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In addition to the Official Competitions, the festival offers a number
of special screenings that celebrate the work of an accomplished individual,
country, studio, or school.
The 1999 Ottawa Festival will include the following programmes (as of
May 13, 1999).
An * indicates that the programme is unconfirmed at this time.
60 Years of the National Film Board of Canada
This special three part programme celebrates the awesome accomplishments
of Canada's most famous animation studio.
Part one: A Tribute to Richard Condie
Including: The Big Snit, The Apprentice, Getting Started, La Salla
and more. Richard Condie will be in attendance to introduce the programme.
Part two: Rene Jodoin: Philosopher Functionaire
You could win a trivia contest by asking the question: who made films
in the 1940s with Norman McLaren, started the National Film Board's
French animation studio and shepherded the development of computer animation
in this country? René Jodoin, the artist who accomplished these and
many other things, is a figure who clearly deserves rescuing from the
anonymity of abandoned NFB catalogues and newsletters. Like Colin Low,
Wolf Koenig and Tom Daly, Jodoin allowed his natural humility and love
of the early ideals of the Film Board to obscure his genuine contributions
to Canadian film. And like many of his filmmaking colleagues, Jodoin
deliberately downplayed his own reputation in order to work better as
a "fonctionnaire," a civil servant who could produce artistic films
for educational purposes.
Jodoin's willingness to experiment, inherited from his days working
with McLaren, revolutionized the NFB in the 1960s and solidified its
reputation as the leading producer of intelligent, challenging and diverse
animation films. During those years, he discovered or nurtured such
talents as Pierre Hébert, Co Hoedeman, Jacques Drouin and Paul Driessen.
Fighting the good fight for sexual equality, Jodoin gave directorial
jobs to many female animators including Caroline Leaf, Suzanne Gervais
and Francine Desbiens. Jodoin also brought computer systems into the
Film Board, allowing Peter Foldès to start the process that has changed
animation in the past two decades. And, through it all, Jodoin remained
an animation director, who always enjoyed creating his own abstract
and complex films.
Part three: The Hard Cel: The evolution of the Canadian commercial
By Karen Mazurkewich
Animation has become one of Canada's most flourishing cultural exports.
Its recent popularity on the international scene is rather remarkable
considering Canada was a late bloomer in the field. When animation production
did find a place at the National Film Board in 1941, it was simply to
serve a strategic purpose. Education and not entertainment was the creed.
From the very beginning, animation served as a purveyor of propaganda.
The didactic nature of the NFB's early films was never eliminated,
only sublimated. After the war, sponsored films for the Canadian government
became the bread-and-butter of the NFB's animation wing for the next
quarter century.
Despite their staid mandate, Canadian animators elevated films from
work horse to art house treats. These functional shorts not only taught
kids how to brush their teeth properly or slow down while driving -
they also collected awards in the world's most prestigious film festivals
- Cannes, Zagreb and the Academy Awards. The great founding fathers
of the NFB never intended to create a commercial template - but they
did.
MTV Europe
For over ten years, London-based, MTV Europe has been producing some of
the hippest, cutting edge animation spots by some of the world's leading
independent animators. Creative Director, Peter Dougherty (also a member
of the 1999 Jury) will be on hand to introduce the programme and explain
the artistic philosophies of the studio.
(Colossal) Pictures
Founded in 1976 in the basement of a San Franciso apartment, Colossal
pictures has , despite a brief flirt with bankruptcy in the mid-1990s,
evolved into one of the most daring and innovative multimedia studios
around. This special programme will present the wide arrange of commercials,
music videos, and ids, produced by Colossal over the past 23 years.
Filmtecknarna
The first retrospective of Sweden hipster's Filmtechnara, producers of
such acclaimed films as Revolver, Otto, The Man Who thought with his Hat,
Alice and Plasmaland and much more. Co-founder Stig Berqvist and Jonas
Odell were recently given an honorable mention as top animators of all
time. Co-founder, Jonas Odell will be on hand to introduce the screening.
New Canadian Animation (presented by du Maurier Arts)
Our annual survey of what's new in the Canadian animation community.
George Griffin
A tribute to one of America's leading independent animators and teachers.
Griffin's films weave together personal and collective histories within
a self-reflexive landscape that continually questions and reveals itself
to the audience. Programme includes: A Little Routine, The Club, Flying
Fur, It's an O.K. Life, Ko-Ko and more. Griffin, a member of the 1999
Jury, will be in attendance.
Women of Russian Animation (sponsored by Films by Jove)
Russian animator, Nina Shorina will be on hand to introduce this survey
of the all to often overlooked contributions that women have made to the
very male Russian animation scene.
Education or Propoganda?: The Post-War Propoganda Cartoons of the
John Sutherland studio
This is the first retrospective of the underacknowledge John Sutherland
studio who produced a wide array of cartoons in the 1940s and 50s intent
on boosting American morale following World War 2. A very interesting
and funny look at America in the post-war era. Titles include: Going Places,
Meet King Joe, Why Play Leap Frog, Albert in Blunderland, The Littlest
Giant, Destination Earth and more.
The World's Best Animation Commercials
Culled from the competition at the 1998 Holland Animation Film Festival,
this programme will feature some of the best animated commercials being
produced around the world by some of animation's finest artists (eg. Bolex
Brothers, Mati Kutt, Priit Parn, Piotr Dumala, Yuri Norstein, Jonas Odell,
Raimund Krumme, Bill Plympton).
Yellow Submarine
A rare screening of the 1960s cult classic, recently remastered.
35mm! BINGO!: Behind the Scenes
Alias-Wavefront's Chris Landreth takes us behind the scenes of his two
acclaimed computer films, Bingo and The End (1996 Oscar Nominee).
*A Jolt of Java Hi-Jinx: The art of Cuppa Coffee Animation
A tribute to Canada's cutting edge animation studio.
* Ed, Edd, & Eddy
Canadian animator, Danny Antonnucci (Lupo The Butcher) discusses his new
Cartoon Network series, Ed, Edd & Eddy.
*The Making of the Iron Giant
Director Brad Bird (The Simpson) takes viewers on a tour of the making
of the new Warner Bros. feature, The Iron Giant.
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