The world we live in today is not perfect – it is full of fear and hatred, and that it’s so far from the ideal affects us deeply. That’s why we’re focusing on utopias at this year’s Fest Anča. It is important in today’s polarized world to allow ourselves to dream of new, often unattainable worlds.

-Jakub Spevák, programme director and focus curator

Image: Fest Anča

Focus on Utopias

As customary, the festival’s theme is interwoven throughout the film and non-film programme. A curated collection of short animated films will look at utopias from the perspective of the climate crisis and capitalism, as well as from the perspective of the queer, and gender equality. The audience will have the opportunity to watch a duel between dystopia and utopia, as well as an attempt to deconstruct them. 

The six screenings with titles such as The Garden of Earthly Delights, Still Waiting for Godot, Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Imagining the Impossible will be complemented by discussions with personalities related to the presented themes. Interviewed will be, among others, activist Roman Samotný, visual and conceptual artist Jozef Pilát, and dancer Monika Prikkelová.

Marta Pajek (Image: Fest Anča)

The Masterclass will be given by Polish animator Marta Pajek, who will also present her recently completed trilogy Impossible Figures and Other Stories. The highly acclaimed and successful three-part work is a complex, layered portrait of a woman in the context of society, family and a romantic relationship, and its focus fits right in with the theme of this year’s festival.

Even though “utopia” literally means “no place”, we hope to create a real sanctuary where everyone feels safe and welcome. A place that is fairer and more inclusive. A place to call home.

-Jakub Spevák

This year’s visual, which has (traditionally) been taken care of by graphic designer Marek Menke, also follows the theme.

Past Utopias

Utopias also mean a certain look back at the past. On its 60th anniversary, the Slovak Film Institute has prepared a series of films called Archaeology of the Future, which explores and largely foreshadows our society’s development. Similarly, the Animation Studio at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, so as part of the programme of the 16th Fest Anča, you can look forward to student films that have shaped the school into what it is today.

This year’s programme will feature a selection of films from the Polish animation studio Studio Filmów Rysunkowych, which is famous not only for its films for children (such as Bolek and Lolek or Reksio) but also for its original films for adults. The section will also focus on utopias and feature diverse films, such as one about a rocket that can’t fly away or another about a shell that transports you to an idyllic past.

Feature films

The selection of feature films is also curated in the spirit of depicting utopian worlds. Audiences can look forward to two animated science fiction classics. Chronopolis (Piotr Kamler, 1982) is set in a futuristic city inhabited by powerful immortals who are bored with the idea of eternity, and so they start playing with time. Visitors will be able to enjoy this film with a unique musical accompaniment. The Czechoslovakian co-production The Fantastic Planet (René Laloux, 1973) is a story of the distant world of Ygam, inhabited by all-powerful masters and their slaves. The film celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year. Both films can be screened thanks to the French Institute in Slovakia. 

This year’s selection of feature films also includes the Hungarian-Slovak co-production White Plastic Sky, which was recently screened at the Berlinale Film Festival and tells the story of a dystopian future. In addition, you can look forward to Dozens of Norths, which finds light even in the darkest places. In 2018, Festa Anča was honoured to welcome its director Koji Yamamura as a special guest. Also worth mentioning is the exceptional film Away by the universal Latvian artist Gints Zilbalodis, which can be considered an adventure story for children aged ten and up, but also an existential drama that will be more appreciated by an adult audience. 

The Websters Movie (Image: Fest Anča)

Children and their parents will too be in for a treat, as the festival will offer a Slovak feature film, The Websters Movie, directed by Katarina Kerekesova, as well as the beautiful Yuku and the Himalayan Flower, about a little mouse named Yuku who embarks on an adventurous journey in search of a Himalayan flower capable of bringing eternal light. The day before the festival, on Wednesday 28th June, there will also be a screening of Kvik, a family film about a 9-year-old girl named Babs who receives a little pig as a present from her grandfather.

Official selection and juries

Almost 1400 films were submitted to the 16th Fest Anča International Animation Festival, from which the pre-selection committee selected a generous portion of 230 movies. “We are delighted that they will be evaluated directly at the festival by jurors who are among the leading personalities of contemporary domestic and international animation.

-Ivana Sujová, festival director

The Best Animated Short Film and Best Student Animated Short Film will be selected by Malte Stein, an independent animation filmmaker based in Berlin, who won the main prize at last year’s Fest Anča with his film Thing. He will be accompanied by the Taiwanese director Cheng-hsu Chung, also based in Berlin, whose film An Eternal Vacation of Happiness will be featured in one of this year’s Utopias blocks. The trio of jurors will be completed by director, artist, and animator Joanna Kozuch, who co-created the last year’s visual for Fest Anča.

The Mayor’s Anča Award for the Best Slovak Animated Short Film worth 1000€ will be decided by: the director, musician and artistic director of the World Festival of Animated Film – Animafest Zagreb Daniel Šuljić, a Czech-Vietnamese director, artist and graduate of FAMU in Prague Diana Cam Van Nguyen, and a well-known expert in the field of animation studies, film studies, and cultural theory Olga Bobrowska.

The best-animated music video will be selected by a trio consisting of Luce Grosjean – a distributor of animated films successful at festivals around the world, Marek Menke – a graphic designer and DJ, who is in charge of the visual identity of Fest Anča from 2020, and the aforementioned Marta Pajek.

Accompanying programme 

The 16th Fest Anča will not include only animated films. Visitors will enjoy a quality accompanying programme consisting of concerts, DJ sets and discussions, which will also resonate with the festival’s theme – Utopia. Concerts and parties will take place just like in previous years on the premises of the Žilina-Záriečie Station and the New Synagogue. The festival will include an Industry section conference for local animation professionals at the Rosenfeld Palace.

San Farafina (Image: Fest Anča)

Visitors will be treated to a concert by the unique San Farafina – a Montreal-based Haitian-Canadian DJ, producer and member of the Moonshine crew. San Farafina combines contemporary Afrofuturist sounds of genres such as gqom, batida, and amapiano in an eclectic fusion that draws from her diasporic roots. From Primavera Barcelona straight to Fest Anča! One of the highlights of the musical programme will be the performance of Vanyfox, only 22-year-old DJ and beatmaker originally from Angola, who is currently moving between Lisbon and Paris, both sonically and physically. 

The festival will also offer a concert by one of the most remarkable sound artists to emerge from the Milan scene, Marco Farina, known as Canva6. Farina inventively works with memory as a tool for sonic imagination, finding the perfect balance between complex sensations and naked synth surfaces. The local scene will be represented by Vojtik, a young Roma queer artist from Detva, who has captured the attention of all fans of Slovak alternative music with his single Detviansky sen. 

The festival will feature unique artists such as DJ GÄP, Adela Mede, Kult Masek, elastix, or Dead Janitors presents Stroke.

