I recently found an animated world in my hometown of Gent, Belgium in a most unexpected place: the Campus Volkskliniek Hospital operating room where I had eye surgery. I can’t say that I felt no anxiety; after all, I was lying on a hospital gurney with an IV in my arm and an oxygen tube up my nose, knowing that an incision was about to be made into my eye and that I wasn’t even going to be given good drugs or knocked out. But with impending blindness as the alternative, I chose my only option.

About a year ago, I began to think that the projectors at the animation festivals were getting very fuzzy and I kept moving further and further toward the front row to see the screen. It became obvious to me that the problem was not with the projectors, but with my eyes. This was a big problem, since I spend a great deal of my time in screening rooms, and what animation festival would want a blind juror, much less a “visually challenged” journalist.

Over the next 12 months, my eyesight rapidly deteriorated. By the time I took my 7 week “Grand Festival Tour” in November, I knew that I was in real trouble. Traveling alone was quite a challenge. It was very unsettling to stare at the arrival and departure screens in the airport and train stations without being able to read a thing, not to mention managing my arrival at an airport in London and taking the tube across town while pulling a very heavy suitcase. I really related to Blanche DuBoise, as I too relied upon the kindness of strangers.

Once I arrived at the festivals, there was always a friend on hand to help me get down the theatre aisle. This simple walk had become a challenge since my night vision was almost gone, and a dim theatre was like entering the belly of the beast. It’s amazing how conspicuous you feel sitting in the front row of a partially full theatre, but I was lucky to have friends offer to escort me down to the front and sit with me.

Enter into my life Doctor Jan Poelman. When he first diagnosed my vision problem as cataracts and said that there was no way to tell how rapidly they would progress, I was horrified. My next thought was “how long can I put surgery off”. I had a busy festival schedule through February, and no matter how silly it seems, spring sunshine and flowers sounded like a much better time for an operation than during the cold and rainy months.

NANCY WITH DR. JAN POELMAN IN THE OPERATING ROOM

Over my next few visits to Doctor Poelman, I discovered that he had a keen sense of humor, an absolute necessity for any doctor that is going to cut me open anywhere. He was straightforward in explaining what was going to happen to my eyes. He answered all my questions, and most important of all, he laughed, qualities that I usually found lacking in my U.S. surgeons (although Jeri, my GP/Nurse Practitioner in San Francisco also possessed these qualities).

Doctor Poelman made me feel secure enough about the entire process so that when I went to the hospital to have my right eye cut open and fitted with its new plastic lens I felt amazingly calm. I was astonished to find only a ten minute wait at the hospital to check in, and then it was right upstairs, where the nurses checked my blood pressure and dilated my eye. Each eye is operated on a week apart just in case something should go wrong and to give you time to recover and adjust.

After a few minutes, off I went to the pre-op room for my IV, which was a mild relaxant, and a local anesthetic for my eye. The nurses gave me my fashion accessories to go with my hospital gown: a blue plastic hat and blue plastic shoe covers. Yes, I was amazed that I got to wear my shoes into surgery and it was somehow very comforting – the adult version of taking my Teddy Bear to bed with me. My entire face was eventually covered in the operating room, with a cloth leaving just a small space where my right eye was exposed. Throughout this entire process, the nurses and my doctor laughed and joked with me, which really helped me relax. They even got into the spirit of taking the photos for this article. The gurney ride to the operating room was only a few feet away from the pre op room. Although we were joined by my smiling doctor, I was pleased that the minute surgery began, everyone became very serious and professional. As much as I love to laugh, this was my eye, and I didn’t want Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush operating on me no matter how much I love Groucho Marx.

NANCY IN PRE OP WITH NURSE NADINE GLORIEUX

No one prepared me for the adventure that awaited me on that operating table. First of all a very bright light was shined in my eye, and then the most fantastic animated light show began. I have never seen such intense, vivid colors, not even at the Fillmore light shows in the ‘60’s. The magenta and aquamarines were intertwined with olive green circles that radiated lustrous gold and orange shooting sparks that felt like they were flying out of my brain. The colors and shapes all moved in rhythmic patterns to the music on the operating room radio and made me feel that I was in the middle of an Otto Fischinger animated short. I can only imagine what I would have seen and heard if I had been given the really good drugs.

DR. POELMAN AND I SHARE A LAUGH AFTER COMPLETION OF A SUCCESSFUL OPERATION

The week between the two surgeries was a bit schizophrenic. One eye had 20/20 vision and the other one had zilch vision, and by the end of the seven days my weaker eye had lost the battle and given in to my stronger eye. I began to have glimpses into the wonderful world of colors and sight that I had lost. Now that round two is over, I can see the world even without my rose colored glasses (although I still need them to read) and it looks like my world is a pretty good place to be right now.

There is no way I can adequately thank my many friends who supported me throughout this entire ordeal. I especially want to acknowledge my numerous friends who helped me look like I knew where I was and what was happening at animation festivals. I never could have done it without you all.

Nik and I leave on 1 May for the Trickfilm Festival in Stuttgart, where we will give a workshop and I will watch and write about films from anywhere in the theatre that I feel like sitting. From there we travel to Lisbon for Monstra where I have the honor to be on the Student Film jury and Nik will perform with the fabulous musician/animator Rasto Ćirić. Nik will also give a three day workshop. I will, of course, send you full reports of these events.

The 10^th Anima Brussels, February 1^st through the 10^th, was a thoroughly enjoyable festival with a wide range of films and panel discussions. Unlike most animation festivals, Anima is put together by the staff primarily for the public, rather than for animators. Of course, there were special guests including the Dutch director and designer Rosto, but the real thrust of the screenings is directed at the movie going public.

