I started out my viewing day at the Anima Docs program which was by and large a very strong session. Even though I have seen John Canemaker's beautifully animated The Moon and the Son many times it never fails to move me. Dennis Tupicoff's gut wrenching film His Mother's Voice moved the entire audience. This Australian film uses the voice over of a mother whose son was shot, and Dennis told me that he had originally heard her talking in a radio interview which had such an emotional impact on him that he had to animate her story.
Other highlights of the day included a panel discussion on The Animated Documentary: Fiction or Reality with Erik van Drunen of the Netherlands, Australian Dennis Tupicoff and Alex Chan of France, a discussion with Priit Parn and part 2 of Women in Animation, with films selected by Joanna Quinn.
The viewing evening ended with two more sessions of the Grand Competition at the outdoor theater. I am sorry that the first viewing of the competition films is outside since the audience treats it as though they were at a drive in movie getting up in the middle of films to buy beer, and even talking during the screening. I felt very sorry for the animators whose films were shown during the second screening of the evening. It did not begin until after 11 PM and most people had already left, but as I told one animator, at least those of us who were still there really wanted to see the films. Both programs will be screened again this evening at the main screening room but several of the film makers had to leave this morning, so they will miss the chance to be introduced there. United States animator Eric Dyer's COPENHAGEN CYCLES with music by my husband Nik was a pleasure to see on the big screen.
Monday night in Zagreb is very dead and even we super sleuths of late night bars couldn't find one. Since two of my friends were leaving early the next morning we remedied the situation by buying a large quantity of beer and going back to a hotel room to throw a going away party.
The brunch honoring John Libbey gave us all a chance to look at a selection of the books on animation that he publishes and to see more new friends. Since the festival invites guests who have film screening for only four days people keep leaving to be replaced with new arrivals.
More tomorrow . . .