Olga Bobrowska, a member of this year’s jury, a film scholar working in the field of animation and cultural theory, who is also an activist and a curator, will talk about utopias in animation. Tadeáš Žďárský will give an engaging lecture about degrowth economics. A group of creative storytellers will tell us something about engaging storytelling with Príbehom na stope, with whom we will enter the “princesses arena”. You can also look forward to Martin Smatana‘s exhibition at the New Synagogue, named The Year of Good News 2022. Animation director and illustrator Martin Smatana has done the work and collected positive stories from around the world over the past year, to which he has also created images from second-hand textiles. A Year of Good News has also been published as a beautiful book.

And not to forget the 2nd Student Forum, which will take place on 27 June in the New Synagogue. It is a unique platform for European animation schools, providing space for students and teachers to compare approaches to teaching, distribution of student films or international collaborations, and bring students together with professionals. It is the ambition of the festival organisers to make the Student Forum a permanent part of the festival and to continuously support the development of educational practices, school collaborations and the practical experiences they offer.

Children’s programme

This year, the Fest Anča team has again prepared an exceptionally rich programme for children and their parents, full of remarkable film experiences, engaging theatre performances and moments spent in a creative and stimulating environment. 

In the international competition of short animated films for children we will present up to eight original films created in the last two years. One of the films you should not miss is hilarious T-Rex, created by German director Julie Ocker, about a dinosaur who can’t play basketball. On the other hand, the Swiss short film Pond presents the unknown world of the inhabitants of an (extra)ordinary pond.

Two sections of non-competitive films we could not squeeze into the main competition are also waiting for the kids. In the first one, we will present a humorous movie about a fluffy white cat who wants more than anything to find the most comfortable resting place in the whole universe. In the second non-competitive section of films for children, we’ll take a closer look at the tiny world beneath our feet and introduce children to their new friends – road signs. The Animation Studio of the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava has also prepared one particular block of films for children at Fest Anča.

However, the children’s programme at Fest Anča is not only about films. For example, young visitors can also look forward to a reading with no age limit called My Utopia. They can also enjoy a performance by the New Theatre from Nitra called Kocúr v čižmách, about how not all that glitters is silver, but also that karma is free and that goodness does not lose its honour in the end.

Children and their parents will be able to immerse themselves in the Kruhy vody with the aforementioned Príbehom na stope storytelling troupe. Through the readings of exciting stories, they will discover the world of water goblins, water and everything connected with water.

The Biennial Animation Bratislava (BAB) festival will prepare a workshop called Tvory z Utópie during the festival Sunday at the Municipal Theatre Žilina, where curious boys and girls can learn the basics of stop motion animation.

About Fest Anča

The International Animation Festival Fest Anča is the only Slovak multimedia festival focused on animated films primarily for adult audiences, which takes place in the New Synagogue in Žilina, the cultural centre Stanica Žilina-Záriečie, the Municipal Theatre Žilina, the Rosenfeld Palace and the Žilina Artforum. The festival aims to present contemporary progressive animated films together with the best from the genre’s history. The festival seeks to raise awareness of animation as a fully-fledged art form and to educate its audience about the various forms of animation.

Each year, the festival includes an international competition of animated short films and music videos, as well as thematic and specially focused film sections. Fest Anča offers lectures, screenings for children and many other side events during the four days.

The International Animation Festival Fest Anča 2023 is financially supported by the Audiovisual Fund. The festival was financially supported by the LITA Fund. The Fest Anča Student Forum received a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants. 

Working together towards a green, competitive and inclusive Europe.

The event is funded by the Student Forum Fest Anča project supported by the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021 and the State Budget of the Slovak Republic, with project number CLT02018.

For more info visit festanca.sk and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

The post Fest Anča will be all about Utopias this year appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

Get ready to embark on a captivating journey as Anibar Animation Festival proudly unveils its 14th edition theme: “Love | Dashni.” From July 17th to July 23rd, 2023, we invite you to join us in Peja, Kosova, where love takes center stage and fills the air with its vibrant colors and heartfelt emotions.

In a world often consumed by chaos and division, we seek to remind ourselves and everyone that love knows no boundaries and as such, it cannot be defined!

But fear not, this is not a realm of clichés or saccharine sweetness. We delve into the many dimensions of love, shedding light on its complexities and unveiling its diverse manifestations.

Throughout the seven days of the festival, our artistic program will immerse you in a kaleidoscope of animated wonders, and through this theme we will explore the transformative power of human connections.

Join us as we embrace the multifaceted nature of love, a force that transcends language and speaks to the core of our humanity. Let’s celebrate the myriad ways love influences our lives, ignites our souls, and inspires us to be better, both individually and as a society.

Save the dates and let love in!

The post Anibar Animation Festival presents: Love | Dashni appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

LAIKA

Image via LAIKA

This is a fairly obvious one, but then again, who cares? LAIKA is responsible for some of the most beloved animated films of the last two decades and, as Aardman proved in I Am Your Mother, Star Wars looks good in stop-motion. A few shorts from Volume 2 captured the visual appeal of the medium, however only Aardman’s was fully handcrafted. LAIKA’s film would follow suit, bringing some authenticity to Visions’ stop-motion representation.

Aardman’s entry, while expectedly charming, was mostly goofy, not to mention focused exclusively on podracing. LAIKA would likely contribute a far more immersive, potentially force-wielding story, likely with a few thrills and chills thrown in. We’re imagining something along the lines of Cartoon Saloon’s Screecher’s Reach, a story with darker themes but instead rendered in glorious 3D. Just imagine…a hard-hitting lightsaber fight directed by Travis Knight a la Kubo and the Two Strings. It would be the stuff of legends.

BreakThru Films

Image via BreakThru Films

Volume 2 features a breadth of animation, so much so that it’s difficult to know what other mediums, or materials, are left to discover. When looking back on game-changing animation from the last decade, one will quickly remember BreakThru Films’ Loving Vincent. The world’s first fully hand-painted film unearthed a whole new mode of animated storytelling. El Guiri’s Sith already splattered paint into the Visions universe, so we might as well double down and put oil to canvas.

People assume that the studio’s slow and labor-intensive production process makes their inclusion a non-starter. However, considering one feature took them six years, a 12-15 minute short film could surely be completed in one year’s time. But why worry about technicalities? What’s more important is this project’s artistic significance. For a franchise that has incorporated paintings since its inception, a fully hand-painted Star Wars story would make for a beautiful full circle moment.

Studio MDHR

Image via Studio MDHR

Some of the most cinematic animation is being produced for video games, so it’s only a matter of time before Visions starts working with game animators. Studio MDHR, known for their hit run-and-gun adventure Cuphead, is a prime candidate. To recreate the rubber-hose animation of the ‘20s and ‘30s, brothers Chad and Jared Moldenhauer animated Cuphead using hand-drawn cel animation. There’s no better way to showcase the power of the medium than going back to its roots.