The sold out opening night film, Peur (s) Du Noir (Fear(s) of the Dark) is a French-American co-production directed by Etienne Robial. Six internationally renowned comic book artists: Blutch, Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre di Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti and Richard McGuire delved deeply into their own nightmares and fears to recreate them in stark black and white and shades of gray. In the opening story, which I thought was the strongest, Blutch introduces us to a sadistic old man walking a pack of ferocious dogs. Other segments include a man haunted by a praying mantis, a girl possessed by the ghost of a Sanuarai, and in another, a man has an encounter with the ghosts in an abandoned house.

Peur(s) Du Noir

The strong individual styles depict how people’s bizarre fears can so easily become a part of their reality, whether the fears are overcome or succumbed to. The individual musical scores added greatly to the overall effect of the 6 individual pieces, but I found the transition sequences, where a soothing French voice tells us of her fears, most distracting, completely destroying the mood set by the separate vignettes. Each segment could stand on its own as a short animated work.

Fourteen features were screened, with eight in competition. I really enjoy Nocturna. This Spanish film revolves around the young orphan Tim who watches his favorite star disappear from the heavens. He meets characters that magically populate the night and battles a shadow that threatens the inhabitants of the dark. I was enchanted with the design of the film in which the animators recreated the rooftops of Paris in soft, muted tones of brown and blue. In contrast to the background, the characters showed a strong Japanese influence, especially Mr. Moka, who supervises the organization that governs the night realm.

Adrian Garcia, who co-directed the film with Victor Maldonado, proved to be as charming as his film. Over drinks he told me that he and Victor had known each other since high school and had worked as artistic directors on the 2003 Spanish animated feature El Cid: The Legend, but Nocturne marks their directorial debut. When I asked Adrian why the background scenes were Parisian and not Spanish, he told me that they worked with a third partner who lives in Paris and the backgrounds were inspired by views from his window,

Nocturna

Saturday there was a delightful party for kids following the screening of Max & Co. There was plenty of food and soft drinks for the children, wine and beer for the parents and activities for all. There was even face painting for the younger babes in arms. I admire the efforts by the festival to reach out to the very youngest of the movie going public and creating screenings and events for the entire family. Children are never too young to begin to learn that cinema going is a part of life and not just a special event.

In the afternoons young people could make their own animated films with assistance of a team of animators from Pantalone Art Studio. Children were also given an opportunity to vote for their own prize winners: Best Children’s Short Film went to German Director Gil Alkabetz’s Ein Sonniger Tag/ A Sunny Day and Best Children’s Feature went to le Petit Roi Macius/ Little King Macius, a French, German and Polish co-production about a 9 year old Prince who becomes King of his realm when his beloved father dies.

Of the 79 films in the International Competition there weren’t any real surprises. The jury, French animator Arthur De Pins, Japanese born Fumio Obata, who now works in Edinburgh, and Regina Pessoa from Portugal, gave the Grand Prize of 3,000.00 Euros to The Tale of How by South Africa’s Blackheart Gang. I wrote about their film when it won the Grand Prix at the Black Nights Festival in Estonia. The award for Best Short Film went to The Pearce Sisters. This year Anime introduced awards in two new categories, Commercials and Music Videos. You can see the complete list of award winners at the end of this article.

A highlight of the festival for me is the chance to see many Belgian films that are not screened at other festivals. 8 of the total 19 prizes awarded at the Festival were in the National Competition category. The Grand Prix of the French speaking community of Belgium went to Le Pont (The Bridge). Vincent Bierrewaerts’ film tells the tale of a father and son living on a mountain top where the only access to the outside world is a bridge. The story of the bridge collapsing and the son’s growing awareness of the outside world also won the Audience Award for the Best Belgian Film and the Belgian Television Award which is 1,500.00 Euros and a television distribution contract.

I have known and respected the work of Rosto for quite a while. Originally coming out of the Dutch alternative music scene, he has now become well known as an innovative filmmaker, graphic artist, and illustrator. Since delving into the world of animation, Rosto has utilized many different mediums: 2D and 3D, photographs, drawing and rotoscoping in order to create his own very dynamic and dark personal universe. Being able to see a body of his work, 22 pieces, in one sitting at his Anima retrospective gave me an even greater appreciation of Rosto’s vast range of talents.

It was particularly wonderful to see Rosto’s 1-minute video collaboration with The Residence for their 2004 Commercial Album DVD on the big screen. The project, which utilizes 24 different visual artists spanning a wide array of mediums, is a tribute to the 25^th anniversary of the Commercial Album based on the original 40 Commercial Album songs.

Rosto was accompanied to the festival by his girlfriend Suzie Templeton. Suzie was about to fly to San Francisco and then on to Hollywood where her film Peter and the Wolf was nominated for the Academy Award. Regina Pessoa, Abi Feijo (Regina’s husband and an amazing animator in his own right), Adrian Garcia, Rosto and I drank a good luck toast to Suzie, and it must have worked because as you all know by now, she won.

