The Goethe-Institut, a German cultural center, is presenting both an
exhibition and a screening of nine new German animated short films in Los
Angeles, California. The program includes films from Thomas Meyer-Hermann,
Heinrich Sabl, Thomas Stellmach, Tyron Montgomery and Kirsten Winter. In
conjunction with this event, visual effects specialist, Volker Engel --
whose credits include "Godzilla" and "Independence Day," for which he won
the Academy Award -- will be speaking on the exhibition's selections and
discuss animation and special effects in general. The Goethe Institute
regularly promotes German animation throughout the world, creating various
events such as this upcoming one in Los Angeles, and the non-competitive
animation festival called Metamorfosi in Rome (Italy) last year, which
featured the work of Raimund Krumme, among others. These initiatives
complement the promotional work done by animation festivals in Germany. The
International Festival for Documentary and Animated Films, which takes
place every year in Leipzig, and the biannual International Festival of
Animated Film in Stuttgart, are two major animation events. In addition to
promoting both domestic and international animation, the latter gives cash
awards to support independent productions. One of the festival prizes, the
International Mercedes-Benz Sponsorship Prize for Animated Film (40,000
DM), includes the completion of an independent production in conjunction
with a one-year scholarship at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. [French
animator Marie Paccou won this coveted award at the festival's 1998 edition
for her short film "Un Jour."] German animation is also supported by
world-renowned schools such as Kassel University (where Academy-Award
winner Tyron Montgomery studied and did "Quest"), in addition to the
aforementioned Filmakademie Baden-Wurttemberg, making Germany a producer of
high quality animated shorts.


Tyron Montgomery's "Quest," an 11 1/2 minute short featuring a puppet made
out of sand in pursuit of water, won the Oscar for Best Animated Short
Film, as well as the Cartoon d'Or Award in 1996. In the February 1999 issue
of Animation World Magazine, Tyron Montgomery leads us through the
production process of "Our Garden," a stop-motion theatrical piece he
completed utilizing digital technology. The article includes a Quicktime
movie clip.


In the March 1998 issue of Animation World Magazine, Kirsten Winter
discusses how she incorporates music into the pre-production of her films.


The Raimund Krumme Gallery on AWN highlights drawings that Raimund uses as
an exercise before starting his films. You can enjoy a series of 16
exercise drawings, and then view a more detailed version of one of
Raimund's drawings.


Read Don Perro's review of Marie Paccou's "Un Jour" in the December 1997
issue of Animation World Magazine.


In the October 1998 issue, Animation World Magazine featured the unique
filmmaking process of Bärbel Neubauer, another famous German artist, who
the Goethe-Institut has highlighted.


In June 1997, in "Kassel: The Little School With a Big Name," Professor
Paul Driessen relates his experience at the animation school of Kassel
University.


William Moritz reviewed the ninth Stuttgart Animation Festival in our May
1998 issue as well.