It's fucking cold here. Bone seeping. Even colder in the hotel room - especially when you forget to turn the heat on. Head down to breakfast at the Apollo in. Join indie animators Steven Subotnick (Two) and Dennis Tupicoff (Chainsaw) for eats and chats. They're here as jury members. NFB producer, Marc Bertrand (Lipsett Diaries) joins us. We talk opening night films. No one left impressed by the 3D versions of Barcode or A Liar's Autobiography. Marc knows a few things about 3D. He's here presenting a screening of NFB stereoscopic films. I saw some of these on separate occasions at the NFB. It was pretty mind blowing. I remember Jarvis (my now 14 year old) and I doning some googles and then having the film play around and seemingly inside us. Nothing has touched that sense shaking experience. Apparently that involved different glasses and two projectors.
Dennis Tupicoff and Steven Subotnick enjoy Words with Friends at HAFF 13.
First up is brisk walk along the canal to the main venue, Louis Hartlooper Complex. For years, HAFF's main site was a three cinema restaurant/bar, T'Hoogt. The new digs have four small cinemas along with a restaurants/cafes/bars. Looks like it's an old cinema that's been made modern. Cozy.
Rebecca and I are about 20 mins late for Competition Shorts 5. Catch last 2 mins of ROSTO's latest, Lonely Bones. Curious to see the rest from animation's Nick Cave. Few films are familiar: Villa Antropoff by Vladimir Leschiov and Kaspar Jancis, Lay Bare from Paul Bush, and Paula from Dominic Etienne Simard. Only film that made me want to applaud really was SISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISIS from Juan Camilo Gonzalez. Trippy and ingenious little student film detailing layers and layers of a character. Identity always in process.
Decided to spend more time checking out features this year. Hard to find decent ones to show at the OIAF. Shorts are good to see, but I'll have a couple of thousand awaiting my return to Canada.
Surprised to see features being given a higher profile than short films....especially at HAFF, which has always been a champion of the short story tellers. Somewhat frustrating too after I toss away 20 minutes of my shifting identity to a
feature called Arjun, The Warrior Prince. I won't waste anymore time on it.
Next up is Anima Buenos Aires by Maria Veronica Ramirez. It's a compilation film comprised of 4 shorter films. They're loosely linked together by tango dance scenes. The stories focus on different aspects of Buena Aires life. The first film takes a comic look at the death of local business; the 2nd celebrates graffit art... I started to doze by the 3rd story (jet lag) and by the 4th story....i was haluccinating... visions of big brown juicy tits in a red dotted dress ... or something like that. Not a bad film...hit and miss as compilation films tend to be. Worth checking out.
Competition Shorts 6 was a good one...highlighted by new work from Jeremy Clapin, Georges Schwizgebel (well..new and old you could say), Lei Lei and Theodore Ushev (scripted and narrated by this old whore I used to commission. glad to see Marla doing better). Enjoyed Toto (Zbigniew Czapla, Tomasz Wolf, Poland) It's Raining (Anna Shepilova), and Clapin's Palmipedarium.
Okay...enuff. Rest of the day was spent sitting, laughing, and farting around with various animators shooting the shit about hockey, TC Boyle, divorce, women who lift their dresses on the streets while asking, "Who wants to fuck me!?"
Top: Phil Mulloy does not lift his dress for me. Bottom: Pritt Parn jr (aka Vladimir Leschiov) hails a cab in the bar as Daniel Suljic ponders the possibility of that impossibility.
The day fittingly ends with a FB message from my ex-wife (and OIAF colleague) Kelly:
"Hey our divorce is a go. We will have our certificate in less than a month"
Seems fitting that this should greet the end of my first day at an animation festival in six years. Does this mean I'm married to animation again?
Fuck.
Me.
