Animation Express 2

If you are still searching for the perfect gift idea then check out the National Film Board of Canada’s  brand new Animation Express 2. The 27 films on the DVD include new films by such well known names in animation as Paul Driessen (Oedipe/Oedius), Academy Award Winner Koji Yamamura (les Cordes De Muybridge/Muybridge’s Strings), and Romance, a beautifully romantic saga by Georges Schwizgebel.

Two of the 2011 Academy Awards Short Listed Animations are included on the DVD.  Patrick Doyon’s  Dimanche/Sunday is a magical tale of life seen through a child’s life. It has been 12 years  since Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby garnered the Palme d’ Or and an Academy Award nomination for their beautiful film When Day Breaks.  Their long awaited new film Une Vie Sauvage/Wild Life  has put them on the 2011 Academy Short List.  Their story of the beauty of the 1909 Canadian prairie and the pain of feeling out of place and homesick is my personal favorite of the short listed films.

All this and much more for the price of $21.95 makes this the perfect gift for everyone on your list.  Every one in the animation industry will want Animation Express 2 in their collection.  If the person on your gift list is only familiar with big, block buster animations this is a wonderful way to introduce them to the magical world of creative short animation.

You can also get a special Blu-Ray Edition which contains 6 additional films.

You can read more about Animation Express 2, and order it at the NFB Store:

http://www2.nfb.ca/boutique/ibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=14861&JServSessionIdrootstoreprod=oqv61nnj21.qRfJqAjKqAXycBbOpR9zq79Jn2TInA8ImQ4UahqKax4-&beginIndex=0&navPageSize=12&navBeginIndex=1&navEndIndex=12

If you are looking for a lovely book to give I heartily recommend Animasophy – Theoretical Writings on the Animated Film by Estonian animator Ulo Pikkov and  Tobias Wengert’s Animators How Did You Do That?

I have already written extensive reviews of both books  which you can read on my blog at:  www.animationblogspot.com

The reviews are under the Educational heading.

You can also read more and order Ulo’s book at:

http://www.Kriso.ee/Animasophy-theoretical-writings-animated-film/db/9789949467068i.html

The book also includes a DVD which is worth the 21.92 euro price alone.

To learn more about Animators How Did You Do That and purchase it visit:

www.siwa.de

Wishing you all an Animated Christmas!

In Ukrainian, KROK means “step”, but to animators, KROK means watching animation, making music, dancing and meeting friends, both old and new.  For me KROK is summer camp for animators and the best ten days of my life every year.

Mr KROK enjoying the morning sun

And Nancy is there to cheer him on with her morning tea

The festival is unique.  Each year an international group of animators boards a multi-decked river cruiser and spends 10 days sailing together.  Every other year, the festival location alternates between the Ukraine, which programs professional films (third film and later), and Russia where the films are student works. This year we sailed down the Dnepr River and across the Black Sea on the ship Princesa Dnepr from Kiev to Odessa in the Ukraine.

Setting sail to music by Mikhail Tumelya and Nik

With 12 competition programs, workshops, retrospectives, and daily chats with the directors, there is plenty of film activity.  It is an opportunity to watch films from countries that are not represented at most other festivals.  This year films from Uzbekistan, Belarus, and Equatorial Guinea were among the 37 countries represented along with a wide selection of Ukrainian and Russian animation.

The festival got off to a great start with the opening ceremony and screening of the first competition program at Dom Kino in Kiev.  The Kino has a beautiful theatre and is also where the Ukrainian arm of KROK has its offices.  The ceremony and screening was followed by a delicious celebration dinner on the boat.

The Films

One of my favorite films at the festival was Papercutting by Belarus animator Mikhail Tumelya.  Based on a traditional fairy tale about a young man looking for a wife, the film was created using beautiful three dimensional paper cut designs created by the famous Belarus paper artist Vyacheslav Dubinka.  Mikhail combined his animation with Vyacheslav’s intricate vytsinankas.  Vytsinanka is the Western Belarus, Ukrainian and Polish word for both the process of cutting  paper lace art and the handmade patterns themselves.   In Eastern Belarus the word is vyrazanka.