Star Wars is no stranger to comedy, but it has never been reimagined quite in this way; it may seem a bit absurd to franchise purists, but considering it’s the style that put Walt Disney on the map, it feels like a no-brainer. The comic possibilities are endless: loopy lightsabers, bouncy beams, and slapstick stormtroopers! It’s yet another vast expansion of what Star Wars can be, even if it means rolling the dice (wink wink) on an unprecedented collaboration.

Viva Calavera Studios

Image via Cartoon Network Latin America

In Volume 2, a diverse collection of studios reimagined Star Wars through their own cultural lenses. We certainly wouldn’t want to lose that going into Volume 3, which means we need a bold, exciting international voice to enter the ring. Thankfully, Viva Calavera Studios already has, literally; their new supernatural lucha libre series, Rey Mysterio vs. The Darkness, will be featured at this year’s Annecy Festival as part of its Mexican animation showcase.

The series is built around a teen boy’s admiration for beloved WWE wrestler Rey Mysterio; a similar master-padawan relationship could translate to a powerful Star Wars story. We don’t want to pigeonhole the studio, but we have never seen wrestling in this universe before, nor a Visions story told with such a flashy and energetic 2D animation style. We’ve already seen a battle of the bands and a night at the theater, so is wrestling that much more of a stretch?

Fortiche

Image via Netflix

Few animated shows captured our attention like Arcane. The League of Legends prequel was an inventive sci-fi/fantasy epic, elevated by the astounding work of French animation studio Fortiche. They had previously worked with developer Riot Games on music videos and short films, but they truly outdid themselves with Arcane’s first season – nine episodes, each forty minutes a piece, with a follow-up season already in production. Surely they could whip out a 15-minute Visions short in the interim. 

Meticulously blending 2D textures with 3D character models, Arcane’s visual style is unlike anything else in animation right now. It would be a shame to not see Star Wars brought to life with the “Fortiche touch.” However, the company’s trademark is not just their design, but their cinematic approach. Arcane co-creator Christian Linke has spoken about Fortiche’s formally daring eye for cinematography, which speaks to how well they would embody the innovative spirit that has defined Star Wars since the beginning.

Holy Motion Studio

Image via O’Brother Distribution

Last year, the Netherlands produced their first-ever stop-motion feature film, Oink (Knor in the original Dutch), courtesy of Holy Motion Studio. The story, centered on a young girl who adopts a messy pig, charmed the pants off of audiences, earning a slot at the Berlin International Film Festival and even inspiring a prequel film shortly after. The reception formally catapulted the humble studio’s reputation, but it’s that kind of exciting momentum that makes them prime for an even larger spotlight: Disney+.

It may be difficult to remember sometimes, but Star Wars is ultimately for people of all ages, including children. Much like Aardman’s inclusion in the last volume, Holy Motion’s silly but family-oriented sensibility makes for a perfect introduction to Star Wars should any young people tune in. It would also be a nice diversion from some of the more intense shorts of the collection but without risking an offbeat sense of humour and meaningful family dynamics.

Wētā FX

Image via 20th Century Studios

The line between traditional animation and visual effects is a blurry one. Technically, the images originate in-camera, but modern blockbuster filmmaking demands several manhours of animation well after the fact. Wētā FX have designed some of the most imaginative digital worlds on film, to the point that one of their films, The Adventures of Tintin, was entirely animated. They’ve even opened a separate animation branch, Wētā Animation, though it has yet to bear fruit.

It would be fascinating to see Wētā tackle an expressive but photorealistic Star Wars film through both animation and VFX techniques. It would put the two crafts in conversation with each other, something the franchise has already been doing in other mediums. The Clone Wars tv series and Star Wars Jedi video games are both fully animated projects that use mocap to strengthen their animation, so why not try that in a short film? It sure would be an exciting way to launch that quiet animation division.

Square Enix Image Studio Division

Image via Square Enix Image Studio Division

We couldn’t make a wish list for Volume 3 and not include at least one anime studio. It’s the one piece of connective tissue across Visions thus far, even if Volume 2’s anime shorts were from non-Japanese studios. For Visions’ third go-around, we want to bring it back to Japan while embracing the country’s impact on video game animation; enter Square Enix, whose gorgeous CGI animation style has captured the hearts of gamers everywhere.

Kamikaze Douga’s Volume 1 short The Duel was animated in 3D, but filtered through an analogue, hand-drawn aesthetic. Square’s more traditional approach to 3D anime would feel like new territory for Visions while still being apt for the assignment. Fans of Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts know that this company is no stranger to heavily choreographed action set pieces as well as heartfelt stories of found families. We’re sure Takeshi Nozue and crew would rise to the occasion.

The Lego Group

Image via Brickfilm Day

Before Animal Logic and Atomic Cartoons became the go-to animators for licensed tie-in movies, LEGOs came to life through humble stop-motion YouTube videos. The Brickfilm, a term coined by animator Jason Rowoldt, is a genre that has expanded significantly since its origins in the ‘70s, to the point that there is an online community keeping the medium afloat to this day. Lucasfilm would be foolish to not recruit some of these talented animators and co-produce a LEGO Star Wars Visions short.

As much as CGI makes for a fun LEGO adventure, it’s time we go back to basics: physically hand-adjusted, traditionally animated lego minifigs, digital mouth animation cycles and all. Most people would be excited to see existing LEGO Star Wars sets in action, but we think it would be more interesting to see what a proficient group of Brickfilmmakers could come up with when given creative freedom. You can do a lot with an endless supply of bricks and a boundless imagination.

And these nine studios are just the tip of the iceberg! There are countless talents we want to see helm a Star Wars story, from death-defying lightsaber duels to heartfelt stories of friendship throughout the galaxy. One can only hope that Visions Volume 3 arrives sooner rather than later.

The post 9 Animation Studios We Want To See in ‘Star Wars: Visions’ Volume 3 appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

The post Mr. Pete & the Iron Horse appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

In September 2022, you may have seen the news of Hadis Najafi, who died after being struck by gunfire during the Iranian protests. The death of the 22-year old Azerbaijani Turk woman was widely reported around the world, and following her death she has been “turned into a symbol and rallying point for the protests after her death”, and is seen as a symbol of Azerbaijani resistance and ethnic struggle.

This event in turn, led to the fledgling Azerbaijani animation studio, ANIMAFILM Studio, producing and dedicating their short film Hadis to the memory of Hadis Najafi, and all those fighting against gender, ethnic and cultural discrimination in Iran.

