In the six Cartoon Modern programs I had the opportunity to see many old favorites.  I also learned about the Cartoon Modern movement in the Netherlands in the 1950’s and ‘60’s   and the Contemporary Cartoon Modern program showed us that the legacy of the 1950’s is still very much alive.

Far too often when I see a film that I saw and loved years ago it turns out to be a big disappointment, but the UPA feature Gay Pur-ee” was as wonderful as the first time I saw it on the big screen when it was released in 1962.  Judy Garland in her only animated film role was the perfect voice for the lovely, pampered house cat Mewsette, and Robert Goulet in his first film role brought the champion mouser Jaune Tom, who is in love with Mewsette, to life.  The sequence of paintings of Mewsette in the styles of various famous artists such as Lautrec, Henri Rousseau, and Picasso is a delight for anyone who knows art history.  Gay Pur-ee was 85 minutes of purr-fect pleasure for me.

KROK International Animated Film Festival celebrated its 20^th birthday this year and oh what a nine-day birthday party it was!  Breaking with the usual festival tradition of showing the first competition program at a theatre followed by a welcome dinner on the ship on opening night, we were taken to a beach club overlooking the Black Sea in Odessa.   From the moment we arrived at the opening ceremony at the beautiful Otrada Beach Club, I knew that it was going to be a special year.

There were welcome speeches and a special salute by Yuri Norshtein to Edward Nazarov, Russian president of the festival who was sadly unable to sail with us this year.  Then came a live demonstration of the unique art of Hungarian sand animator Ferenc Cako, a member of the jury this year.  This was followed by a screening of the French feature film The Day of the Crows directed by Jean-Christopher Dessaint, and a sumptuous feast served under the stars on the club’s lawn.
KROK was not the only one celebrating a birthday this year.  The renowned Pilot Studio, the first independent Soviet Film Studio, is 25 years old this year.  The retrospective screening “Pilot Studio is 25 Years Old --- A story of success, struggle, and creation . . .” paid tribute to the legion of films that the studio has produced and the man whose vision and stubborn determination created this great studio again all odds, Alexander Tatarsky.

MONSTRA 2014 - Call for Entries for Feature Films, Short Films and TV Series, Student Films and Super-Short Films
Dear Friends!

We are proud to announce that the 13th Edition of MONSTRA – Lisbon Animated Film Festival will take place from 13th to 23rd   March 2014.

MONSTRA is a festival where experimentation/research, crossing over new artistic approaches, forms and proposals takes place.

The main aim of Lisbon Animated Film Festival is the presentation and promotion of the world’s best animation. This year’s festival edition includes competition, retrospectives, workshops, master classes, exhibitions   and interdisciplinary projects.

We invite you to submit your feature film, short film, TV series, student film or super short film to the International Animated Film Competition until the 15th of November 2013.

Submit your animated films!

Dear filmmakers and friends of animated films,

in 2014 Stuttgart will again open up the doors to the great world of animated film. You would like to be a part of it and show your film to an international audience? The Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) will offer a platform to filmmakers, directors and production companies to present their films and give to fans of animated film the chance to watch animated short and feature films of all genres for six days.

The ITFS is one of the biggest and most important international festivals for animated film. It has developed into an essential event within the field of animated film in Germany and worldwide. Around 80,000 visitors and approximately 2,500 accredited professionals attended in 2013. Be a part of it and take the chance to meet well-known filmmakers and young talents, and to participate in numerous workshops, informational events and presentations.

My first trip to the Middle East proved to be the amazing experience I had expected it to be.  Unfortunately I had to miss the first two days of the Beirut Animated Festival due to commitments at Annecy.  I left early on Sunday morning from the Geneva airport.  My first surprise came when I landed at the Beirut airport.  The festival staff had told me that I could purchase a visa when I arrived at the airport, but as it turned out with my official invitation to participate in a cultural event, there was no charge for my visa. Even though I would only be there for four days, the visa was issued to me for a month.

With a minimal staff and a very limited budget, festival director Sarra Maali and her staff have created an impressive  festival. Headquartered at the beautiful Metropolis Cinema, it combined the best of Middle Eastern animation with a varied selection of international features and short animated films.   The opening night was kicked off with a screening of the French feature The Rabbi’s Cat and I was told that the  several hundred seat theatre was full.

Each year I wait with great anticipation for the International Trickfilm Festival of Animation and the 2013 20^th anniversary edition did not disappoint me.  As befits a milestone 20^th anniversary special guests abounded.  The venerable British master of puppet animation, Barry Purves, presented 2 programs of his films, and a screen play workshop he titled “The Naked Animator”.  Alas, Barry did not appear in the altogether but he did bare the naked truth and some harsh realities about a life devoted to puppet animation.  Barry is such an entertaining speaker that I would go out of my way anytime to listen to him read the telephone book which I am sure would be most eloquent with numerous funny asides so the opportunity to hear him talk about what still drives and inspires him to continue to create after 35 years in the land of puppets was a rare treat.

Nikola Majdak, pioneer of Serbian animation, passed away on May 4, 2013 at the age of 86.  Born in Valjevo in the former Yugoslavia on November 30, 1927, his fascination with cinema spanned 6 generations.