The film opens with footage of Dubinka in the 1970’s when he first began “cutting stories” as he called his art.  These scenes are especially touching because he passed away last August right after the completion of the film.

Mikhail Tumelya with papercutting

The Black Dog’s Progress is a very disturbing but powerful film.  British animator Stephen Irwin uses a series of small mosaic pictures, much like a flipbook, to tell the very sad story of a dog that is tossed out of his home onto the street by his owner.  As I watched the beautifully constructed film I couldn’t help thinking about the thousands of dogs worldwide who suffer the same fate.

The jury must have been equally moved because they awarded the film a diploma in the “films up to 5 minutes” category.  The Black Dog’s Progress was commissioned for BBC Channel 4’s Animate TV series in conjunction with Arts Council England.

The film that made the deepest impression on me was Keha Malu (Body Memory).  Estonian director Ulo Pikkov describes his film by saying “Our body remembers more than we can expect to imagine, our body remembers also the pain of the predecessors.  But how far back is it possible for your body to remember?”

Ulo used very few elements to build a strong, touching, and intelligent story. Puppets made of string represent unraveling persistent memories and our attempt to forget them.  Shot with a stark tonal palette, the animation makes a very strong visual impression.  Body Memory was produced by Tallinn based Nukufilm, renowned for their puppet animation.

Each morning “Coffee Break with the Directors” offered an opportunity to hear the animators talk about their films and ask them questions ourselves.  I always find these sessions  interesting because they give behind the scenes insights into a film and the directors motivation.

The Jury

This year’s International Competition Jury was a very impressive group.  French animator and director Henri Heidsieck founded the PHAR 3 workshop in Reims and is currently animating at La Fabrique in St. Laurent le Minier.

Andrey Kurkov is a Ukrainian writer and scriptwriter who can claim among his many achievements serving as a member of the jury for the International Booker Prize.  He is also a member of the European Film Academy where he is a frequent juror for the European Film Academy Award, the Felix.

Russian born Svyatoslav (Slava) Ushakov is a multi talented director, artist, scriptwriter and cartoonist.  He won the Jim Henson Prize at the 4^th InternationAnimation Celebration, Los Angeles for his work as principal artist/animator on The Hunter.  He worked on Mike, Ly, & Olga which is running on Cartoon Network and is currently at Klasky Csupo Animation Studio in Los Angeles.

Joana Toste needs no introduction to animation fans because she is one of Portugal’s leading animators.  Her films Sailor Dogs and Chicken Stew are two of my favorite films.  They both show Joana’s keen wit which overlays a very serious undercurrent.

The 5^th member of the Jury, Argentinean animator Juan Pablo Zaramella, won both the audience and Fipresco Awards at Annecy 2011 for Luminaris.  The film is currently touring with the Best of Annecy 2011 program.  His very humorous film Lapsus also won numerous awards worldwide.

The jury starred in a very funny video filmed by Juan Pablo which explains, according to them, “the complex process of the jury coming to a final decision”.  The film was screened on closing night and you can watch it at

This year we were fortunate enough to have five lovely ladies who perform under the name of Zvuchi Dochi (Daughters of Sound) sailing with us. Based in Kiev they sing Eastern European folk songs dressed in colorful traditional outfits. (The Bay Area group Kitka is one of their big influences.)  Their melodic voices added a great deal to our evenings of entertainment.  At one of our stops at the city of Zaporozhye they performed on shore  accompanied by Nik at the House of Culture where children participate in after school arts and music extra curricular activities.

Zvuchi Dochi and Nik at the school program with director Mikhail Aldashin helping lead the program

photo by Irina Sergeeva

Re-Animation evenings (there were several this year) gave everyone a chance to show off their talents in storytelling, song or dance but the Big Kahuna event every year is Carnival night, where everyone performs at their very best.  For days before the Big Event groups of people are can be found all over the ship busy writing scripts, rehearsing their songs and making props.  Every time we docked groups of people went running off to scour the open air market for things that could be turned into costumes or props.  Bed spreads and sheets took on a whole new life.