Hadis © ANIMAFILM Studio

The short film has already garnered early festival success, having been selected for competition at this year’s Annecy animation festival, which is not only an honour for the studio, but is seen as an important achievement for the Azerbaijani film industry as a whole.

At the helm of the film (and also of ANIMAFILM Studio) are Nazrin Aghamaliyeva (Director) and Rashid Aghamaliyev (Producer), who we spoke to about the film’s production and the landscape of Azerbaijani animation.

Rashid Aghamaliyev, Producer (left) and Nazrin Aghamaliyeva, Director (right). © ANIMAFILM Studio

Before we discuss the film, could you both tell us a little about how you met and came to work together, and what led you to set up your own studio?

Nazrin: We first met in Baku at the ANIMAFILM International Animation Festival. Over time, we became close friends and eventually got married. From the beginning, we shared a passion for filmmaking. However, working together as a filmmaker couple is both amazing and challenging at the same time.

Rashid: We started making animation organically when we needed animated trailers for our ANIMAFILM festival. Making the trailers was so satisfying that we decided to start an animation studio. Hadis is our debut animated film. However, even before that, I had extensive experience in the film industry. For example, I worked as a production assistant on a feature stop-motion animated film called Even Mice Belong in Heaven (2021) and as an assistant director for a feature documentary titled Saz: The Key of Trust (2018). In 2019, I directed my own short documentary, Dialogues with Zuleyha (2019). All this experience gave me enough confidence to launch our own studio.

The film describes itself as a dedication ‘to the memory of 22-year-old Azerbaijani Turk Hadis Najafi,’ but aside from Hadis’ heritage, what compelled you to tell this story, and who did the initial idea for this film come from?

Nazrin: The idea to make a film about Hadis Najafi belongs to the Azerbaijan Cultural Society of Northern California, the organization that funded the film and also offered me a scholarship to study animation in FAMU (Czech Republic). We were deeply moved by the story of Hadis Najafi and agreed to make this film. For research, I conducted interviews with Azerbaijani Turks who lived under the dictatorial regime in Iran. Their personal stories were invaluable in shaping our narrative.

Rashid: Nazrin co-wrote the screenplay with talented dramaturg Ismail Iman, who contributed great ideas to the story, such as Hadis’s brooch being stolen by a crow. Masud Panachi, a consultant for the film, who himself was born in Iran and has made more than 60 animated films in Azerbaijan and Germany, offered valuable advice on storyboarding and directing.

Hadis © ANIMAFILM Studio

Judging by the timeline of events, from Hadis’ death in September 2022 to your submission of the film to Annecy in February 2023, it is remarkable that you have assembled a team, gained support, and produced the film in a little over 4 months. Could you give us a breakdown of how you achieved this and any problems you encountered?

Nazrin: I still find it unbelievable that we were able to make this film in such a short timeframe. We were fortunate to have the financial support of ASCN, but also our team, who were passionate about the film’s theme and produced amazing results. However, we did encounter difficulties in finding voice actors. I wanted to find an Azerbaijani voice actress from Iran because I needed a specific accent. It was a miracle when we found Zohre, who had just arrived in Prague from Iran one month ago, where she had participated in the protests herself. She also had a powerful story of her own. Initially, I thought of keeping her name secret for her safety, as she could be arrested in Iran for participating in our film. But she wanted to be credited in the project. I am happy that we found her, as she represented Hadis’ soul perfectly. She is one of the strongest and most amazing Azerbaijani women I have ever met.

Rashid: We started in November 2022 and exported the DCP in April 2023. The trick is that, according to Annecy’s regulations, the festival can consider a work-in-progress version. So, we took advantage of this. But honestly, it was super hard to deliver a WIP version in time and make sure that it was advanced enough to be judged. I would love to give credit to our lead animator, Andrea Szelesová, and editor, Jorge Sánchez Calderón. I don’t think we could have made it in time without their hard work and dedication.

What are your hopes for the film, and what would you ultimately like the film to achieve?

Nazrin: In the film, the main character not only represents Hadis Najafi’s bravery but also symbolizes the struggles of Azerbaijani Turks in Iran. We want the whole world to know that the Azerbaijani minority in Iran faces systematic discrimination.

Rashid: I absolutely agree with Nazrin. While Iran is infamous for its authoritarian regime, death penalties, religious extremism, and unjust treatment of women, it is often overlooked that minorities in Iran also face discrimination. There are around 30 million Azerbaijani Turks living in Iran. Like many other minorities in Iran, such as Baluchis, Kurds, and Turkmen, Azerbaijani Turks face severe racism. Our film is an attempt to spread awareness about the unjust treatment that face Azerbaijani Turks in Iran. Participating in the Annecy festival is already a big step towards spreading our message. The next goal is to offer our film to the international audience through festivals, television, and VOD platforms.

Hadis © ANIMAFILM Studio

Our readers at Skwigly may not have a deep knowledge of the Azerbaijan animation landscape, so could you give us your thoughts on its current shape and where it is heading? Also, could you tell us how the industry helped you access funding or support partners to complete Hadis?

Rashid: After the rich Soviet Azerbaijan period, the animation industry struggled with a lack of funding and talent. The presidential decree establishing ARKA (the Cinema Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan) on April 20, 2022, truly marks the beginning of a new era not only for Azerbaijani animation but also for Azerbaijani cinema in general. In 2022, we also established the NGO Azerbaijan Animation Association with the goal of contributing to the industry. We believe that very soon the world will hear more about Azerbaijan!

I should also mention that Hadis is a co-production of Azerbaijan, the USA, and the Czech Republic. I produced this film through a company in the Czech Republic. It makes me proud because this country has given me so much in terms of my personal and professional development.

Rashid, aside from producing this film and heading up ANIMAFILM Studio, you are a key figure within the Azerbaijan animation industry, and founder of ANIMAFILM animation festival. Can you tell our readers a little about the festival, and how you find the time for everything!

Rashid: We established the ANIMAFILM festival in 2018, and this year we will celebrate its 6th edition. We are a small festival with big ambitions to become an important player in the Caucasus region and Eastern Europe, but we do accept films from all around the world! This year’s theme will be dedicated to women’s rights, and we will organize a pitching competition for local animation artists. I guess the secret to our productivity is that we do all these projects together with Nazrin.

Hadis © ANIMAFILM Studio

Can you tell me what’s next for both of you and ANIMAFILM Studio? What projects do you currently have in development?

Nazrin: As a filmmaker, I am passionate about addressing topics that are relevant to women. We are currently working on a short animated documentary (anidoc) that explores women’s health issues called vaginismus.

Rashid: Together with Masud Panahi, we are also developing a short film for children called Nargis. After the recent Karabakh war, Azerbaijan’s territories are highly contaminated with landmines. We aim to address this issue in a creative manner and create a film that will be relevant not only for Azerbaijani children but also for all children affected by war.