Susie and Rosto

The Max Fleischer tribute screened a program of Betty Boop films and two feature films, Mr. Bug Goes to Town and Gulliver’s Travels. This collection of 11 Betty Boop shorts restored by the UCLA Film Archive is so beautiful and crisp that it was a rare treat to see them on the big screen. In the 70 years since Mae Questel’s high-pitched voice brought the big-eyed coquette, the epitome of the 20’s flapper, to life on the silver screen, so much of our early film history has been lost. Future generations will owe so much to the UCLA film restorers who are preserving the fragile nitrate prints. Mr. Bug Goes to Town was originally meant as an adaptation of Maurice Maeterlinck’s The Life of a Bee, but the Fleischer Brothers couldn’t secure the rights to the story. The film is a superb cartoon full of references to the war in Europe and the impending entrance of the US into WW II transposed into the insect world. Unfortunately the message of how war destroys innocent lives is still relevant. The film was released two days after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor relegating it to forgotten history. The 1939 Gulliver’s Travels, which was the first Fleischer Studio feature, was also screened.

The 60 Years of Polish animation programs included films by such renowned names as Jan Lenica, Jerzy Kucia, Zbigniew Rybezynski, Piotr Dumala and Walerian Borowczky. A program of new Polish animation proved that the lush visual tradition is being carried on by the next generation. There was also a program devoted to young German animators with a preview of films from the Dok Festival in Leipzig.

Leslie Iwerk’s The Pixar Story traces the history of the studio and its legendary figures of Steve Job, Ed Catmull, and John Lasseter to the next generation who will become legends. Her documentary takes us behind the scenes of the company that pioneered a new generation of animators and forever changed the face of filmmaking. Leslie’s warm and intimate style of documentary filming is just as evident in this film as it was in The Hand Behind The Mouse that chronicles the life of Ub Iwerks , her grandfather. Ub was the original designer and co-creator of Mickey Mouse. Watching The Pixar Story brought back so many memories for me of living in San Francisco and visiting Pixar.

For the second year Anima hosted Siggraph’s the Electronic Theatre competition for 3D imagery. Terrance Masson, President of Siggraph 2006 and a special effects pioneer, introduced the program as well as presented a talk on the history of CGI. Wavelength 07, which takes place in London at the Onedotzero Festival, also presented a compilation of the newest and most innovative music videos.

Animated Nights beginning at 22h00 on the first Saturday night and going until the wee hours of the morning was the only disappointment that I had at Anima. The program, designed to appeal to a young audience and those of us interested in new, cutting edge work, but it definitely was not cutting edge and lacked a sense of excitement and fun. People just sat in their seats with very little audience response.

Embedded in the Festival is the Futuranima Conference which covers different aspects of current animation production. 30 members of the European animation industry sat on different panels covering a wide range of topics ranging from copyrights and new technology to sound design.

Nik joined me in Brussels for the closing night award ceremony which was followed by a reception. As the perfect antidote to days of sitting in a theatre seat, the festival ended with a band playing in the expansive lower lobby where Nik and I joined other festival goers and staff dancing and drinking until 4 AM.

Nik and Nancy

Festival co-directors Doris Cleven and Philippe Moins have a very clear vision of presenting a varied program of high quality animation with films to suit every age and taste. Francoise Cathalan, press liaison, went out of her way to make sure that I was able to see every program that I wanted to view and meet anyone that I wanted to interview. Stephanie Coerten, under the title of presenter introduced each program, and conducted on stage interviews with animators with an entertaining sense of humor and irony. She was also a very entertaining fashion plate with at least two costume changes a day. I was always captivated to see what she would wear on stage next. A tireless group of volunteers were always ready to help with information, directions or a friendly smile. The 10 days of the festival are so packed with exciting programs that I couldn’t possibly see them all, much less write about them.

Festival co-Directors

Stephanie Coerten

The festival’s home is the Flagrey, a historic 1930’ Art Deco Building located a little south of the Brussels city center and only a half hour train ride from my home in Gent. It is a perfect home for the festival. Originally designed to house 2 French and Flemish Broadcasting companies, the large screening room has excellent acoustics. A smaller, more intimate theatre is perfect for the many talks and demonstrations, and there are numerous conference rooms. There are also 2 festival bars which afford ample opportunity for discussions of the films and catching up on news with friends.

Anima 2009 will take place February 20^th to the 27^th. . You can get more information about Anima Brussels at http://folioscope.awn.com and contact the festival at info@folioscope.be

The festival prizes - PALMARES ANIMA 2008

Awards Given by the Jury

International Competition – Short Films

* Grand Prix Anima 2008 (3.000 €, given by the Brussels-Capital Region)
The Tale of How (ZAF)
The Blackheart Gang
For its originality and because it offers its spectators a new graphic
perspective within the world of animation.

* Best Short Film Award (Toon Boom - software)
The Pearce Sisters (GBR)
Luis Cook
For its high quality script and direction, and its graphical skill. This short
film proves to be funny, sarcastic and touching, all at the same time.

* Best Student Short Film Award (Toon Boom - software)
La Queue de la souris (FRA)
Benjamin Renner
For perfect command of minimal graphics and mastering of animation.

* Best Short Children’s Film Award (Toon Boom - software)
Ein Sonniger Tag (DEU)
Gil Alkabetz
For the absence of dialogue and its excellent direction, which contribute to its universal appeal.

* Special Mention
Madame Tutli-Putli (CAN)
Chris Lavis, Maciek Szczerbowski
For having brought the use of puppets in animation to a new level, thanks
to a new innovative technique.

