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THE PERFECT ANIMATION FESTIVAL - FREDRIKSTAD ANIMATION FESTIVAL November 11 – 15 in Fredrikstad, Norway

Only a few festivals stand out in my memory as a perfect combination of excellent animation programs, superb organization and top-notch hospitality.  Fredrikstad Animation Festival, November 11 through the 15th in Fredrikstad, Norway was such an event.  Of course, how could I not love a festival where the award is named The Golden Gunnar, after my good friend Gunnar Strom, Norwegian professor and animation historian.  The statue, a moveable golden armature sculpture of Gunnar, complete with his wild long hair, designed by renowned sculpture Pjotr Sapegin.
At the heart of the festival is the Nordic-Baltic competition comprised of three competition programs and a separate screening of the top student films.  Some of the films were very familiar to me such as Kaspar Janice’s wonderful Crocodile and Signe Baumane’s Birth, however I made many new discoveries.
The biggest surprise was Anita Killi’s Sinna Mann (Angry Man), based on a popular Norwegian children’s book of the same name by Gro Dahle and Svein Nyhus.  Killi’s disturbing film is about a boy who blames himself for the repeated acts of domestic violence that he witnesses.  The story is loosely based on a true incident in a Norwegian village, where several children wrote to the King asking for his help in dealing with the violence in their families. They assumed that tbe King could do anything. The King was extremely touched and invited the children to the royal palace so that he could explain to them that their father’s behavior was not because of anything that they did.
I was told that when the King saw Anita’s film he cried.  Obviously the jury and audiences were equally moved because the film was awarded as The Best Nordic-Baltic Short Film as well as receiving the Audience Award.  The jury stated that Angry Man is a “dark theme told in a naive but very wise way.  It is an important film for all ages that really gives a positive solution to a terrible problem.
An interesting departure from most festivals was the third competition program carried a warning “This program is not suitable for children”.   It certainly did contain some strong material.  The opening film, Ralph and Jimmy, by Swedish director Jacob Stalhammar dealt with pedophilia.  The competition went on to Dildoman,set inside an unusual strip joint and Watch Alice Bleed, an 11 minute stop motion music and theater show whose title tells it all.  I didn’t think that I would ever say that Signe Bauman’s Birth was one of the tamer films in a program, but in this case it was.  I commend the festival programmers for putting together a program that was challenging to watch and sure to offend some of the audience, but with films deserving to be screened.
In addition to the Nordic-Baltic films there was a presentation of International Short Films, a special Children’s Program and a screening of the five 2009 Cartoon d’ Or finalists. The winner for 2009 was David O’ Reilly’s Please Say Something.  He received the prestigious award a few weeks before at the Cartoon Forum in Stavanger, Norway.  Several feature films such as Mary & Max and Coraline were also screened.
The Festival abounded with guests and special moments.  The Opening Night ceremony started on a very touching note when revered Norwegian animator Inni Karine Melbye was awarded a Life Time Achievement Award for her many contributions to animation.  To add to the joy of this special evening, Inni was presented her award by her old friend and collaborator Michel Ocelot.  Michel flew in from France for the one night just to honor his colleague.  He kept his arrival a secret, even eating dinner in his room that evening so that no one would see him and spoil the surprise.  The next morning, he was on his way back to France.

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ANOTHER UPDATE FROM SIMON TAYLOR ON HIS ANIMATOR MENTOR PROGRAM

Greetings one and all!

So as I wander into the final week of my penultimate term at Animation Mentor I thought this would be a good moment for a blog entry. I'm currently on the train on my way to work typing this on my phone though so I will do my best to quality control my mistypings and bizarre predictive text choices! Trains are brilliant places to observe people, there are certainly a few poses and character traits that I'm going to save for a future shot! Although right now there appears to be mainly varations on sleeping. The evening rush hour is great too, pleanty of variations of walks and runs! These are definitely my new favourite source of inspiration. I've also recently started accumulating footage for my own video reference library and I've discovered a brilliant source is the news as you get (most of the time) 100% natural moments from people.

