David Ehrlich (professor of animation history at Dartmouth) presents a fascinating look at Russian animation, focusing on the work of the great Fedor Khitruk: After a 1961 visit to the Zagreb Animation Studio, whose artists were tremendously influenced for example by UPA artist John Hubley, Fedor Khitruk enthusiastically returned to Moscow to direct work whose innovative graphics completly broke with classical Soyuzmultfilm technique. He pioneered a radical departure from Russian state-sanctioned Disneyesque kitch. David Ehrlich will feature a selection of Khitruk's greatest films (including "Story Of A Crime", "Man In A Frame", "The Island", as well as shorts by his proteges Yuri Norstein and Eduard Nazarov. (Total running time: approx. 75 min.)