International Competition – Music Videos and Commercials

* Best Music Video Award The Horrors ‘She’s the New Thing’ (GBR)
Corin Hardy

* Best Advertising Award Lloyds TSB ‘For the Journey’ (GBR)
Marc Craste

National Competition

* Grand Prix of the French Community for a film of the French Community (2.500 € + Toon Boom - software)
Le Pont, Vincent Bierrewaerts

* SACD Award (2.000 € + Toon Boom - software)
Le Voyageur, Johan Pollefoort

* SABAM Award (2.000 € + Toon Boom - software)
Terzo Mondo, Tom Van Gestel

* ACE Digital Group Award (Ace Digital House, Victor 3D, A Sound)
(7,500 € worth of funding towards postproduction)
L’Evasion, Arnaud Demuynck

Awards Given by the Public

* Audience Award for Best Short Film (Toon Boom - software)
La Queue de la souris (FRA)
Benjamin Renner

* Audience Award for Best Short Children’s Film (Toon Boom - software)
Ein Sonniger Tag (DEU)
Gil Alkabetz

* Audience Award for Best Feature Animation Tekkon Kinkreet (JPN)
Michael Arias

* Audience Award for Best Children’s Feature Animation Le Petit roi Macius (FRA / DEU/ POL)
Sandor Jesse & Lutz Stützner

* Audience Award for Best Belgian Short (Toon Boom software)
Le Pont
Vincent Bierrewaerts

Awards Given by the Partners

* BeTV Prize for Best Feature Film (purchase distribution rights)
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (JPN)
Mamoru Hosoda

* BeTV Prize (1.500€ including distribution rights)
Le Voyageur
Johan Pollefoort

* RTBF Prize (1.500€ including distribution rights)
Le Pont
Vincent Bierrewaerts

* Cinergie Prize (Electronic press kit)
Le Voyageur
Johan Pollefoort

Congratulations to all of the nominated animators. Nik and I send a special YEAA!!! to Nina Paley because Nik created and performs the intermission music on the film.

The nine films selected for the feature film category at Annecy 2008 have been selected.

They are:

–APPLESEED: EX MACHINA (Shinji Aramaki — Japan): Following the non-nuclear war that killed half the world’s population, the city-nation ofOlympus stands as a beacon of hope in a world of chaos and conflict.

–CHASSEURS DE DRAGONS (Guillaume Ivernel, Arthur Qwak — France, Germany, Luxembourg): Zoe is a little girl who believes in fairy tales. So in order to help her uncle Lord Arnold get rid of a terrible dragon, Zoe decides she has to find some heroes.

–DIE DREI RAUBER (Hayo Freitag — Germany): One bitter dark night, three robbers stop a carriage for gold. Instead, they get to know the little orphan Tiffany.

–IDIOTS & ANGELS (Bill Plympton — US): Dark comedy about a man’s battle for his soul.

–NOCTURNA (Adria Garcia, Victor Maldonado — Spain, France): Tim’s fear has given birth to a menacing monster whose only goal is to wipe out all sources of light.
–PEUR(S) DU NOIR (Christian Hincker (Dit Blutch), Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre Di Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, Richard Mcguire — France): Six creators have breathed life into their nightmares, bleeding away colour to retain the starkness of light and the pitch black of shadows. Their intertwined stories make up an epic, where phobias, disgust and nightmares come to life and reveal Fear at its most naked and intense.

–PIANO NO MORI (Masayuki KOJIMA — Japan): A tale of two talented youngsters from different backgrounds learning to play the piano. One is from a good family, the other, a street urchin, and subsequently they have only Mozart and Chopin in common.

–SITA SINGS THE BLUES (Nina Paley — US): The musical adaptation of the Indian epic RAMAYANA.

–TOUS A L’OUEST, UNE AVENTURE DE LUCKY LUKE (Olivier Jean-Marie — France): New York, 1855. The Daltons are on the run, having held up all the banks in town, but just before Lucky Luke arrests them, they stash the cash in a wagon of a caravan of pioneers. The pioneers have 80 days to get back to California, accompanied by Lucky Luke, who’s taking the Daltons back to jail, whilst all the brothers think about is getting their loot back.

Annecy 2008 will be held June 9-14, 2008 in France

Nancy and Remi dancing with a Smurf in Sint Baafsplein

Last Saturday and Sunday (March 15 and 16) the Smurfs came to my home town of Gent, Belgium to celebrate their 50^th Birthday. The tiny blue figures, who live in little mushroom homes and speak their own language, first appeared as comic strip figures in cartoonist Pierre Culliford’s cartoon “Johan and Pirlouit” which was set in the middle ages.

The Smurf’s popularity increased rapidly, and by 1960 Papa Smurf and his clan had their own comic strip. Hanna-Barbera Productions brought the characters to life as an animated cartoon in 1981, and they soon became a hit around the world.

One of the Smurf Displays

Although the Belgian born Culliford, or Peyo, as he is better know to his legion of fans, passed away 15 years ago, he lives on in he hearts of two generations of children around the world. The Smurfs are known in Spain as Pitufo, in Germany they are called Schumpf; Chinese children know them as Nam Ching Ling, and as Sumafa in Japan. Israeli children call them Dardassim. The Smurfs have teamed up with UNICEF to raise awareness of the plight of ex-child soldiers in Africa and this year they will promote children’s rights and education worldwide.

The year long birthday celebration was kicked off in Brussels, Belgium. The Smurfs will tour Belgian cities and continue the celebration in Paris and Berlin. Among the events planned for this special anniversary year is a feature 3-D animation film, new comic book collections and a remastering of the 1980’s television series.

It was quite a change from cold Estonia and Latvia to arrive at the sunny Rome airport. I had the honor to be invited to be a juror at the I Castelli Animati, 28 November through 2 December. This year the festival was held on the Cinecitta Campus, home to the legendary Cincecitta Studios, in honor of the 70^th anniversary of the founding of this famous studio which stands as a symbol of Italian cinema. After a month where I traveled back and forth across Europe and Nik stayed in Gent working on music we were finally reunited when my driver left me at the festival hotel.