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UNMADE IN CHINA: The 2nd Xiamen International Animation Festival

When I received my invitation to the 2nd Xiamen International Animation Festival (October 30 to November 3, 2009) I looked forward to my second visit to Xiamen.  The first edition of the festival had been a positive experience even though the quality of the animation that I saw was sadly lacking in quality. The members of ASIFA China who organized the event showed every sign of trying to follow ASIFA festival guidelines.
The e-mail that invited me said that my formal invitation, which is necessary to get my visa to visit China, would follow.  Then I waited, and waited, and waited.  Months passed.  It finally arrived on October 13th, barely two weeks before I was due to leave for China.  I had assumed that I was being invited for the entire festival, so I was very surprised to see that I would arrive on the 1st of November and leave again on the 4th.  I would only have two full days there and be in the air or in airports for almost as many hours as I would be at the Festival.
I later found out that four other ASIFA Board Members had similar problems receiving their invitations.  It turned out that the local government had taken control of the festival away from last year’s organizers.   Although ASIFA was still listed as a co-organizer, ASIFA’s policies regarding treatment of films and filmmakers was being woefully ignored.  Apparently the new government organizers decided to “uninvite” three ASIFA Board Members to save money but we were not informed about this.  What I did not find out until later was that we were not reinvited until ASIFA made it plain that either the entire Board be invited or none of us would attend the festival.
On October 29th I was preparing to leave for China on the 31st when an e-mail arrived from Oscar winning animator Gene Deitch who had been invited to the festival as a special guest and key note speaker.  He had gone to the Chinese Embassy in Prague, where he lives, and was denied a visa. Deitch thought that they took one look at his age and decided that they didn’t want to risk having to ship a guest back home in a body bag.  Gene is 85 years young and shows no signs of slowing down either mentally or physically.  The festival staff was very apologetic and asked Gene to videotape a message to be played at the festival.  He duly did that and his controversial message can be seen on over a dozen web sites (Google “Gene Deitch, Xiamen").
That evening I also received an e-mail from my ASIFA Board colleague Mohamed Ghazala from Egypt who had received his invitation to give a presentation in Xiamen several months before.  He had been anxiously awaiting his plane ticket which had finally arrived that day.  The festival had arranged for him to fly out the next day (October 30th).  He would arrive on the 31st,  give his presentation on the 2nd and then depart for the airport 15 minutes after he finished delivering his paper.   He would be in China one full day, which was even more absurd than my two day visit.  A very frustrated Mohamed decided not to attend the festival at all.
I was beginning to ask myself “Why am I going?” but I was very curious to see for myself exactly what was going on so I forged ahead. I had a 4 hour delay in Beijing due to an unexpected heavy snow storm, which I later learned was also a great surprise to the local residents.  The government had seeded the clouds for snow as an experiment without announcing it to the public. Unfortunately I arrived too late on Sunday to visit the Animation Products and Technology Exhibition and Exchange or to see the 2 days of Cosplay Competition.
Monday dawned very early with an 8:15 meeting time to take the bus to the Forum.  After welcoming speeches from the Director of the Xiamen Municipal Information Industry and Nelson Shin from ASIFA, the General Manager of the Application and Multi-Media Center of China Mobil, Fujian Branch, delivered the keynote speech “Mobil Phone Animation, the Next Stage for Animation.”

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A MEETING OF THE MINDS: THE INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION, COMICS AND GAMES FORUM. JILIN, CHINA

Any time that a 150 of the world’s greatest experts in the animation, comics and the gaming industry come together for a week, it is pretty amazing.  It is even more amazing when we are all flown to China to deliver papers.  That is what took place September 14 through the 17th at the 2009 International Animation, Comics, and Gaming Forum in Jilin, China.
Guests as diverse as Ed Hooks (United States), pioneer of acting training for animators and author of numerous books and articles; noted Australian independent animator Dennis Tupicoff, and Mark Osborne, director of Kung Fu Panda showed and discussed their work.  All of this took place over three days in the Animation Forum Theatre with two other rooms devoted to the Cartoon Forum and lectures from the gaming industry.

