The ANIMAFEST staff planned a trip to the country with a picnic for festival guests, but sadly it had to be canceled due to rain. Instead that hosted a lovely and delicious lunch for us all at a near by restaurant. It would have been a great treat to take a drive in the country - but since the rain came down in buckets it was very wise of them to change plans.
Wednesday highlights included a retrospective of Joanna Quinn's wonderful work and World Classics selected by Clare Kitson which included such great films as What's Opera Doc? and Raoul Servais' Harpya. For those who heard her speak the day before about Yuri Norstein and his wonderful film Tale of Tales, but hadn't had the opportunity to see the film, she included it in her program.
I often feel that student competitions have stronger programs than the Grand Competition and this certain proved true on day 5. Doxology by Michael Langan from San Francisco brought back a flood of memories when I saw a scene shot on the cliffs above Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Nik and I used to walk our dogs in that exact spot every day.
By and large I have felt that the Grand Competitions have been very weak. I don't know if this is due to the fact that not enough good films were submitted or that the selection committee had very strange taste. Of course there have been some very excellent films screened, such as George Schwizgebel's beautiful painted on cell animation Jeu and Luis Cook's The Pearce Sisters, but I have seen both of these films many times and found very little that was new and exciting.
The evening ended with a round or two of drinks and dancing at a local bar. Tomorrow all will be revealed when the competition winners are announced.