The festival encompassed many facets of the animation world from workshops, competitions for special effects, television series and web to the International Competition where I was on the jury. There were also a multitude of special guests from all over the world. The opening evening gala served as a sampling of the diversity of the festival that awaited us. Bruno Bozzetto’s new animated theme for the festival was premiered. The Pierce Sisters, winner of the 2007 Cartoon D’ Or was followed by the first four competition films. Nik performed his score for Fetch! as Nina Paley’s animation was screened and David Silverman talked about the birth of THE SIMPSONS on the Tracey Ullman Show.

After the opening night gala, the next four days were packed full of workshops beginning at 11:00 AM each morning, presentations from such schools as the Vancouver Film School, Bristol School of Animation and the Italian Schools of Animation, and special presentations from Germany’s renowned Studio Film Bilder. I have read about Gabriele Zucchelli’s documentary Quirino Cristiani – The Mystery of the First Animated Movies and was very pleased to finally have the opportunity to see it. Cristiani, a self taught animator, literally forgotten today, developed his craft in Buenos Aires far away from Europe or Hollywood. The world’s first animated feature, El Apostol, was premiered in a Buenos Aires cinema in 1917, and in 1931 he created the first animated feature with sound, Peludopolis. Unfortunately most of his work was destroyed in a number of fires. The documentary shows what is left of his films, a never before seen interview, and two shorts which were rediscovered during the making of the film. For more information on the 90 minute documentary visit www.quirinocristianimovie.com.

I was delighted to discover that the legendary Bruno Bozzetto is as charming as he is talented. When I first saw Europe And Italy, his witty and graphically elegant commentary on European versus Italian sociocultural attributes, I loved it. At Bruno’s workshop screening of his films, I watched this body of his work, and it was easy to understand why this multi award winning master of animation is considered in a class by himself. Bruno was on hand to introduce his film Allegro non Troppo at a special 30^th anniversary screening.

Bruno Bozzetto and Nancy

David Silverman, director of the first Simpsons episode, Bart the Genius in 1990, and most recently, of The Simpsons Movie, is not only an animation genius but a lover of the tuba. He arranged with the festival staff to have one provided at the festival and whenever there was a free moment David and Nik made “beautiful music” together. Nik playing clarinet and David on tuba serenaded Bruno with Happy Birthday when a cake was wheeled out after the Allegro non Troppo screening.

Nik and David Silverman

David was indeed a very busy man at the festival. In addition to playing duets with Nik and giving an opening night presentation, throughout the festival he hosted 5 separate conversations with the audience about different Simpsons episodes and conducted a workshop.

Renowned illustrator, animator and long time I Castelli friend Oscar Grillo drew the 2007 Festival poster. He also created “The Animated Kafka” exhibition taking us on a journey through the world and style of Grillo especially for the festival. In his workshop, Oscar screened animation that he admires and concluded the program with his intriguing work in progress animation The Blues According to Charlie Parker. Nik and I were both quite taken with this lush depiction of a jazz legend set to Parker’s music.

Thomas Meyer Hermann, founder of the prestigious Studio Film Bilder in Stuttgart, Germany, and my fellow jury member, presented a program of film from his studio. Thomas has produced several films that I have a great respect for. Most notable of these are Andreas Hykade’s The Runt, which always gets a response from the audience by reminding us of the realities of life that we must all face growing up, and the ever intriguing Phil Mulloy’s The Final Solution.

Italian born special effects wizard Alberto Noti works his magic in Los Angeles and has created the effects for such projects as Men in Black 2, The Matrix Trilogy and Spiderman 2. Alberto gave us a glimpse into his latest work on the latest Will Smith film I Am A Legend. Geert Van Goethem introduced the screening of The Flanders Animated Poetry Project. I have written in previous articles about these Belgian, Dutch and Estonian projects, so I won’t go into detail again.

Nik and I presented our program “The History of Animation through Music”. After our presentation we were very touched when Bruno Bozzetto told us how excited he was to see the wonderful Disney classic Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom again. He said that it is one of his favorite films. He first saw it when he was a young boy and the film made him want to be an animator.

The festival had six separate awards categories which were presented in a very interesting manner. In the International Short Animation Competition, the category where I was a juror, films were screened in clusters of 2 to 6 films at a time throughout the day. There is a complete list of the winners in all categories at the end of the article.

Festival Director Luca Raffaelli stays true to the I Castelli philosophy that it is much more rewarding to see a masterpiece for a second (or third) time rather than seeing a mediocre film for the first time. There were very few of the 47 animations in the International category that I had not seen before but the overall quality was so high that I agree with Luca that viewing them for second, third, or even fourth time did not diminish my pleasure of watching them.

The International Competition jury was a very eclectic mix, and even though we had some widely divergent tastes, we all recognized quality. After some intense discussion our final selections were a group of films that the entire jury was very proud of. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the awards ceremony on the final evening since Nik and I had to fly out to Bournemouth, England for our visit to The Arts Institute at Bournemouth. My jury colleagues e-mailed me that our choices were popular with the audience and that the ceremony was followed by a lovely dinner.

The jury Foreman, Roberto Perpignani, is an eminent film editor having worked on such projects as Last Tango In Paris and countless other feature and short films. Roberto also teaches and coordinates the Editing and Printing Course at the National School of Cinema in Rome.

Fellow jurors Paolo Briguglia is an emerging talent in Italian Film, and Giorgia Maria Priolo is a co-founder of Manigolda Film Production Company and authors a column for La Rivista del Cinematoggrafo. Joining us on the jury was Thomas Meyer-Hermann, founder of Studio Film Bilder in Stuttgart, Germany. I was especially happy to get the chance to know him since he and his studio produce such fine films.