Festival co-president David Cherkassky and Yuri Norstein reenacting Hedgehog in the Fog

photo by Irina Sergeeva

On the big night there is an august panel of judges who scrutinize each performance with an eagle eye before retiring to deliberate and then award the fabulous prizes.  This year they were precious prizes indeed.  Talented artist and designer Marina Kurchevskaya created beautiful handmade dolls which she pinned to a lovely handmade robe.  Each winning team was allowed to select a doll when they were called to the stage.  I am very proud to say that one of the lovely dolls was awarded to Nik for his performances (he not only sang a song but played music with several groups).  His special treasure has a place of pride in our home.

The lovely Carnival Prizes

The biggest thrill of the whole trip was when I was invited to accompany the jurors and some of the children up to the top deck to the captain’s domain.  Not only did I get an opportunity to “pilot” the boat the the captain explained the navigation charts and radar that get us safely down the river.  I saw the river from the best vantage point there is.  With my love of boats and water it was a thrill that I will never forget and I cannot thank the KTOK staff enough for giving me this special opportunity.

Nancy commanding the ship

photo by Irina Sergeeva

Whenever we docked there was always the opportunity to explore the town.  Historic Sebastopol is a favorite city or Nik’s and mine.  It is the Ukraine’s second largest port and former home of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet.  During that time the city was closed even to Russian citizens.  Now it is home to a Ukrainian Navel Base as well as a popular holiday destination.

At the Western End of the city are well preserved remains of the ancient Greek port city of Khersones which was founded in the fifth century and is now a National Preserve.   The name means “peninsula” in Greek.  Nik and I always take a bus out to visit the fascinating ruins on the bluff above the Black Sea.  Below the ruins is a rocky beach where we always take a dip in the Sea.

THE CLOSING CEREMONY

This year the closing night ceremony was held at the Cinema Moscow in Sebastopol.  We were greeted on the theatre steps by a group of local folk musicians and vocalists as we waited enter the theatre.   The evening began with a performance from Zvuchi Dochi.  Next there was a screening of the very funny films  made on board ship by our young animators.  Traditionally director Igor Kozijanchik documents our entire cruise and his film was also screened.  The jury’s decisions were revealed and the trophies -treasured KROK bells were awarded to the winners.  The jury results are all listed at the end of this article.   After the ceremony we returned to our ship for another sumptuous banquet.  That evening, after two lovely days in Sebastopol , we set sail across the Black Sea to Odessa.

A table full of KROK awards

I always have mixed feeling when we sail into Odessa harbor and are greeted by the majestic Odessa Steps made famous by Eisenstein in Battle Ship Potemkin.  The sad part about reaching Odessa is that it means the end of another KROK adventure.  The good part is Odessa.  It is a beautiful city that reminds me of New Orleans with its wrought iron balconies dripping with bougainvillea.  It has one of the biggest and best public markets where I always find rare treasures such as hand spun and knitted wool socks.  Stall after stall of shoes are enough to gladden any woman’s heart and I never fail to bring home a pair.  The city is home to an excellent Mexican restaurant with tasty chips and salsa, burritos, and goat enchiladas.  The sad part about reaching Odessa is that it means the end of another KROK adventure.

At the Mexican cafe

One sad note was the absence this year of the venerable Russian KROK festival co-director and animator Edward Nazarov who did not sail with us due to illness.  He was very missed by all of us.  We all send him our get well wishes and hope that he will be with us again next year when the festival will be in Russia.

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words.  Be sure to watch Kiev videographer and film maker Igor Kozijanchuk’s video that records our 10 day adventure.  It was screened at the closing night ceremony and you can experience it at:   

Photo by Igor Kozijanchuk

JURY DECISION

Of the 18^th International Animated Film Festival ‘KROK’

September, 29^th, 2011                                                                                        Sebastopol

The International Jury Committee consisting of

Henri Heidsieck (France) – The Head of the Jury Committee

Juan Pablo Zaramella (Argentina)

Andrey Kurkov (Ukraine)

Joana Toste (Portugal)

Svyatoslav Ushakov (Russia)

Adjudged:

In the category “Films up to 5 minutes”:

- Diploma “For treatment of animation as one’s beloved pet” to a film “The Black Dog’s Progress”, director Stephen Irwin (Great Britain);

- Prize in the category – to a film “Rubika”, directors Claire Bauean, Ludovic Habas and others (France).

