To celebrate the release of the new Nik Phelps and the Sprocket Ensemble CD "Fetch," Sprocket Ensemble is holding a musical animation party. The CD features songs from the group's popular animation/music shows at the Minna St. Gallery. Musicians on the CD include violinists Carla Kihlstedt and Irene Sazer, singer Connie Champagne, bassist Matt Small, tubist Zachariah Spellman and eclectic horn Nik Phelps. New films by Sandra Gibson and Chris Lanier will be screened, along with David Michalak's film INNA MINNA. Admission is US$10 general and $7 for students. Both nights will feature performances at 7:30 and 9:30 pm.

Read Chris Lanier's recap of his experiences at the Sundance Film Festival in Animation World Magazine.

ASIFA-Hollywood is presenting a screening of the first TV cartoons hosted by animation historian Jerry Beck. The shows screened will be rare 16mm prints of TELE-COMICS, CRUSADER RABBIT, GERALD McBOING BOING, RUFF 'N REDDY and COLONEL BLEEP. The event will begin at 7:30 pm. The entry fee will be US$2 for members and $5 for non-members. Seating is limited.

The Getty Research Institute is presenting a symposium on the avant-garde works of Harry Smith. Best known to cinephiles for his experimental films incorporating ingenious original techniques of collage animation and painting directly onto film, Smith also distinguished himself as a painter, well-known musicologist, anthropologist, linguist and magician. The Friday event will run from 9 am - 5 pm and the Saturday event begins at 9 am and concludes at 3:30 pm. A film screening will take place on Friday at 7:30 pm. Please note that there will be a $5.00 charge for parking and that late arrivals cannot be guaranteed seating. Separate reservations are required to attend the symposium sessions and/or the film screening, please make reservations by calling Tel.: (310) 440-7300.

Want to learn more out the cutting-edge art of Harry Smith? Then read the following Animation World Magazine articles at:
American Magus - Harry Smith - A Modern Alchemist (English version)
American Magus - Harry Smith - Alchimista d'Avanguardia (Italian version)
Fragments of a Faith Forgotten: Unearthing the Harry Smith Archives
The Flesh Made Word: Harry Smith Speaks

Back by popular demand! It's the ASIFA-East Animation Awards, a two-hour reel of the best independent shorts and commercials from the East Coast! The screening starts at 7:30 pm. The entry fee will be US$2 for members and $5 for non-members. Seating is limited.

ASIFA-Hollywood is presenting a screening of the anime feature SHONEN JACK TO MAHOUTSUKAI (JACK AND THE WITCH), hosted by animation historian Jerry Beck. Released by Toei in 1967, it was dubbed for limited U.S. TV distribution in the late 1960s, and then was never seen again. JACK AND THE WITCH is a wacky, sometimes psychedelic, cartoon adventure, both intentionally and unintentionally funny. The event will begin at 7:30 pm. The entry fee will be US$2 for members and $5 for non-members. Seating is limited.

The School of Film/Video will feature student animation works from their Character Animation Program during the school

The School of Film/Video will feature student animation works from their Character Animation Program during the school

Sharon Katz' new short, THE ANGEL'S FOOT CAKE / DER FUS TORT premieres April 29, 2001 at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival. THE ANGEL'S FOOT CAKE is a raucous modern Yiddish tale accompanied by Klezmer music. For more information on Sharon Katz' work, including her previous short, HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH

The Industry Preview screening of ECIAD's animation works will take place May 4, 2001 from 7 - 9 pm in the South Bldg. Lecture Theater (room 328), 1400 Johnston St., Granville Island, Vancouver, BC, Canada, Tel.: (604) 844-3800; or E-mail: lbishko@eciad.bc.ca. Time Base, a presentation of new works by graduating ECIAD students of the School of Media Arts, will be screened on May 9 - 10, 2001, 7 pm, at Tinseltown Cinemas, 88 W. Pender St., Vancouver, BC, Canada. Animated works will be screened on May 10. Advance tickets are available from April 30 to May 4, 2001 at Granville Island Toy Co., Can$7.00 each, or Can$12.00 for both nights. Information line: (604) 844-3075.

WigglyWorld presents a full week of great works of direct animation (cameraless filmmaking). Guest curator, direct animator and instructor Devon Damonte has been making direct motion picture graphics on 16mm and 35mm film for fifteen years. WORKSHOPS include: Saturday, May 5 and Saturday, May 12: Hand-Made Animation Workshop, an in-depth, hands-on two-part workshop exploring practical methods for experimenting with hand-made film; and Tuesday, May 8: Navigating The Festival Circuit - How can media artists make sense of the ever-increasing numbers of film festivals? SCREENINGS include: Friday and Saturday, May 4-5: MASTERWORKS: Visionary works from the past by Len Lye, Norman McClaren, Stan Brakhage, Harry Smith, Rose Bond and Barbel Neubauer. Plays Friday @ 7pm; Saturday @ 9pm; CURRENTS: New work in Direct Animation by Stan Brakhage, Richard Reeves, Sandra Gibson, Thad Povey and the Scratch Film Junkies, Don Best, Barbel Neubauer, Rena Del Pieve Gobi, Rock Ross and Thorsten Fleisch. Plays Friday @ 9pm; Saturday @ 7pm. Saturday and Sunday, May 5-6: ERE ERERA BALEIBU ICIK SUBUA ARVAREN, the legendary, rarely seen abstract animated epic handmade feature masterpiece by Basque genius Jose Antonio Sistiaga. Plays Saturday @ 5pm. And Sunday, May 6: DEVON DAMONTE w/GROUP LOOP. Devon presents a whirlwind tour of his own collage, hand-colored, photocopied, and scratched. Audience members will participate in making a "group loop" during the show. Plays Sunday only @ 7 & 9pm. The event will happen at the Little Theatre, 608 - 19th Avenue East (and Mercer), in Seattle.