The festival jury

L to R: Jury Foreman Roberto Perpignani, Paolo Briguglia, Giorgia Maria Priolo, Nancy, Thomas Meyer-Hermann

There were two distinct and yet related parts to the festival. Along with the cultural programs, for the second year in a row, there were conferences and meeting dedicated to professionals with an international group of buyers, producers and authors in attendance. Along with workshops, the professional conferences covered topics as diverse as “From Cartoons to Digital Content: Towards a Strategy to Re-launch Made in Italy and Communicating Animated Film: New Marketing Strategies and New Communication Possibilities.

The aim of the programs is to provide a favorable environment where small and medium enterprises can explore services to help them develop their own creative and business projects. Presented in co-operation with ICE-Institute for Foreign Trade, the Ministry for International Trade, Region Lazio and Sviluppo Lazio, with contributions from the Provincia di Roma, the conference shows every sign of growing into a major business market.

On the day I arrived, Nik, David Silverman, Moritz Hirchenhain (director of the Bitfilm Festival in Germany) and I took a walk on the Appian Way which was just blocks from our hotel. It was amazing to gaze at the Roman ruins and realize where I was actually walking. I was doubly glad to have had that walk since I could not leave the Cinecitta Campus after the first afternoon because there was often only an hour or two between our competition screenings that I needed to attend.

Lovely leisurely lunches and dinners were served in the studio commissary dining room to all invited guests. This was the same room where Fellini dined everyday when he was shooting on the lot and there was much speculation amongst us about who was sitting in a chair that the great master had occupied.

On the studio lot

Nik, whose only obligation was to present a workshop, spent a day wandering about Rome, and I had the amazing opportunity to spend my free time wandering around the remarkable Cinecitta Studio lot which is not open to the public. The sets for the Spaghetti Westerns of the 60’s are not far from the exteriors from Gangs of New York. Towering above the wall of the Flintstones cave you can see the giant head of the Statue of Liberty from The Planet of the Apes. As I gazed at Sound Stage 5 where Fellini worked his magic and stood on the Column that was created for Ben Hur I knew that it didn’t matter that I never made it to downtown Rome because I was seeing “My Rome” on the studio lot. This was such a rare and wonderful experience which I will always treasure!

Spaghetti western set

Luca Raffaelli, I Castelli Animati Artistic Director and Liz Fairs, International Coordinator and Festival Catalogue Producer, along with their hard working staff went out of their way to do everything to make our stay a pleasurable adventure. I urge anyone who is invited to participate in this not to be missed festival. Check out the festival at: www.castellianimati.it.

I CASTELLI ANIMATI XII EDITION, 28 NOVEMBER – 2 DECEMBER 2007 - AWARD WINNERS

CONCORSO INTERNAZIONALE - INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

Jury

ROBERTO PERPIGNANI (President), PAOLO BRIGUGLIA, NANCY DENNEY-PHELPS, THOMAS MEYER HERMANN, GIORGIA MARIA PRIOLO

Grand Prize:

FRANZ KAFKA’S A COUNTRY DOCTOR, Koji Yamamura, Japan

Special Jury Prize:

MADAME TUTLI-PUTLI, Chris Lavis, Maciek Szczerbovski, Canada

Best First Film:

FOG-NIEBLA, Emilio Ramos, Mexico

Best European Film:

MARATHON, Kaspar Jancis, Estonia

Best non narrative film: EX -AEQUO

BRUISED / BLAUWBLAUW, Sandy Claes, Daan Wampers, Belgium

and

WITH MY QUANTUM STROKE / MEET MIJN KVANTORSLAG, Pieter Vanluffelen, Belgium

Special mentions:

RAIN DOWN FROM ABOVE, Ivan Maximov, Russia

THE TALE OF HOW, The Blackheart Gang, South Africa

ADMINISTRATORS, Roman Klochkov, Belgium

LAPSUS, Juan Pablo Zaramella, Argentina

Audience Prize:

BRAVEFART/LOVE IS IN THE AIR, Polona Sepe, Slovenia

THE “FABRIZIO BELLOCCHIO” PRIZE FOR SOCIAL CONTENT
Jury: JOSHUA HELD (President), BRUNO BRINDISI, ERNESTO PIRO

SANDBOX, Avi Ofer , Israel - With a delicate and effective stroke, the author paints with apparent lightness the real drama of childhood, the main victim of war.

ITALIAN COMPETITION
Jury: ORIO CALDIRON, PIERA DEGLI ESPOSTI, FRANCESCO FESTUCCIA
Grand Prize:

L’AUDIOGUIDA, Cristina Diana Seresini - For the particular effectiveness in addressing psycho-analysis of the ego, suggesting an unusual map of the lines defining subconscious.

Special Jury Prize:

WIFE’S SUPERMARKET, Centro sperimentale di cinematografia: Dipartimento di animazione, di Alice Bartolini, Valeria Pavin, Verena Fanny Trausch -For the liveliness and irony of setting the search for true love in a musical.

Special Mention:

I/O, Luigi Ricca - For the originality of the theatrical stroke and the extraordinary drawing which evokes the issue of the death penalty.

WEB COMPETITION; Realizzato in collaborazione con La Repubblica XL
Jury: DREW DAVIDSON, MAX GIOVAGNOLI
Grand Prize:

PUMPING MAN ‘ CACTUS FLOWER’, Stefano Argentero, Italy - For the originality of the project and the surreal tone of the concept, but above all for the 2.0 philosophy of the product, which can be serialized and is open to re-elaboration from the bottom.