In the category “Films of 5 – 10 minutes”:

- Diploma “For plastic dynamic” to a film “Love & Theft”, director Andreas Hykade (Germany);

- Prize in the category – to a film “Nullarbor”, directors Alister Lockhart, Patrick Sarell (Australia).

In the category “Films of 10 – 50 minutes”:

- Diploma “For gentle touch of a difficult topic of human fate” to a film “Sweetheart”, director Ekaterina Sokolova (Russia);

- Diploma for “High emotional strain” to a film “Angry Man”, director Anita Killi (Norway);

- Diploma “For the most serious film” to a film “Lipsett Diaries”, director Theodore Ushev (Canada);

- Prize in the category – to a film “The External World”, director David OReilly (Germany). 

In the category “Films for Children”:

- Diploma “For fantastic charms” to a film “Berry Pie”, director Elena Chernova (Russia);

- Diploma “For creation of a story with nonintrusive moral” to a film “Princess’ Painting”, directors Johannes Weiland, Klaus Morschheuser (Germany);

- Prize in the category and 5000$ - to a film “Dodu – the Cardboard Boy”, director Jose Miguel Ribeiro (Portugal). 

In the category “Applied and commissioned animation”:

- Diploma for “Effective minimalism” to films “Usha Sewing Machine” and “Save our Tiger – Game”, director Eriyat Suresh (India);

- Diploma “for the genuine sense of humour” to TV – series “LOG JAM”, director Alexey Alekseev (Hungary);

- Prize in the category – to TV series “Floyd the Android”, director Jonathan Lyons (USA).

- Special jury prize “For unsinkable sense of humour” to a film “Tides To and Fro”, director Ivan Maximov (Russia);

- Special jury prize “For graphic solution” to a film “The Crossing”, director Elise Simard (Canada);

- Special jury prize “For the First Professional Film” and 5000$ to a film “Dripped”, director Leo Verrier (France);

- Special Alexander Tatarskiy prize “The Plasticine Crow” – “Virtuoso Pilot” and 7000$ to a film “After”, director Inga Korzhneva (Russia).  

- Grand Prix and 10 000$ to a film “Divers in the Rain”, directors Priit Parn and Olga Parn (Estonia).

ANIMATION VOLDA is a unique festival run by animation students at Volda University College.  Volda is a town of roughly 7,000 people of which 3,000 are students and the festival is primarily for students and festival guests.

ANIMATION VOLDA began five years ago by renowned Volda University College Associate Professor of Animation Gunnar Strom.  This year’s three student festival organizers,  Anja Malec, Lara Zlatar, and Ivan Dujmusic, did a wonderful job of decision making, programming, and problem solving but I have a feeling that larger-than-life Gunnar was always around to offer assistance when needed.

Gunnar, Nancy and Nik

Although the festival is only three days long, there were  also two weeks of related activities.  The focus this year was on sound effects and music in animation.  In keeping with the theme, composer/musician Nik was invited to give a workshop at the University the week before the festival. “Film Music: Planning, Creating, and Recording “was aimed primarily at students in the music department but animation students were also welcome since it is important that they understand how to select music for their films and how to work with their composer.  The students created three short film scores during the workshop which they performed live at the festival closing ceremony.

Another unique feature of the Volda festival is that the guests invited to sit on the jury are actually selecting films for the Fredrikstad Animation Festival which takes place in November in Fredrikstad, Norway.  Marcy Page of the National Film Board of Canada, animator and music video director Mike Patterson, and I sat on the Professional Jury.  For two days we watched and discussed numerous entries. After selecting two programs by professional animation, we screened the commissioned films.