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MONSTRA/LISBON ANIMATION FESTIVAL Call For Entries

Each year there are a handful of festivals that I REALLY look forward to and MONSTRA is certainly one of the top ones on my list.  The charming host, Fernando Galrito, and his amazing staff put together a first class festival, invite a wonderful array of guests, and treat the guests with warm Portuguese hospitality.

The 10th edition of MONSTRA International Competition will be open to short films produced after March 2007 and student short films made after 1 January 2009.

Submission deadline is 30 November 2009 and is free.

For Regulations and Entry Form visit www.monstrafestival.com

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ANIMATOR DAVID SILVERMAN (THE SIMPSONS) AND PRODUCER JOSH SELIG (WONDER PETS!) TO HEADLINE TAC

 David Silverman is not only very talented but he is a very entertaining speaker who will keep you laughing while you learn.  My friend David is also a very hot tuba player and whenever he and Nik are in the same place they always find plenty of time to play music together.  Any time you have a chance to hear David speak don't miss it and if you're lucky he may even play a bit of tuba!

 

Industry professionals planning to attend the 2009 Television Animation Conference (TAC) will want to order their passes soon so not to miss this year’s keynote speaker lineup.  David Silverman, best known for directing numerous episodes of The Simpsons as well as The Simpsons Movie, and Josh Selig, founder and president of Little Airplane Productions, Inc. will headline this year’s Conference and provide their unique insight into the world of animation. 

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More from Simon Taylor and the Animation Mentor Program

Here is another installment from Simon Taylor and his experiences with the Animation Mentor Program.  Congratulations to Simon on being hired by Impossible TV in London.  I have really enjoyed watching Simon's  growth from a participate in the Young Animators Festival in Bradford, England to a working animator and believe that we will hear more from Simon in the future.
Greetings!

Time's flying past at Animation Mentor and a lot has happened since my last blog entry. I'm now in Class 4 "Introduction to Acting" and on top of that have just started my first full-time animation job at Impossible TV in London. This is going to give me an entirely new perspective on the course as I'm really going to have to manage my time well. Luckily I'm on a bit of a roll with my current assignment which always helps although it doesn't seem to happen anywhere near as often as I'd like!

Class 3 went well over all and I learnt a lot from my mentor Dana Boadway. AM's new syllabus where they have two terms instead of one on body mechanics really helped as well. When the acting term started I thought to myself, right, I've had two terms of body mechanics so I'll do something a little physically simpler, so of course I decided to do an assignment where my character dances into shot singing, does a twirl and falls onto a sofa! Clever me! This assignment goes into next term where we'll then finish it off with facial animation. If you'd like to see my current work in progress you can see it here: www.simontayloranimation.com/blog/408submission.mov
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ANIMAFEST ZAGREB 2009 - Much Sweeter The Second Time Around

When Nik and I accepted our invitation to attend the 19th edition of the World Festival of Animated Film in Zagreb, Croatia I was curious to see if they had learned from their mistakes and had returned Animafest to its former place as one of the most prestigious animation festivals in the world.  I had been very critical of the festival the year before when a new, younger, inexperienced staff replaced long time Festival Director Margit Anatauer, affectionately known as Buba.  I am very happy to report that Animafest Zagreb has regained its place of honor.
Animafest 2009 did everything right and then some.  The premiere screenings were held in the beautiful old Kino Europa with on stage interviews for all animators who were present.  Animators were given hospitality for the entire festival, not just for three day as happened last year, and there were daily interviews with animators, directors and film guests. Igor Prassel conducted them at the French Cutural Institute and they were well attended.  Igor knows how to ask the right questions  and then give the interviewee space to answer, while keeping the conversation on track.

