Press Release from A Million Movies a Minute
PORTLAND, Oregon (April, 2010) – A Million Movies a Minute, an independent distributor specializing in short documentaries, has announced its newest release, ANIMATING REALITY. This 13 film collection includes award-winning animated short documentaries by filmmakers from Sweden, the Netherlands, Japan, Australia, France, Finland, Canada, Belgium and the United States.
“Many people think of documentaries as simply conveying information—a dowdy, overly educational experience,” said Erin Donovan, founder of A Million Movies a Minute. “By adding a layer of abstraction, these filmmakers have found a way to convey profound emotional experiences."
The films of ANIMATING REALITY also represent the wide spectrum of new and old animation techniques including stop-motion, claymation, flash, sketch, hand-painted watercolor, multimedia collage, manipulated archive footage and rotoscoping.
The films in ANIMATING REALITY represent a broad spectrum of both contemporary documentary filmmaking and the possibilities of the animated form:
* Yoriko Murakami’s Talking About Amy explores the life and work of Japanese pop artist Emi Iijima while she resided in the States.
* Corrie Francis’s Conversing with Aotearoa explores the way New Zealanders are coping with technological encroachment despite a deep sense of connection to the country’s natural beauty. (Watch it on AWNtv at: http://www.awntv.com/videos/converse-with-aotearoa-2/ [1])
* In Blue, Karma, Tiger, co-directors Mia Hulterstam and Cecilia Actis interview three young, female graffiti artists.
* Samantha Moore’s The Beloved Ones is an intimate portrait of two African women living with the repercussions of AIDS.
* Davina Pardo revisits one of her famous father’s unfinished animations in Birdlings Two.
* In The Last Words of Dutch Schultz, Gerrit van Dijk presents an abstract interpretation of a gangster’s final words (voiced by Rutger Hauer) from his deathbed.
* In Jeanne Paturle’s and Cécile Rousset’s One Voice, One Vote, two strangers come together on the eve of a major election to discuss their personal connection to voting.
* In Learned by Heart, Marjut Rimminen and Paivi Takala explore the secret history of Finland’s post-WWII legacy.
* In Sold Out Marie José van der Linden and Gerrit van Dijk depict a dayin the life of a family of shopkeepers as a big box store looms.
* In A Shift in Perception, Dan Monceaux gives three recently blinded women the opportunity to illustrate how their lives have changed.
* Maya Yonesho presents a micro-history of architectural destruction and creation in Vienna with Wiener Wuast.
* Emily Bissland’s In the Same Boat tells the story of the unlikely friendship between a racist Vietnam War vet and an Iraqi refugee who meet while hospitalized.
* Eric Ledune’s Do It Yourself is a wildly funny take on a found CIA manual’s step-by-step instructions on how to torture and kill.
Each of these films has been screened at hundreds of festivals, and all have been honored with numerous prestigious awards. A complete list is available at: http://millionmoviesaminute.com/AnimaFests.html [2]
Available for sale at:
http://www.buyolympia.com/q/Item=animating-reality [3]
A Million Movies a Minute was founded on the belief that the short documentary format possesses an agility and brevity that enables the telling of powerful, intimate stories that speak to an increasingly fast-paced, media-hungry audience. Other releases from a Million Movie a Minute include After the War: Life Post-Yugoslavia, a multi-lensed examination of the experiences in the Balkan region, and Radical Act, a cultural history of the contribution of female artists to the 1990s punk music scene.
Links:
[1] http://www.awntv.com/videos/converse-with-aotearoa-2/
[2] http://millionmoviesaminute.com/AnimaFests.html
[3] http://www.buyolympia.com/q/Item=animating-reality