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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.05 - AUGUST 2000
Beyond Vital: British Festivals In 2000by Andrew Osmond
At the start of 1999, Irene Kotlarz concluded her report "Animation Festivals: A Year of Proliferation and Change" on the world festival scene -- with special attention to Vital's failure -- with the comment, 'It seems unlikely Britain will see another broad-based international animation festival any time soon.' Her claim has borne out. Certainly, there hasn't been any British event on a comparable scale since Vital crashed and burned, to the tune of perhaps a hundred thousand pounds-worth in debts. Yet festival activity stays lively, and there's a strong sense of rebuilding. Britain may not be able to produce anything in Annecy's league for the moment, but there's plenty going on.
One recent big event was the British Animation Awards (BAA). The third edition of these biannual ceremonies, it was held in London's National Film Theatre, and like its predecessors was completely sold out. Three of the awards were in 'Public Choice' categories, voted for in nine cities at venues including Bristol's Watershed and Cardiff's Chapter cinema. The winning films have embarked on a countrywide tour till September, and are also going abroad. Meanwhile, independent and foreign animation is playing in local cinemas. For example, the Welsh-Russian film The Miracle Maker had a limited theatrical outing this spring, while London's Institute of Contemporary Arts has recently run retrospectives of Osamu Tezuka and Jan Svankmajer. There are also clubs such as London's Halloween Society and Film Arts Norwich (FAN), which specialize in screening diverse short films, including animation. FAN is preparing a festival for this October (there's more information below). Animated Exeter 'The size of our media economy didn't warrant an industry-oriented festival, but the strength of our arts and educational base suggested an animation week combining screenings, production workshops and interactive shows. We focused on children and young people, with workshops and screenings ranging from those for the very young through to the club scene and students. The event was held in the February half-term holiday.'
The resulting programme consisted of the three BAA 'Public Vote' sessions, along with a collection of 'Children's Animation Film from the South West.' This local showcase included representatives from Honeycomb Animation, a festival backer, together with A for Animation, Bumper Films, Alison DeVere Animation and King Rollo. A sister strand, 'Prize Winning European Children's Animation,' focused on the Belgian animator An Vrombaut (Little Wolf, When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Tiger). It included the first public screening of Vrombaut's new film, 64 Zoo Lane. There was also an intriguing range of feature animation, from The Iron Giant and the Bakshi-animated Lord of the Rings, through to the anime horror Perfect Blue and the South Park movie. On the event side, workshops were aimed at carefully defined age groups. There was a 'hands-on' session for youngsters, using zoetropes, plasticine and scratch animation, while slightly older visitors attended a digital animation workshop using Mac computers, software and cameras. Meanwhile there was an 'Interactive Animation' session to show the process from storyboarding to production, and a newcomer-friendly 'Meet the Industry' panel. ('Your chance to find out how the film and television industry works.') Then there were 'Interactivities' ('Workshops in Club Technology') for those wanting to play with Web animation or video, sound and digital mixing.
Early reports suggest Animated Exeter was a success, and looks certain to become an annual event. The Interactivities drew the highest numbers (about 1300) but the Children's Workshops were also fully booked. Public Choice screenings had better attendance than Bristol, Cardiff or Cambridge, and the total number of people attending at some point was 'toward three thousand.' My contact notes, 'We need to develop a public audience for the long-term future of such a festival. There has to be local relevance, building on the existing infrastructure and distinct talents in the region.' However, she added, 'I'd hope this emphasis does not exclude scope for the industry sector to develop in an equally relevant and distinctive way.' The Animated Exeter event is a fledgling cousin to another British annual, the Bradford Animation Festival (BAF!). Operating continuously since 1994, this festival runs for five or six days a year (most recently in 1999). Organiser Bill Lawrence has similar sentiments to those above. In his view, 'Festivals always face the problem of who or what leads their agenda. Inevitably, you must ground the festival in a local audience, as well as a relevance to the industry. However, without a core audience of regular festival-goers, the event is unstable. It's important to develop local audiences that will buy into the art and become regulars.' The question of how to balance public and industry appeal is especially relevant in Britain, given that many people think Vital went wrong in this area. The Cardiff event seemed committed to big studio recruitment, an attitude that backfired when the majors didn't turn up. There were also allegations of anti-Cardiff feeling among Vital organisers, which in turn are said to have led to an unfriendly festival unsupported by the town.
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