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MARY & MAX TO RECEIVE UNITED STATES RELEASE

Melodrama Pictures has announced that the award winning film Mary and Max by the Academy Award winning Australian director Adam Elliot (Harvie Krumpet) will be released on the Sundance Select on-demand platform of Sundance Channel.  Beginning on October 14 Mary and Max will be available on the on-demand platform of major US cable operators including Comcast, Cox and Cablevision.  The film will also have an Academy Award quilifying release in Los Angeles which will make it eligible for this years Academy Awards.

A feature-length claymation animation film, Mary and Max opened the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. With voices by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Toni Collette, Eric Bana and Barry Humphries, the film tells the story of a 20-year pen-pal friendship between two very different people: Mary Dinkle, a lonely 8-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne and Max Horowitz, a 44-year-old Jewish man living an isolated life in New York City. The film is a triumph of emotion, insight and eccentricity – a complete delight.  In May, the film shared the Grand Cristal Best Feature award at the prestigous Annecy Animation Festival with Henry Selick’s  Caroline.

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3RD KLIK! Amsterdam Animation Festival

The 3RD KLIK! Amsterdam Animation Festival - back, as the organizers say "with a vengeance", will be held from the 17th to  the 20th of September in - yes, you guessed it, Amsterdam.

From a humble but spirited beginning, the festival has blossemed into an International Competition with a separate Student Competition, and will be made up of over 700 films from 50 countries this year.

Alongside the competition programs, the festival will also spotlight the power of animation as an adult art form with 2 special themes:  Political Animation and Erotic Animation.  A special award for the best politically motivated film is also new this year.

American film historian Dennis Nybeck, already familiar to many animation fans on both sides of the Atlantic, will present special programs from his vast collection of vintage films, and a compilation of Brazilian animation will put this year's featured country in the spotlight.

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Another Good Reason To Come to Gent, Belgium in October

The 36th Edition of Flanders International Film Festival Gent, Belgium October 6 through 17, 2009 will feature Anime as part of it's salute to the world of Asian cinema. A highlight of the festival will be a retrospective from the renowned Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli founded in 1985 by directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata . Miyazaki, the creative force behind many of Studio Ghibi's films, has been able to transcend cultural boundaries with his themes of ethics, pacifism, and the relationship between humans and nature and his films are as well loved in the West as they are in Asia. The films by Hayao Miyazaki to be screened at the festival are: Castle in the Sky (1986), Spirited Away (2001), Howl's Moving Castle (2004), and Ponyo On the Cliff By te Sea (2008). I must admit that I am sad to see that Porco Rosso, my personal favorite, won't be shown. I would love a chance to see the mighty pig fly across the big screen again.

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CYBER SOUSA ANIMATION FESTIVAL

The CYBER SOUSA ANIMATION FESTIVAL in XIAMEN, CHINA will be held October 30 through November 3,  2009

If you read my blog regularly you know that I have visited animations festivals in China twice in the past year.  I find the members of the Chinese Animation Community to be lovely people but the quality of the work leaves much to be desired.

After a great deal of thought I have decided that as members of the world wide animation family we cannot ignore an emerging nation with such a large population that is turning out a great deal of animation, even if most of it is very formulaic and industrial.

One of the best ways that we can influence young Chinese animators is by exposing them to high quality work that is being created in other parts of the world, by entering Chinese animation festivals.

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ANNECY 2009 LIFE ON THE ANIMATION RIVERIA

Annecy 2009, June 8 through 13th, was its usual mixed bag.  On the plus side there were lots of old and new friends to see and some fantastic special screenings.  On the other hand the majority of the short films in competition were mediocre.  Since networking and doing business has become one of the major purposes of the festival, it was definitely a success in that department.

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More From Simon Taylor and the Animation Mentor Program

May 22nd 2009

Hi all! Time certainly flies when you’re having fun. Class 2 went by in a flash with my mentor Jon Collins and now I’m in Class 3 with freelance animator Dana Boadway.