Hadis will be screening as part of the Short Films in Competition – Perspectives 1  at Annecy on 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th June 2023. For more information about that film, visit: animafilm.studio/hadis

The post Interview: Nazrin Aghamaliyeva & Rashid Aghamaliyev on Their Azerbaijan Short ‘Hadis’ appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

With a solid filmography of funny, quirky animated films under her belt, including My Favourite Things That I Love, Penguins Behind Bars, Invasion of the Space Lobsters, Monsieur Pug and the Oscar nominated Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin, Janet’s work over the years has also included contributions to Sesame Street, the NFB’s ShowPeace series and the collaborative project Pink Komkommer.

This week her latest NFB film The Girl with the Red Beret is playing at Animafest Zagreb as part of their Time For The Masters programme, which showcases recent work by some of the biggest stars of animation. The film is a love letter to Montreal in which a girl encounters an array of colourful, extravagant characters across the city’s metro stations, set to a re-orchested take on Kate and Anna McGarrigle’s Complainte pour Ste-Catherine.

Interview conducted by Ben Mitchell
Produced, edited and presented by Ben Mitchell

The Girl with the Red Beret screens in Animafest Zagreb’s Time For The Masters programme Thursday July 8th 3:30pm

The post Animation One-To-Ones Episode #24 – Janet Perlman appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

© Sony Pictures Animation

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse does not push the boundaries of animation. How can you push the boundaries of something that has none? When critics spill out that line it’s based on their own projection of the limits live action has onto a medium which refuses to abide by them. That thinking is backwards, Newtonian, animation is better described by the works of Niels Bohr and Steven Hawking, quantum, impossible to pin down, existing in multiple states and all at once, still not fully understood by the layman. 

Therefore, the story of the Spider-verse movies is not one of boundary pushing, rather this project, this experiment, exists to surrender itself to the whirlpool of animation, letting all its styles, from the stoic to the formless, wash over it, absorbing lessons, techniques and visual languages from each one to tell a story like so many others. Yet, I don’t say that to call Across the Spider-verse ordinary. Cramming all existing animation styles into a single story should be an impossible task leading to an incomprehensible product, but we forget that animation does not deal in impossibles. 

© Sony Pictures Animation

Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is a year older, suffering from the mid-teen angst for freedom. His yearning to forge his own path sees him come to blows with his parents and an entire multiverse of Spider-people attempting to mould Miles in their own image. Namely Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac) and The Spot (Jason Schwartzman), antagonists who, for very different reasons, believe in the necessity of Miles’ suffering. Sacrifice is part of the deal when being a Spider-Man, but also when being a teenager. Miles stands in defiance of his expectations, whether they’re as quaint as improving on his Spanish grade, as emotional as being there for his family, or as overwhelming as his duty in preventing a potential multiversal collapse. The latest instalment of the Spider-verse franchise sees Miles torn between finding freedom and a sense of belonging,

Across the Spider-verse treats the general audience to visuals unlike anything they would’ve seen in the last 40 years from a major motion picture, it shows animation nerds conflicting art styles they didn’t know could co-exist and it gives tech nerds a software-based headache trying to grasp how on earth they taught a computer to colour outside the lines so playfully. Furthering its miraculous status is the film’s almost omnidirectional praise. Experimentation is bound to leave some in the dust. How did so many audiences keep up with a film that runs through visual styles almost as quickly as it runs through dialogue? We see dimensions that look like the film has been shot through a prism, neon-lit dreamscapes, Mumbai-New York blends taking inspiration from 70s Indian comics, live action sequences and a paper mache British Spider-guy share the screen within minutes. 

Across the Spider-Verse Trailer + The Directors Speak!

Recent months have seen live action filmmakers like Ari Aster and Damien Chazelle take wide swings which bisect audiences. There’s something about the maximalism of Babylon and the unpredictability of Beau is Afraid which seems to leave some fulfilled and others enraged. How did Kemp Powers, Joaquim Dos Santos and Justin K. Thompson pull off a film that is even more maximalist and unpredictable? The answer is (predictably considering the rest of the article and the theme of the publication you’re reading) animation. Animation forces you to let go of your frame of reference, it makes you leave a sense of reality behind. Only in animation are stories like Across the Spider-verse possible. 

© Sony Pictures Animation

Sony have not introduced a third style of animation to lump in with the 3D Pixars and DreamWorks and the 2D classic Disneys and Ghiblis. To think in this way is only to scan the surface of what’s being achieved artistically. We want to say something is completely new because we feel like it validates our love for it. What Across the Spider-verse does, which is so rare, is wear its influences on its sleeve and execute them to the highest possible level. 

That is why this film will be talked about for years when we talk about animation. Fans and artists specialising in every corner of animation will gather to worship at its feet. 

While Across the Spider-verse acts as a breathtaking construction of all we know animation to be, its successes as a story come from the deconstruction of the superhero tale. The tale of Spider-Man feels as old as time, and virtually is for my fellow Gen Z-ers. Across the Spider-verse offers playfully meta alternatives to how we know these stories are “supposed” to go and deepens the relationships between characters we feel familiar with. Miles Morales is older now, things are harder, being a good friend is harder, being a good son is harder and the introduction of the multiverse-hopping villain The Spot makes being Spider-man harder. Miles is tasked with finding his place, not only in the world, but in every world, the perfect metaphor for the heavy weight of teenage metamorphosis. Watching Miles’ exuberance be tempered by jaded adults is jarring and further endears the audience to Miles’ point of view. 

© Sony Pictures Animation

Across the Spider-verse sets up a trilogy worthy of a swan song for the superhero film as a genre. Is superhero fatigue real? For how long will audiences find these stories interesting? I sense that after this trilogy is complete, there won’t be much ground left to tread. The snake would have consumed itself. 

Few times in a decade do we get the chance to bask in the glow of an industry-defining piece of art. I liken the feeling of walking out of this film to the experiences of hearing Frank Ocean’s Blonde for the first time, my first playthrough of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild comes to mind, as well as watching the original Spider-verse for the first time, 4.5 years ago. In 2023, two of those titles returned to redefine what we know about those mediums. We have the most exciting years of animated cinema ahead of us. 

5/5. We will be talking about it for years. 

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is in Theatres now.

The post Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Review appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

Image ©WIA

Today, at the beginning of Pride month, WIA — the advocacy organization dedicated to advancing people of underrepresented gender identities, including women and gender non-conforming people in the fields of animation, VFX, and gaming — is pleased to announce they are joining forces with GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization, to bring this year’s WIA WORLD SUMMIT to the Annecy International Animation Festival and Mifa 2023. Among this year’s special guests will be ND Stevenson, Vicky Jenson, Ramsey Naito, Anna Ginsburg and Nora Twomey.