At the age of 16 young Nikola began work in a laboratory, graduating to the projection booth and finally to camera operator.  After graduating from the Art History Department of Belgrade University he went on to a career as a director of photography working on over 200 documentary, feature films, and animations, many of which won major awards worldwide.

Nikola served as the long-time president of ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film d’ Animation) Serbia, representing his chapter on the ASIFA International Board.  He also served on numerous juries at such prestigious festivals as Annecy, Hiroshima, and Espinho.

I was lucky enough to be invited to the International Short Film Festival last year and it was a wonderful experience.  The festival is open to both live action and animated shorts with awards for separate categories.

You can read my article about the 2012 edition under January 2013 in my blog archive and then be sure to send your film.

The 13^th edition of the International Short Film Festival will take place in October 2013 (9th to 13th) in Lille, France.

The international short films competition is composed of 3 categories : International, National and Young Audience.

These competitions are opened to all shorts (maximum 25 minutes and completed in 2012 / 2013).

ReAnimania is now heading to its 5-year jubilee and the call for applications is open!

We have already received many films from different countries and if you have missed the big news then you still have time to submit your film to ReAnimania 2013   which will take place from 2nd to 8th of November!
Deadline for all film entries (Short/Graduation/TV/Commissioned/Music) is August 15, 2013.

The closing date for FEATURE film submission is August 29, 2013.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As regards sending and returning the selection DVD, in case you declare 'value' the festival is not responsible if the film gets stuck at customs.
Entry forms are available at  http://reanimania.com/participants
Please send your submissions to:
ReAnimania IAFFY
Argishti St. 7/4
0015 Yerevan, Armenia

ABOUT FESA '13
Initiated by the Public Enterprise “Belgrade Fortress”, FESA – Festival of European Student Animation, was established in 2012 under the auspices of the Serbian Ministry for Culture.
The main goal of the festival is to promote the art of animation from the European countries and to create conditions that will enable the younger generation to conquer new concepts and new technologies.
The Festival of European Student Animation will be held from August 31th to September 1st 2013.
The Festival comprises of Students Competition programme (film schools and single student authors)
This year’s competition themes are CHRISTIANITY and WISDOM in the widest sense of the terms.
ADMISSION CONDITIONS
Only animated films/works of European production not longer than 30 minutes will be accepted (using classical »frame by frame« or computer animation techniques or combining live action and animation (Animation being primary media).
Works completed in this Millenium will be considered eligible for this year’s festival.
Works coming from Non European Countries cannot be accepted for competition, but can be screened at the festival
if chosen by the Pre-Selection Committee.
One author can submit more than one film according to festival rules.
There is no entry fee.
ENTRIES AND REGISTRATION
For Pre-Selection films must be sent only in MP4, AVI or MOV format.
The ENTRY FORM – please download from the festival website
http://www.beogradskatvrdjava.co.rs/FESA-2013_4049-80_1983
should be sent by e-mail to – fesafestival@gmail.com
The Entry Form must be sent together with:
– digital copy of the film for Pre-Selection,
– two or more stills from the film (6 cm width, 300 dpi),
– film synopsis (maximum 500 characters)
– photo of the author,
– brief biography of the author and filmography.
Deadline for submission is August 5th 2013
Digital copies sent for selection and competition will be kept in the Festival’s archive.
PRE-SELECTION COMMITTEE AND THE JURY
The Pre-Selection Committee consists of two members from Serbia and the Artistic Director of the Festival.
The Official International Award Jury for the Student Competition consists of three members, professors, theorists or animation artists from the European countries:
The Participants will be informed about the results of Pre-Selection by e-mail before August 20th 2013.
AWARDS
The following official Festival Awards will be granted by the International Jury:
1. Prize of the festival for the Best Student Film
2. Special Jury Award
The International Jury is also free to award 3 special diplomas by their own choice.
All the awards must be granted.
SUBTITLING
All the films need to have English subtitles incorporated, except if the spoken language in the film is English.
ACCEPTING THE RULES
The participation (sending films for Pre-Selection and signing the Entry Form) in the FESA implies unconditional acceptance of the terms and conditions set forth in these Regulations. Films once applied for the festival cannot be withdrawn.
Festival confirms that all the authors’ rights, clearly indicated in the Entry Form, will be guaranteed.

Each year I look forward to Anima Brussels because it is my first festival of the year and an opportunity to see a large number of new Belgian animated films.  Over the ten days of ANIMA there are also many noted guests and old friends.

The festivities got off to a start opening night with the much anticipated Italian/Belgian/Luxemburg animated feature co-production Pinocchio by Italian director Enzo D’Alo.

The first half of the animated feature seemed to drag along slowly, it comes to life in the second half, when Pinocchio reaches Donkey Island.  Suddenly the screen lit up with characters that looked straight out of the American/German artist Richard Lindner’s paintings, bursting into song and dance as the wayward boys get lured into the dungeon where they are slowly turned into donkeys.  Lorenzo Mattotti’s brilliant talents as a noted comic book artist and graphic designer are shown to their fullest in this sequence.