As before, each assignment builds upon what has been learnt previously so this term I’ve been pushing body mechanics further with a heavy lifting assignment, a push and a back flip (based on Donald O’Connor’s “Make ‘em laugh” routine from Singin’ in The Rain). I can’t wait to get into the acting soon but that’s still a few weeks away!

I’m currently in the blocking stage of my back flip animation but I’d like to share something I learnt from my first assignment this term, a heavy lift. When you’re still learning the basics of animation don’t stray too far from your video reference! Exaggerate of course but don’t go doing something almost completely different. My heavy lifting assignment went a little bit wrong because of this as I couldn’t find footage of something heavy enough for what I wanted. I then thought to myself, no problem, I’ll just make it look heavier when it comes to animating it, good grief I shouldn’t have done that! Anyway, lesson learnt and my next assignment came out a lot better.

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MONSTRA’S MOVE DOWNTOWN WAS A BIG SUCCESS

It is hard to believe that the Monstra Animated Film Festival in Lisbon, Portugal is only 8 years old because each year the festival leaves me with a lifetime of memories.  The 2009 edition (March 9 – 15, 2009) moved downtown from its prevision location so that it could reach more of the community. The experiment worked well, with good-sized audiences for the screenings. The majority of the screenings took place in the lavish Art Deco style Cinema Sao Jorge.  The cinema, built between 1947 and 1950 by the British Rank Organization to showcase their films, was once the largest movie palace on the Iberian Peninsula.
There are records of Chinese residents in Lisbon from as early as 1540 and to honor this segment of the population the Museu do Oriente (Museum of Oriental Art) was opened in the heart of the Asian Community last year.   This year it was the ideal site for respected Japanese abstract animator Maya Yonnesho’s 3-day workshop.  She and a group of students “toured” Lisbon via two wall sized pictographs in the museum, which they used as a starting point to create their film Lisbon Mix which was filmed all over the city.  The finished film, capturing the sights and sounds of the city through Maya and her student’s eyes, was screened on closing night.  Along with a retrospective of Maya’s films there were showings of Chinese animator Li-jun Sun’s Zhang Ga! and Through The Moebus Strip by Clenn Chaika from China and the United States.
The Museu da Marioneta (Puppet Museum) in conjunction with Monstra mounted an extensive exhibit of puppets and sets from Jose Miguel Ribeiro’s new film Passeio De Domingo (Sunday Drive).  There were also drawings and photographs used in the making of the 20-minute film, which was conceived in Lisbon, built in Montemor, filmed in Belgium and France and with post production taking place in the Netherlands.  I especially enjoyed the visual representations at the museum of the route that Jose Miguel traveled as he went to these countries working with different teams of professionals in their three different languages.  It was amazing to see the attention to detail that was taken with each character and set.
I have been anxiously awaiting this film because I am a large fan of his earlier film, The Suspect, which won more International awards than any other Portuguese film up to the present time.  When Nik and I screened The Suspect as part of our Ideas In Animation series our audience was delighted with the puppet animation that tells the story of four people on a train that may have a serial killer on board.  Several years ago Nik and I visited Jose Miguel at his workshop in Montemor and saw the first puppets being created, so I was eager to see the film, which was screened at the closing night ceremony.  Passeio De Domingo lived up to my expectations and I am sure we will all have ample opportunity to see this touching humorous story of a family’s Sunday drive that turns into a road trip.
The Museu da Marioneta also showcased Papirossy, a “lung-drawn” animation and audiovisual installation created by Otto Alder, acclaimed animation historian, documentarian, and co-chairman of HGKL (Hochschule fur Gestaltung und Kunst Luzern) in Luzern, Switzerland.  “Lung-drawn” is a confusing phrase that refers to Otto blowing cigarette smoke onto cardboard which was combined with animation to create an effect which he describes as “an installation that visualizes time through imprinted smoke on cardboard to create an effect where time is frozen, the past stays fixed, and emotions are visualized by integrating animation into a mixed media installation.”  Papirossy is the first lung-drawn animation ever filmed and the installation has traveled worldwide.

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