WIA is proud to collaborate with GLAAD in service of our shared vision of gender justice in animation. We look forward to gathering so many key thought leaders to discuss this year’s theme, ‘Break the Box: Redefining Gender and Leadership.’ The day will be filled with thought-provoking, robust discussions on the complexity of gender, including all the amazing things that can happen in our industry when people break free from stereotypes and societal expectations.

-Marge Dean, WIA President

I’m so excited to be joining WIA for a day full of impactful conversations on gender and storytelling. As we see an increase in anti-LGBTQ bills here in the U.S., authentic and inclusive storytelling is more impactful than ever in both combatting disinformation and uplifting our voices. The inclusive animated films and series highlighted at Annecy and through WIA’s work will be seen by audiences of all ages across the world and can spark conversations that accelerate acceptance for families of all kinds.

-Megan Townsend, GLAAD’s Senior Director of Entertainment Research and Analysis

Breaking the gender boxes we’ve all been put into at some point in our lives is critical to moving toward gender justice and equity. We must collectively, across gender identities, question how we define a ‘good leader’ or ‘who can do what job in animation’ or ‘how we express ourselves,’ so we can achieve true equity and a better, more prosperous industry for all.

-Julie Ann Crommett, WIA Secretary/DEI Chair and Founder and CEO, Collective Moxie

With the entire Annecy team, we are happy and honored to host the WIA World Summit. Once again, the program for this day will be an opportunity to share ideas around the concerns of our time to build a better world and a better industry. This year, we are doubling our forces since the World Summit will resonate particularly with the theme of Annecy 2023: Animation Pride & Diversity.

-Mickaël Marin, CITIA CEO

The seventh annual WIA WORLD SUMMIT will take place on Monday, June 12th at the Impérial Palace Hotel (Allée de l’Impérial, 74000 Annecy) and will feature a day-long symposium of panels and focused conversations spotlighting key thought leaders filmmakers and executives from around the world discussing gender justice — a system of equity and fairness for people of all genders, gender identities and presentations. As with every summit since the beginning, this year’s event will be live-streamed and available to the general public via the WIA website from 9:30 am -5:30 pm CEST/12:30 am-7:30 am PST, with a lunch break from 12:20-2:30 pm CEST. The Summit will also be recorded and posted subsequently on the WIA website.

The official program for the day will be as follows:

Welcome from WIA and Annecy Festival

WIA President Marge Dean and CITIA CEO Mickaël Marin welcome viewers and attendees.

SESSION 1 – Unpacking: What is Gender?

Description: This educational session led by Megan Townsend, GLAAD Senior Director of Entertainment Research & Analysis, unpacks the language and universal assumptions of gender, the ways we’re all impacted by those assumptions, and how we can move closer to the reality of gender justice in our global industry.

SESSION 2 – Authentic Storytelling

Description: Our experiences, values, and identities are foundational to the stories we tell. This panel, moderated by Tendayi Nyeke and including Paula Boffo, Creative Director at Ojo Raro, cartoonist and writer Molly Knox Ostertag, and writer and animator Leslie Pulsifer, explores the ways in which gender shapes who we are and the stories and art we create as a result.

SESSION 3 – Leading Diverse Creative Teams

Description: Leading creative teams comes with unique rewards and challenges, especially when the stories being told are deeply personal. This panel, moderated by WIA President, Marge Dean, examines how leaders can reject gendered expectations and harness the creative power of a diverse team. Panelists include Emilie Walmsley, Head of Animation for Eddy TV, ND Stevenson, author and illustrator of Nimona and creator/showrunner of She-Ra: Princesses of Power, award-winning filmmaker and director at Strange Beast, Anna Ginsburg, and Noriko Matsumoto, Executive Producer and Brand Director at Dwarf Studio.

SESSION 4 – Redefining Risk as Investment

Description: Risk and failure are integral parts of the creative process. Moderated by Julie Ann Crommett, this panel — featuring Deepa Joshi, co-CEO of Incessant Rain animation studios, Nosipho van den Bragt, President and Founder of Chocolate Tribe, Lou Bones, Creative Talent Director at PSYOP and acclaimed director of Shrek and the upcoming Spellbound, Vicky Jenson — explores the inequitable effects of success as well as failure for creative leaders who are historically underrepresented in our industry. What can we learn when things don’t go as planned? How can we reframe risk and failure to create a more equitable industry?

CLOSING FIRESIDE CHAT – Authentic Leadership

Description: In this fireside chat with Ramsey Naito, President, Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation, and Nora Twomey, Co-Founder & Creative Director of Cartoon Saloon, we examine creative leadership through the lens of gender and explore what is possible when we embrace leadership styles that are authentic. We’ll also explore how leaders who break the box can effectively collaborate to make sustainable change in their organization and in our industry.

For more information or to join WIA, please visit womeninanimation.org

The post WIA, GLAAD collaborate for 7th annual WIA World Summit at Annecy appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

Image courtesy of Animafest Cyprus

We are thrilled to share the poster of the 22nd edition of Countryside Animafest Cyprus – Views of the World, designed by animation legend Michaël Dudok de Wit. The beautiful village of Salamiou will once again host the festival, from the 9th to the 12th of August.

-Countryside Animafest Cyprus

I was watching the lovely short 2021 documentary about the festival and when I briefly saw a landscape near Salamiou with trees resembling olive trees, my imagination came up with this timeless, romantic image of a young woman, sitting calmly in nature with her attention towards the distance, towards the light.

-Michaël Dudok de Wit

Having begun his career in the early 90s, Dutch animator Michaël Dudok de Wit has become widely respected as a master of animation whose filmography includes the César Award-winning The Monk and the Fish, the Academy Award-winning short Father and Daughter and the Academy Award-nominated Studio Ghibli feature film The Red Turtle.

This year’s official selection will be announced on July 3rd. For more info about the festival visit animafest.com.cy

The post Michaël Dudok de Wit designs poster for Countryside Animafest Cyprus 2023 appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

Hosted by Skwigly Online Animation Magazine, Rumpus Animation and Sun & Moon Studios, BAM (Bristol Animation Meetup) welcomes all animation professionals, students, enthusiasts, fans and hobbyists from Bristol and the surrounding area – really anyone who fancies making the trek.

Meet new friends, catch up with old friends, make friends with old enemies, trade anecdotes and bon mots about your recent adventures – hell, you can even network a bit if you fancy it. This time around we’re occupying the wonderful King Street Brew House on Thursday June 22nd from 7pm.

BAM-goers also have the opportunity to check out the recently-released Skwigly book Independent Animation: Developing, Producing and Distributing Your Animated Films – Second Edition (an essential guide to animation filmmaking, gathering insights from such industry greats as Signe Baumane, Adam Elliot, Don Hertzfeldt, Kirsten Lepore, Robert Morgan, David OReilly, PES, Bill Plympton, Rosto, Chris Shepherd and dozens more) – and grab up a copy at a special, BAM-exclusive discount!

