and the SLOP is easy… it’s the work in the middle, the good stuff that is the toughest part of selection… that’s when it’s such a crapshoot and ultimately it boils down to personal taste… and, like life, YOU can’t control that. Comes down to individual psyche I guess. Do you roll with the uncontrollable or do you let your ego fight a fight of futility? In the end, it’s a battle ya ain’t never gonna win.

Crass and vulgar or raw and honest? Judge Gary Panter’s poster for this year’s Ottawa festival for yourself. © 2005 Ottawa International Animation Festival/Gary Panter.

So folks… let’s clear the air here. Panorama is an important component of a festival. It’s NOT there to be a slap in the face of the animators, it’s there because, although the programmers didn’t take it for competition, they still REALLY believe in the film and WANT their audiences to see it… Panorama shows are an admission of doubt on the part of the programmers. They could easily say… forget it… it’s competition or nothing… that way they cover their asses… but they don’t… (and okay… wait… NO we can’t simply just call the 4-5 Panorama screenings “competitions” and be done with the issue… cause it ain’t that easy — see logistics above).…

If you are one of these people who think that being chosen for Panorama is a slap in the face, you best be asking yourself some questions — Who did you make your film for? Did you make it to win trophies or did you make it because you had something to express and you want people to see it?

Competition or Panorama, your work is being seen. Why you would take this as an insult and choose not to be seen makes me immediately wonder about the motivations and mental health of the filmmaker. What other art form gives you this possibility? I can tell you that when I have a manuscript rejected by a publisher, they sure as hell don’t give me the option of a “Panorama” publishing category. Or hell, man… do you think that the hockey player who gets told that he’s MADE the team as a spare or fourth liner is gonna bitch and moan and say… no thanks… I’d rather be cut or sent to the minors? I don’t think so.

In case there is any doubt about my feelings here, let me say for the record that if you consider having your film shown out of competition an insult and would never accept it, do NOT submit your film to Ottawa. Doofs need not apply.

Chris Robinson is little more than a man. In his spare time he cares for the elderly. www.animationpimp.com.

*In another DOOFUS moment, this year our poster was created by a pretty fine artist named, Gary Panter. We were lucky to get him… and he was extremely generous with us… the result, in my view, was a fine poster… a work that combines Panter’s so-called “punk art” style with folk art. It’s colorful, playful… and it’s got that raw feeling that really, for me, captures the spirit of the Ottawa festival and, in particular, my tastes (or lack of). I like raw, honest, faulty works… and Panter’s graphic books are right along those lines (by the way, a big thanks to Richard O’Connor for leading me to Panter).

ANYWAY… this year we got a savage letter from a veteran animator out of Vancouver who absolutely LOATHED the poster and felt that we’d gone and sold our souls to the demons of all that is crass and vulgar. First, I was pleased that we got a damn letter about the poster! I have NEVER in my years in Ottawa had anyone write with such passion about our poster.

That being said, the guy was, in my view, full of shit… speaking from his ass (he seemed to think we are a govt. institution and, as such, we were spending Joe Canucks money on this American created crap — not so, most of our money is from the private world), not his head… BUT it’s his right to say he doesn’t like the poster (even if he’s wrong).