The professional jury hard at work

I always enjoy sitting on a selection committee and this was an especially good enriching experience as all the films were by Nordic or Baltic animators  It was an opportunity to view many films that I would never see otherwise.  I thoroughly enjoyed the company of my fellow jurors and Fredrikstad Festival director Trond Ola Mevassvik and Mangus Eide, festival coordinator acted as jury secretaries and kept the films rolling along.  In November I will attend the Fredrikstad Festival and look forward to seeing the audience reactions to our selections.

The selection committee for student films were award winning French animator Joanna Lurie, Norwegian art director/designer Simen Grankel, and Norwegian animator Sverre Fredriksen.

The first morning of the festival was devoted to a seminar on industrial animation organized by Gunnar.   The program is designed for both animation film makers and PR/ media firms in Western Norway ‘s strongest industries (ship building, off shore oil drilling, furniture making, and fishing). The topic, Why Animated Communication?, was introduced by Gunnar Strom.

One presenter was director/animator Lars Hegdal of the design and advertising firm Klipp and Lim located in Trondheim, Norway presented a group of their animated industrial films.  Marcy Page  from the National Film Board of Canada treated us to NFB commissioned films from their archive.  Norman McClaren’s 1959 Mail Early with music by Benny Goodman is a perfect example of an art film with a commercial message.  The hilarious Every Dog’s Guide to Home Safety, directed by Lew Drew (1987), proves that even tips on childproofing your home can be done with humor.

The seminar concluded with the premier of the  short HMS films made by Volda’s own Rain Dog Studio for Kleven Maritime.  Rain Dog was formed last year by seven students and Professor Dave King and they already have an impressive track record of industrial and personal work.   The studio is now the fourth largest in Norway. Their presentation was followed by a lovely lunch for participants which gave us a chance to have informal conversation.

In keeping with the festival theme of sound and music the opening night ceremony began with a live performance by musician/composer Stig Ulvestad.  Noted Swedish anima-doc creator Jonas Odell introduced his latest work, Tussilago.  Odell’s 2010 animation tracks the 1977 arrest of West German terrorist Norbert Krocher for plotting to kidnap Swedish politician Anna-Great Leijon.  Tussilago is the story of Krocher’s girlfriend who was among those arrested during the raids that followed.

The previous evening we had watched the films in competition for the Best Baltic/Nordic Industrial Movie and the opening ceremony concluded with the announcement of the winners.  The 10,000 NOK first place prize went to the Swedish firm The Study for Unthink:  Simplicity.  The jury, Antonia Guigova, head of Industrial Relations and Reputation at NCE Maritime, Jan Lade, head designer at Ekomes, and Torgeis Sanders, media director/producer at Ginpville, called the winning film “an infomercial at its very best.  You can view it at:  

I had never met Candace Reckinger or Mike Patterson from Los Angeles so I was very curious to see their presentation.  The husband and wife team have an impressive record of creating award winning commercials and music videos for MTV, having worked with such artists as Sting, A-Ha, and Paula Abdul.  Candace won a Grammy for Abdul’s Opposite’s Attract video.

The pair also teaches at the USC School of Cinema Arts and recently co-directed Pictures at an Exhibition.  The symphonic visual music project was commissioned by Michael Tilson Thomas for the opening of the New World Center in Miami.  The building by architect Frank Gehry was designed to bring classical music performance into the 21^st century.

Their 35 minute animation was conceived to be screened with live symphonic accompaniment to visualize Modest Mussorgsky’s symphony Pictures at an Exhibition which was written to commemorate a friend of Mussorgsky’s picture exhibition at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia.  The piece contains 15 sections, each done in a different animation technique by a group of Reckinger and Patterson’s USC students.  The images were projected on 5 massive screens at the New World Center.  Even though we saw it on a single screen in the festival theater, the total effect was  awe inspiring.  Read more about the project and see an excerpt at: cinema.usc.edu/news/article.cfm?id=9885

The second half of the session was devoted to Jonas Odell.  In keeping with the theme he talked about “The whats and whys of sound and music in animated short films and music videos.  When I think of Jonas I always associate him with anima docs but as co-founder and partner of Filmtecknarnstudio’s productions he has scripted, co-scripted and written the music to a number of the studio’s productions.   His reputation as a music video director includes working with Erasure, Goldfrapp, and U2.  His work with Franz Ferdinand earned him the Breakthrough Video of the Year at the 2004 MTV Music Awards as well as a Grammy nomination.  It was fascinating to see another side of this multi-talented animator/director.