Audience Prize:

ANGELES, Luca Lumaca, Italy

MUSICANIMATA COMPETITION; Realizzato in collaborazione con il MEI di Faenza
Jury: STEFANO DISEGNI, ROBERTO RECCHIONI
Grand Prize:

DICEMBRE, Argentero, B5, Angelici, Musica/Music Roberto Angelini

Special Jury Prize:

WHITE, Andrea Falbo, Andrea Gianfelice, Musica/Music Showroom Dummies

LAMBRUSCO & CAPPUCCINO COMPETITION - Premio organizzato in collaborazione con Andrea Baricordi

MAURICIO GERMAN ASSONE - For the best realization of an animated trailer based on the comic “Lambrusco e Cappuccino”.For the ability to create professional animation in a short time, while retaining the spirit of the original work.

VERY SPECIAL EFFECTS COMPETITION
Jury: ALBERTO NOTI

Grand Prize:

CARNERA–THE WALKING MOUNTAIN, EDI – EFFETI DIGITALI ITALIANI

Special Mention:

LE AVVENTURE DI GIGIO RICICLO, DOT MIND IN MOTION

Animated Dreams Festival – Tallinn, Estonia - November 21 through 25

I have always been intrigued by Estonian animation, so when I had the opportunity to visit Animated Dreams, Estonia’s only animation festival I was thrilled. It was held in Tallinn, the country’s beautiful capitol city on the 21^st to the 25^th of November. The festival, which grew out of the Black Nights Film Festival, did not disappoint my high expectations. The catalog’s introduction boldly states WARNING: Your Dreams Have Been Animated, and this was a threat not to be taken lightly.

This year’s festival coincided with the 50^th anniversary of Nukufilm, the legendary stop-motion film studio that was one of the first studios to practice that art form in Eastern Europe. In terms of studio size, technical supplies and number of employees Nukufilm, an art-house type studio, is the largest of its style in Northern Europe.

Animated Dreams is more than a festival that just screens films and gives awards. From mid-morning until late afternoon the colloquium was dedicated to the art of puppet animation and Nukufilm’s anniversary. It was called “The Soul of Voodoo”, so named because, as the catalog says “the art of puppet film resembles voodoo – the masters play with nails and wires . . . they twist and bend the legs and hands of puppets in order to give them soul”. The talks and panel topics ranged from Eastern European and Japanese stop motion to Aardman and Nukufilm Studios. Guest speakers were as diverse as Priit Parn, Peter Lord, Suzie Templeton, and the internationally renowned Japanese puppet animation director Kihachiro Kawamoto.

The morning talks and afternoon panel discussions were followed by evening retrospectives of Nukufilms, Soyuzmultifilms, and Czech Animation among others. Competition screenings concluded the formal evening programs followed by parties and special events.

The jury was comprised of the Finnish born puppet animation director, Katarina Lillqvist, award winning Norwegian animator Pjotr Sapegin, and Mikk Rand, Estonian director. Rand organized the first juried short film competition with in the Black Nights film festival in 2001 which has grown into the Animated Nights film festival. Judging this competition was quite difficult as the films were outstanding, but the judges made some excellent choices.

Kleit (The Dress) by Estonian directors Mari-Liis Bassovskaja and Jelena Girlin was selected as the Animated Dreams nominee for the ANOBA award. All films from the Baltic and Nordic regions were eligible for this honor.

I was delighted that a Jury’s Special Mention went to Signe Bauman’s Teat Beat of Sex for, as the jury said, “the author talks about things which are seldom spoken about. Funny, self-ironic, educating, and slightly bizarre…” I couldn’t agree more. A Jury’s Special Mention Award also went to Luis Cook’s delightfully quirky The Pearce Sisters.

Nik and I do love Portugal - so when we were invited to participate in the FIRST INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MEETING FOR ANIMATION ARTS we jumped at the chance. I was very pleased and honored to be invited to be a part of the International Jury along with renowned Ukrainian animator Evgeniy Sivokon and Portugal’s animation treasure Sepe. Nik gave a three day workshop with music students from the school during which they composed and performed in live performance two programs of music with animation.Needless to say I recommend this festival to all students and animation schools. Your work will be given serious consideration and if selected screened in the lovely theatre on the campus and on a DVD which will be shown at other festivals. HURRY THOUGH, the DEADLINE is near.Students can enter both Monstra and First.

Information from website (www.firstfestival.com) below:

First – International Student Meeting for Animation Arts - will take place from the 10th to 13th of March 2008 at the ESAD/IPL school in Caldas da Rainha.

It is intended to value and showcase the most relevant works produced by students and art schools worldwide, presenting their particular artistic, irreverent, intelligent and experimental characteristics.

Besides the screenings of the selected works, we will be promoting meetings between the young artists, and organize workshops and seminars for students, professors and professionals, thus stimulating the present and future of the art of animation.

The art of animation today is becoming increasingly important. Whether as a work of art in it’s own right, integrated in an installation piece, special effects in big movie productions, as an integrative part of a live performance, or as a support for communication or design, animation is a constant element which is present in today’s different media.

The increasing importance of animation lead to the foundation of art schools specialized in this area, be it traditional animation or using of digital tools.

Work produced by students of these art schools has recently gained worldwide recognition in almost all major international festivals because of its excellent quality.

The Animation department of the Escola Superior das Artes e do Design (ESAD) in Caldas da Rainha organize the First | International Student Meeting for Animation Arts | that intends to value and present the most relevant works produced by students and art schools worldwide, presenting their particular artistic, irreverent, intelligent and experimental characteristics.

