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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.9 - DECEMBER 2000

On Children And British Humor by Annick Teninge Festival Daily Newspaper cover number one drawn by animator/director Jose Miguel Ribeiro. Festival Daily Newspaper cover number two drawn by animator/director Regina Pessoa. All photos on this page courtesy of the Cinanima Festival. 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. José Miguel Ribeiro, area local and Cartoon d'Or 2000 winner for The Suspect. Cinanima 2000 jury members Marcos Magalhães and Bruno Edera. 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. Young architect Nuno Lacerda Lopez designed the Multimeios Center. Manuel Cruz, best soundtrack jury, inside the Multimeios Center. 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.

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