The next day NFB producer Marcy Page shared animation production stories with the audience.  Having worked with some of the film board’s giants such as Torill Kove (The Danish Poet), Paul Driessen (Oedipus), and Windy Tilby and Amanda Forbis (When the Day Breaks and their latest film Wild Life), Marcy has a wealth of knowledge and she shared with us details about all facets of animation production from film structure and timing to sound design.  She is well known for her generosity in sharing her knowledge and this presentation was no exception.

Following Marcy’s presentation the final two guests to speak were Simen Grankel, Art Director/Senior Designer at Dinamo Design and Sverre Fredriksen, animator and director, both from Norway.  Simen showed a number of very clever idents for Norway’s TV2 and several of its sister channels and NRK (the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation).  He discussed the difficulties of creating clever, entertaining short station id’s that hold the viewers attention.  As art director of the opening titles for the Eurovision Song Contest he had to marry visual images and sound to create an opening presentation viewed by millions of people across Europe.

Sverre spoke about creating the sets and characters for his stop motion video When I Am King for Dutch rock star Tim Knol.  Using an old wood burning technique called pyrography he soldered endless amounts of wood to create the  intricately burned images.  Later he told me that it took an average of five hours work per second of animation over a two month period to create the intricate three dimensional sets.  You can find this amazing music video on U-Tube.

Screenings were designed especially for the Volda community and the University students with a focus on Nordic/Baltic student films.  The Student Competition Jury selected the films for the Student Competition at the Fredrikstad Animation Festival from the three student programs which were also shown to the public.  The only award given in Volda was a Special Mention to a student film.  The winner received travel and accommodations to the Fredrikstad Festival.  This year the honor went to Joni Mannistos for Swarming (Kuhina) which you can see at:

Even with all of the lectures and screenings there were still lots of parties.  Gunnar hosted a sumptuous spread of food for guests and friends at his home overlooking the fjord.  I have never tasted smoked salmon that was so rich in flavor and tender as the local salmon that we were served.  Gunnar’s home is full of mementos celebrating his long career in animation and visits to festivals worldwide.  In October a new accolade was added when he was awarded the AAMAT Statute for his lifelong contribution to animation and film.

Estonian animator Hardi Vollmer and Nancy at Gunnar’s home

The sun was shining down brightly on the garden party at the Yellow House where the festival organizers hosted the gathering.   With a lovely spread of food and lots of space, the garden was a perfect place for good conversation and relaxing in the sunshine.  Festival organizer Anja Malec, who lives in the Yellow House, also threw an after party on opening night were we partied late into the night.

Gunnar Strom and his Norfolk terrior at the Yellow House garden party

As many of my readers know I love boats so I was thrilled with the boat trip organized for us.  We were taken out into the fjord in a beautiful old wooden fishing boat.  As the sun set we ate shrimp and drank wine and some people tried their hand at fishing but I am afraid that they are much better animators than fishermen.  Luckily we didn’t have to depend on their catch for dinner.  When we arrived back on the dock a beautiful spread of food and drink had been laid out on the deck of a neighboring boat.

Evening on the fishing boat

The day after the Festival closing Gunnar took Candace, Michael, Nik, and I on a memorable trip across another fjord (which meant a beautiful ferry ride) and up into the mountains where we got to see the spectacular beauty of the area surrounding Volda.  The hills are dotted with little stone cabins with grass growing on the roofs.  Daughters of local farm families stayed there during the summer when they brought the family cattle and sheep to graze in the mountain pasture lands.  Once a week a family member would arrive with fresh supplies and take the milk away.  Now the beautiful little cottages, often built against a gigantic rock, are used as private holiday cottages.