Besides the screenings of the selected works, we will be promoting meetings between the young artists, and organize workshops and seminars for students, professors and professionals, thus stimulating the present and future of the art of animation.

The FIRST is organized by ESAD/IPL with the partnership of other institutions, Townhall, Art Institute for Cinema (ICAM), Embassies.

All animated films and works must be produced by students to be admitted. Any film has to be finished by January 2004 or after. Only entire films (no excerpts) will be admitted for selection. The selection of

installation and performance pieces should be based on scale models, photographs and videos that present the work in a clear and unequivocal way.
The participation in the festival is free and open to films, objects, installations and performances that incorporate animation as a significant part of the work.

Deadlines and registration

Deadline for entry form is 15th of February 2008.

Deadline for sending films, scale models, photographs, etc. is 29th of February 2008.
Besides the registration form the following items must be sent:

1. A copy of the film in DVD, miniDV, DV or VHS format.
2. A signed copy of the registration form
3. One or more digital Images (300ppi) of the film and one photo of the author(s)
4. A list of dialogues, commentaries, or texts inserted in the film in the original language and in English

Note - VHS format is only accepted for selection, not for screening

Films have to be sent by mail with the message: “Filme para festival sem valor comercial” or “Film for festival. No commercial value.”

Films and other works will be selected during March. Selected candidates will be notified by e-mail.

Any national or international institution may submit one or more films/works. Artists who submit their work individually must prove that the work was produced while being a student.

Registration forms, copies of films and promotional material should indicate the registration number sent by e-mail.

Please send your work to:

Return of copies
Only the copies of films and works for screenings and exhibitions will be returned. Copies sent for selection will not be returned.

Insurance
Films and other works will be insured during the festival (during the time they are kept by the organization). Each copy should not exceed the value of 100 Euros.

Screening of the selected films
The festival accepts the following formats for projection: DVD, miniDV, DV or Betacam SP (Pal). Copies for screenings must be received by the 29th of February 2008 without fail.

Jury and Awards
The festival FIRST has a somewhat alternative philosophy: there are no specific awards in specific categories. The jury will select one hour of films for the screening which are in the competition. All authors whose work has been selected will receive the same award.
The jury will comprise national and international film directors, professors, journalists and students.

About the Award
Award winning films will be compiled on a DVD, which will be promoted and screened at other International Schools and/or festivals with no commercial interests. The Award is intended to allow for the promotion and presentation of the award winning films reaching a maximum of people and institutions.

The registration of one or more films/works implies accepting the rules and regulations of the festival without exceptions.

Final considerations
Any doubts concerning the rules and regulations will be resolved by the organization based on the principles of equity and common sense.

The registration for the FIRST 2008 Festival implies the full acceptance of the rules and regulations.
Any doubts concerning differing interpretations will be clarified based on the Portuguese version of this document.

MONSTRA ANIMATION FESTIVAL May 8 through 18th, 2008

Monstra 2008

Two years ago Nik and I were guests of festival director Fernando Galrito at the MONSTRA ANIMATION FESTIVAL in Lisbon, Portugal where Nik performed an IDEAS IN ANIMATION program with three Portuguese musicians and gave a hands-on music workshop. I can personally attest to the high quality of the festival. This event is a meeting of animation and various mediums and art forms including workshops, exhibitions, seminars, and music. Competition films alternate yearly between short and feature length films, and this year will be devoted to films under 30 minutes with all techniques and genres accepted.

In the 2008 MONSTRA FESTIVAL there will be a student competition with a cash award of 1500.00 Euros. Students from schools all over the world are encouraged to send their films and are eligible to win the top prize.

In addition to the short animation and student competitions there will a retrospective tribute to English animation and films for young audiences. Nik and I will be there again this year so of course there will be music and many, many surprises! You can read my article about MONSTRA 2006 at my blog site.

You can get information on the festival and enter your film at www.monstrafestival.com. The deadline for entries is February 15th so… DON’T WAIT — enter your film TODAY!!!

New developments in this controversial situation are in the bold brackets below:

Teat Beat of Sex, Signe Bauman’s widely acclaimed take on sex exclusively from a woman’s point of view, and Because Washington is Hollywood for Ugly People, directed by Kenneth Ti and Kin Hung have been censored by iTunes from their Sundance Film Festival on-line shorts program. [NOTE: This is still true, but Sundance is in discussion with iTunes to try to change this situation]

Both animated films were screened at Sundance 2008 where they were invited to be part of Sundance Online which is a great opportunity for short filmmakers to get their films out to audiences and make a little money. In the middle of the festival the filmmakers were notified that their films would not be part of the package deal because i Tunes found Teat Beat of Sex too explicit and Because Washington is Hollywood for Ugly People is too political (read too anti-Bush).

Sundance Film Festival has expressed that they are very upset about the censorship, but that there is nothing that they can do. This was initially a package deal with iTunes, Netflix and Xbox but the two films cannot be downloaded from any of the three services. [NOTE: It turns out that the two films were not online earlier with Netflix and Xbox due to technical glitches and not due to any censorship issues(?)]

I intend to let Apple/iTunes know how I feel about this kind of censorship. You can also contact them with your feedback at http://www.apple.com/contact/feedback.html [Sundance has written Signe to tell her that in their opinion, it is “harming” their relations with iTunes and their ability to get them to change their position]

Here are the links to Sundance Online to view the short films (now with the two animation shorts on Netflix and Xbox):http://www.netflix.com/sundance , http://www.itunes.com/sundance , http://www.xbox.com/sundance