Dear Friends:

This article is about our trip to the CINANIMA Animation Festival in
Espinho, Portugal in November. Tomorrow I leave for my last week of
teaching in Lucerne, Switzerland and a short visit with my son in Munich.
In a few weeks I will write a long update about our (very happy) life here
in
Gent and the adventures and mysteries of our first holiday season here.

Warmest Regards,
Nancy

Classes, Espinho 090

30th CINANIMA INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL

If an animator friendly festival with excellent screening conditions and top notch animation is not enough for you, then you need to go to Cinanima, 6 through 12 November in Espinho, Portugal. Added to all of the above was the beautiful beach right outside of our hotel room with warm water and after the cold weather I had just left in Switzerland it was sometimes difficult to go into the screening room. The 30th Anniversary of the Festival offered so many delights that my efforts were well rewarded.

This year there were several changes to the Festival. The Feature Film Category was introduced in 2004, and this year, for the first time a separate selection jury chose the competition films. Another change was the division of films into three categories determined by time length; films up to 15 minutes, films from 15 to 50 minutes and feature films. There were also categories for First or Graduation Films and Series or TV animation.

The premier of Joao Seven Seven, the first feature animation entirely produced and directed in Portugal, was held on the first evening of the festival as a special non-competition screening. The young hero of the film, Joao Seven Seven, lives in a kingdom where everything is forbidden, but when he falls in love with a mysterious young lady who is in reality a princess, life takes a very strange turn. Although I cannot say that it is great animation, it is encouraging to see the Portuguese animation community produce their first feature film.

Other special screening included two special Panorama screenings, 2005 Award Winning Cinanima Films, and a celebration of 10 years (1995 to 2005) of Portuguese Animation at Cinanima. Special school screenings from the National Film School of Ireland and the Animation Department of the Italian Experimental Film Center gave me an opportunity to see a body of work from both schools. I was familiar with the National Film School of Ireland since I have seen many fine works produced there such as Rory Bryne’s Blind Man’s Soup and Conor Ryan’s Cold Pursuit, and I really enjoyed the high caliber of work being produced at the Italian Film Center.

A special treat for me was the Dutch Animated Poetry program, 10 two and a half minute animations of classical Dutch poems. Each of the 10 pieces was created by a different director in the style of art that would have been prevalent in the period when the poem was written. The earliest poem was the 14th Century Egidiuslied (Where Are You Hiding?) Two highlight for me were Charlady which was illustrated a la Mondrian, and the very contemporary Poetry Is Child’s Play; I thoroughly enjoyed the entire presentation, which was conceived as a way to give new inspiration to filmmakers, teach new ways of looking at poetry, and linking the visual with the literary arts.

The next afternoon the FLEMISH ANIMATED POETRY program debuted. It consisted of 15 short animations all based on contemporary Flemish poetry and directed by young Flemish directors. Although I enjoyed the program very much I felt that it might have been more effective if it had encompassed poetry from several different time periods instead of concentrating only on contemporary works.

Of special interest to me was the program of ANIMATION FROM MAGREBE. These films from Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria have very seldom been seen outside of Africa because of the language difficulty since very few of them have English sub-titles. They are inspired by the necessity for local information to be disseminated, and the desire to record local folk tales and typical North African stories in a visual form. This is a truly fine example of how animation can connect people who do not speak the same language but can understand the universal connections that animated film can make.
Since I have written about several Animation Festivals this year, I have purposely neglected talking about the competition categories in favor of writing about the special programs, which gave me a chance to see works that I had not seen before. A list of the winning pieces are at the end of the article.

Each evening a different program of music or dance was presented in the theatre lobby/restaurant area ranging from experimental modern dance accompanied tape to a percussion group of xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, guitar, bass and drums On the closing night of the Festival there was a party where Nik and French Film Historian Olivier Cotte provided music on piano and clarinet.

Throughout the week we did get some delightful breaks from the screening room. On opening night there was a lovely reception featuring delicious Portuguese food treats and copious beverages. Mid-week the Mayor held a reception for us at City Hall featuring wonderful traditional food accompanied by a very delicious Port. The highlight of the week was a trip touring the lovely region of Paiva, with a personal welcome from the mayor of Castelo de Paiva. Following this, we took a wonderful boat trip down the Douro River. The cruise began with hors d’ourves and drinks on the ship deck, followed by a lovely lunch as we leisurely floated down the river through the Portugese Douro wine growing region. Cristina Lima and her fabulous staff hit a perfect balance, offering us many excellent screenings with time for old and new friends to get together in relaxed surroundings.

Every evening after the last screening we would gather in the café/lobby of the theatre and head out for a late dinner. The food in Espinho, especially the sea food, is superb and we had some wonderful meals, especially at the sea food restaurants on the beach. Of course, as important as the food, is the time to catch up with old friends over food and drink and late night conversations. Two in particular are most memorable: We spent one evening with the Flemish Poetry Animators who had a very bizarre cognac (a very good one at that) drinking ritual where they pour drink down your throat while you are blindfolded with you head tilted back. I imagine that it was one of those “you had to be there evenings”! We spent the last evening with our good friend Thomas Renoldner, Austrian animator and ASIFA International Treasurer, who was a juror in the short animation category, watching the sun rise over the beautiful beach.

For information about the CINANIMA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ANIMATION visit their web site at: www.cinanima.pt

FESTIVAL AWARD WINNERS:

CATEGORY A: Films up to 15 Minutes

ONE D – Mike Grimshaw – Canada

THE DANISH POET – Torill Kove – Norway

HONORABLE MENTION:

GOOD GIRL – Astrid Aakra –n Norway

MOTHER AND MUSIC – Jula Aronova – Russia

CATEGORY B: 15 to 50 Minutes

THE CORRIDOR – Jean-Loup Felicioli, ALAIN Gagnol – France

CATEGORY E – Feature Film

THE CHRISTIES – Phil Mulloy – United Kingdom

CATEGORY D – FIRST FILM

MOTHER – Christopher Steger – United Kingdom

HONORABLE MENTION:

WALKING – Alexandre Bayle – France

SINUSTRA DEXTRA – Marion Arbona – France

BEST PORTUGESE FILM:

STUART – Jose Pedro Cavalheiro

BEST EUROPEAN ANIMATED FILM;

DREAMS & DESIRES – FAMILY TIES – Joanna Quinn – United Kingdom

ORIGIONAL SOUNDTRACE – STUART – Jose Pedro Cavalheiro – Portugal

YOUNG PORTUGUESE DIRECTOR - 18 YEARS OLD AND YOUNGER – MAIS PERTO das NUVENS, MAIS PERTO DOS SONHOS – Colectivo de Criancas do Fundao

YOUNG PORTUGUES DIRECTOR -18 TO 30 YEARS OLD - ?ORQUE – Joao SAousa E Jose Pinto