Gunnar Strom, Candace Reckinger and Mike Patterson at the milkmaid’s cottages

As if the sheer beauty of the mountains were not enough, our host took us to the historic Hotel Union Oye.  Built in 1891 for the aristocracy and upper classes of Europe who came to climb the majestic Summore Alps, paint in the lush Norangdak Valley, or just relax for months at a time each year.

Queen Victoria was among the renowned guest.  Kaiser Wilhelm II’s private yacht, The Hohenzollern, could be seen anchored nearby when he was in residence.  Both Arthur Conan Doyle and Karen Blixen  came yearly to hike and write.  Blixen’s boots are still in one room.

As befits a historic hotel, legend has it that there is a ghost of a young girl, Linda, who fell in love with a handsome aristocratic member of Kaiser Wilhelm II’s party.  Although her affection was returned he realized that the love was doomed because of their class difference and he committed suicide.  Devastated by his death she drowned herself.    Hotel guests who have stayed in the blue room, which was once occupied by the handsome young officer, have heard, felt and even seen her ghost.

The historic Hotel Union Oye

Gunnar treated us to a meal in their historic dining room that was one of the most delicious I have even eaten.  The melt-in-your-mouth steak came from a locally grass fed cow and the vegetables tasted as if they had just been plucked from the garden.  We ended by having tea and coffee on the veranda overlooking the beautiful meadow, which made me feel as if I were back in the 1800’s.  Gunnar presented us with a beautifully illustrated book tracing the history of Hotel Union Oye, the famous guests, and the rich history of the area which I treasure as the perfect rememberance of a wonderful day.

Volda may be a small town but with a population that is made up of almost half students there is a lot happening.  One evening we attended the monthly movie night hosted by Volda animation professor Dave King who is a UK transplant.  Dave has great movie taste and it was a real treat to watch and sing along with one of my favorite films Little Shop of Horrors while eating popcorn and  enjoying the bottle of red wine that Dave includes with the price of admission.  After the film there was dancing to a local DJ.   A truly fun night!

Nik and I were fortunate enough to get to spend two weeks in Volda, so Gunnar arranged for us to stay in a top floor apartment of a lovely home owned by friends of his.  Nik had a nice work space and I spent hours watching the ferries cross the fjord from our living room window or gazing at the mountains from our balcony.

On one of our last days in Volda our hosts Anne Steinsvik Nordal and Olev Egsett took us to the other side of the Volda fjord that I had been looking at for two weeks (yet another lovely ferry ride). We visited Anne’s old family farm.  From there we drove to the couple’s beautiful water front cottage where we ate a delicious deer stew.  Olev is not only a superb cook but also an exceptionally talented woodworker.  One of my most treasured gifts from our memorable visit to Volda is a beautiful wooden butter knife made by Olev.

Animation Volda 2011 is so full of memories that I could write a book about our two week there.  There are so many people to thank but first and foremost our deep thanks go to Gunnar Strom, Anja Malec, Lara Zlatar, and Ivan Dujmusic for inviting us to be part of Animation Volda.  Also our gratitude goes out to Anna and Olev for providing us with such a lovely home away from home and especially for the delicious plums from their garden that they kept leaving on the stairway.

If you are ever lucky enough to be invited to be part of Animation Volda you will be guaranteed a wonderful time.  I hope that we will be lucky enough to be invited back again sometime.

Check  out Animation Volda at:    www.animationfestival.no

I received this e-mail from MONSTRA Festival in Lisbon and want to encourage all of you to submit your films.

The Festival is very well run, treats animators and their films respectfully and is in beautiful Lisbon just when all of us in colder parts need to see some sun.

Monstra 2012

Dear Friends,

following the request of several, directors, producers and schools we decided to extended the deadline until 15 November, 2011.

We would like to thank all of you that have already sent their films. Those who didn’t please do it by the 15th of November.

See you soon with more news!

Fernando Galrito

Artistic Director MONSTRA Animation Festival - Lisbon, Portugal

Tel: +351 918682115 Email:festival@monstrafestival.com Website: www.monstrafestival.com