Tell your pals and come out in droves. We’ve missed you all and can’t wait to see you!

The post BAM | Bristol Animation Meetup | Summer 2023 appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

Heike Mozer (Image: Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH)

In Heike Mozer, we have found a competent managing director for Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH who, thanks to her expertise and many years of experience, is perfectly familiar with the animation and culture scenes in the region. I am certain that she will fill the motto ‘We are the heart of animation, where public and creators meet’ with life and thus further strengthen the ITFS in the future.

-Dr. Walter Rogg, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH and Managing Director of Wirtschaftsförderung Region Stuttgart GmbH (WRS)

Heike Mozer has a degree in administration and has been working at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg since 1991, where she took over the commercial management of Animationsinstitut in 2002. At the same time, she contributed to the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film in the field of event management from 1991 to 1998 and was project manager of FMX – Film & Media Exchange between 2015 and 2020. She is thus experienced in the realisation of large-scale events and very well-connected in the regional, national, and international animation scenes.

To welcome the world of animated film in all its facets and to create personal encounters between audiences and artists – that is what I am looking forward to. With the competent team at my side, I am also looking forward to further develop the ITFS and guide it into the future.

-Heike Mozer

I am very happy for Heike Mozer and the entire Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH. This is not only great news for the FMF, but also a good basis for stronger cooperation between ITFS, FMX and of course Animationsinstitut, as together we want to further cultivate and expand the culture of animation in the region. The Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH could not be in better hands and I look forward to working with Heike Mozer in the months and years to come. The heart of animation is beating strong in Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg!

-Jan Pinkava, new head of the Animationsinstitut at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg as of 1 June 2023

Associates of FMF are the State Capital Stuttgart, Wirtschaftsförderung Region Stuttgart GmbH, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and the City of Ludwigsburg.

­

The post Heike Mozer to become Managing Director of Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

Entin Liu (Image: Amuse Animation)

Chief Revenue Officer, Jiella Esmat, Amuse Animation commented:

China is an instrumental part of our expansion plan as we prepare to scale the company outside of YouTube and move into full 360 IP exploitation.  We’re building on our existing success in this uniquely dynamic market and are looking forward to brokering co-productions and long-term animation alliances between our partners in the East and the West.

As Head of APAC reporting to Esmat, Liu will be responsible for managing local distribution and co-production relationships, and developing consumer product opportunities throughout the region.  

I am delighted to become the latest member of Amuse Animation’s growing team, and to be part of such a forward-thinking studio. Having a presence in the region will help bring more opportunities to the company while continuing to deliver a steady stream of great preschool content to our partners and future clients.

-Entin Liu

Prior to joining the company, Entin distributed content regionally for Fifth Season, Nickelodeon/Viacom, Regency, and Paramount; facilitated co-productions for Fox, Insight TV and Tencent; and managed licensing for Aniplex (Demon Slayer), Planet Junior (Milo), and ADK (Yu-Gi-Oh!). She also worked as Director, International Distribution and Licensing at the Fox Networks Group.

Amuse Animation has a number of long-term successful partnerships in the region, including in China where it was awarded Best Cooperation Partner and Best Content Creators at the Tencent Video Digital Content Creators Summit in 2021. The new office in China is intended to build on these mutual relationships throughout the entire APAC region and will serve as an extension of the company’s existing business activities in Paris, Gran Canaria and London.

In October 2022, Jiella Esmat, former Senior Director of Distribution and Content Partnerships for Moonbug, joined the company as Chief Revenue Officer. Based in London, Esmat’s remit is to drive the group’s core business streams focusing on the 360 exploitation of digital-first preschool properties, as well as to develop co-production partnerships and 2D/3D animation production servicing for third parties looking to combine premium animation with Amuse’s efficient and cost-effective, digital-first production workflow.

Amuse Animation’s other regional offices are based in France and the Canaries.

Amuse Studios & Amuse Apps based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the heart of the company’s production activity, is a service studio as well as an original content creator. The group’s creative and production hub specializes in 2D & 3D animated content, entertaining and educational preschool series, audio content, and gaming apps. Their location in Las Palmas provides access to unique financial incentives offered by the Canary Islands (up to 54% for international productions) making it an ideal partner for production service work.

Amuse Animation Paris was where the company’s original preschool animated properties were developed, starting in 2016 when it launched its first series on YouTube. Today development is carried out at Amuse Studios in the Canaries, while the Paris team manages distribution, co-productions, and L&M for the group.

The post Amuse Animation opens China office appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

The post Get S#!? Done appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

Clément has worked in the animation industry since 2004 at some of the top studios in France including Disney France and Studio Redfrog, among others. At Disney France, he spent 11 years as Program Development Manager and Editorial Advisor, overseeing over 60 animated and live-action series. At Studio Redfrog, he managed development from 2019 to 2023, notably on the series Smarty Pants, a 52 12-minute animated comedy for Canal +, ITV and Cartoon Network Italia, winner of the Best Animated Series for 7-9 year olds at the 2023 Luchon Festival.

Bonnie Lener, Producer, Millimages, commented:

We are delighted to add such a qualified and talented new member to our team. Clément is experienced in developing older-skewing series; his arrival consolidates our new editorial strategy which aims to keep on developing preschool projects but also to expand our content to target both kids and adults.

Clément le Strat added:

It is a very exciting opportunity to join one of the most iconic and ground-breaking independent studios in France. I am very much looking forward to working with Millimages’ creative talent and helping to expand the scope of their amazing catalogue.

Bonnie Lener and Clément Le Strat will be attending the Annecy Animation Festival in June 2023 (stand E20), to present a 3rd season and 2nd feature film of the classic Lascars property, an exclusive spin-off of the global hit Molang; and a comedy series for 6-9 year-olds, Camp Farmcreek.

The post Millimages appoints new Development Manager appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

Pop Paper City team members picked up an RTS (Royal Television Society) Award on Friday 21^st April 2023. Pop Paper City is a vibrant new 3D craft series with adventure, currently airing on Channel 5’s Milkshake. The series is soon to be shown on screens across the globe, with distribution deals to over 150 international territories including: BBC Studios (Africa, Asia, and Poland), MBC (Middle East and North Africa), Warner Bros. Discovery (Latin America and the Caribbean Basin), and many more.

The first season is 52 x 11-minute episodes and focuses on a group of unique paper characters who live in Pop Paper City, the capital of a captivating paper world. The series is being distributed internationally by Aardman Animations, the animation studio behind renowned UK animations like Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep.

Produced by LoveLove Films, an award-winning independent animation studio based in Bournemouth, Pop Paper City encourages ‘doing as well as viewing’. The show is all about ‘creating adventures together’, inspiring child viewers to get involved with crafting and engage with their own Pop Paper City adventures. In each episode, the characters encounter a challenge on their adventure and need to make a craft. The character Helping Hand, voiced by TV star Nick Mohammed (Ted Lasso, Intelligence, Christopher Robin), helps the characters get crafty!

Pop Paper City was supported by the BFI’s Young Audiences Contend Fund. The fund existed to support innovative new children’s content across the UK and helped bring Pop Paper City through its development and production to now being seen on TV screens across the country.

Pop Paper City won the RTS Award for best short form production. The episode submitted to the judges was ‘Mae-Mae’s Precious Pearl’, the tenth episode of the first season which was written by experienced preschool writer Tim Bain, who’s writing credits include PJ Masks, Bluey, Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam, Counterfeit Cat, and many more.

The episode follows paper friend Mae-Mae as she finds a very precious pearl on the beach. However, when the pearl is taken back underwater by a giant clam, Mae-Mae and her friends go on a submarine adventure to try and get it back.

The Awards Ceremony was held at Winchester Guildhall on Friday 21^st April 2023, and featured a wide range of quality television work from across the south of England.

“We are delighted that Pop Paper City has received the RTS awards for Best Short Form Production”, said Louise Bucknole, General Manager and Vice President, Kids & Family UK & Ireland at Paramount. “Pop Paper City is a big hitter on Channel 5’s Milkshake! and loved by families across the UK. We are excited about the future of this series and are thrilled to be part of its journey.”

The series’ producer and director Georgina Hurcombe accepted the award alongside various other members of the Pop Paper City team.

Speaking about the award win, Georgina said: “We are delighted to have won an RTS Award for Pop Paper City. As a small regional studio from Bournemouth, Dorset, we are so grateful to all our partners for taking a chance on us and allowing us to create this vast and exciting paper world. We are so proud to be encouraging kids around the UK, and soon around the world, to get crafty and we cant wait to show you even more of the world over the 52 episodes!

Watch Pop Paper City every weekend on Channel 5’s Milkshake!

The post Children’s 3D Craft Adventure TV series ‘Pop Paper City’ wins Royal Television Society Award appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

Fantastic Planet
© Les Films Armorial, Ceskoslovenský Filmexport

Arguably one of the biggest cinematic events in the world, the Cannes Film Festival celebrates its 76th birthday this year and even with a plethora of anticipated premiers of major blockbusters and independent films to discover, animation enthusiasts attending will be treated to Pixar’s Elemental and the latest adaptation of the popular French children’s book Little Nicholas.

Arguably one of the most bizarre, yet celebrated, animated films to ever premiere at the iconic French film festival is Fantastic Planet. Set on a distant planet within deep space, it tells the story of two alien races, the gigantic and powerful Traags and the petite and puny Oms, as they come into conflict after the latter are all tired of hiding and being hunted by their superior rulers. Standing out from the crowd when it premiered in 1973, its surreal designs, experimental use of cutout animation, and a more mature story compared to other animated releases that year, it was awarded the Grand Prix special jury prize.

While today the film is regarded as one of the best-animated sci-fi tales for adults and will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year by fans since its first screening, it certainly had many obstacles to overcome and found its way miraculously all over the world. With a more family-friendly market to compete in and challenges with a changing political landscape, this film could have become an incomplete and unheard-of project. Among the talented animators, supportive production companies, and crew members, two particular people were recognized in the history of the film’s development and guided it through its hurdles in order to get it made with their ambitious vision intact.

The Traags in Fantastic Planet
© Les Films Armorial, Ceskoslovenský Filmexport

Working as an art therapist at the Cour-Cherverny Psychiatric Clinic in Orléans in Northern France, René Laloux (1929 to 2004) may have had a different direction in his early career as an artist, but his work with the patients and other staff members within the institute would see him find a passion for filmmaking and, eventually, become a recognized director. He performed puppet shows for his patients and supported them through creative and artistic outlets while working there in the 1950s. He learnt to tell stories and help bring people’s visions to life which saw him move onto an ambitious, yet exciting, project.

He decided to create a short animated film, in which the patients would write the story and provide the artwork for Laloux to direct and animate. Working alongside the patients as well as some of the eager interns who wanted to help them, he eventually completed The Monkey’s Teeth in 1960. Telling the story of a dentist who steals teeth from the poor and gives them to the rich, he was able to use cut-out animation to bring all the characters that the patients created to life. This peculiar experiment may have been an ambitious attempt to help those he taught during his time at the institute, however, it would also be the spark that would see Laloux go down a path as a director.

Winning the Emile-Cohl Prize for the best-animated film for the year of its release four years later in 1964, Laloux met an ambitious artist and writer at the award ceremony named Roland Topor (1938 to 1997,) who would become a key figure for both of their future film careers and was later seen as one of France’s most extraordinary creative figures in the 20th century.

After the Second World War, Topor attended the Ecole National Supérieure des Beaux in Paris as a student and during his time spent in the classroom, he discovered surrealism as well as comedic films created by The Marx Brothers and the Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch (1450 to 1516.) Influenced by so many talented people creating films and inspiring artwork both new and old, Topor would explore many outlets to express his creativity. He joined a group of artists in 1960 who would be responsible for the creation of the infamous and controversial Charlie Hebdo publication. His artwork even stood out compared to the other artists that made the magazine, drawing one page-filling panel rather than a bunch of smaller pictures and comics together to demonstrate his often surreal art with hauntingly striking figures taking centre stage.

René Laloux (Source: mubi.com/cast/rene-laloux) and Roland Topor (Photo: © Roland Topor. Source: galeriemartel.com/roland-topor)

After their initial meeting at the award ceremony, the two hit it off and collaborated on two short films named Dead Times and The Snails. Released in 1964 and 1965, these two short films demonstrated how brilliantly both of the artists’ talents blended to create some visually striking pieces of animation, with Laloux continuing at that time to use and build upon his skill of cut-out animation and bringing Topor’s detailed and exaggerated characters to life in his equally unique and versatile landscapes and backgrounds. With the release of these films as well as Topor’s eagerness for exploring new avenues, he eyed up French author Stefan Wul’s sci-fi novel, Oms en série, as their next animated production. But rather than turning it into a short film, the two wanted to adapt it as their first feature-length project.

Once the two penned the script for their sci-fi tale of inequality and savageness, they were able to find several production companies across France and the Czech Republic to help finance the project and started animating in Prague in 1968. However, just as the film’s production was underway, the country was invaded by the Soviet Union, which ultimately interrupted the film’s progress for a whole year. After gaining some additional financing to continue their production, Laloux and Topor were able to resume in Paris. Making a short film with cutout animation would have certainly taken some time, but using the many exaggerated aliens and locations scattered across Topor’s fantastically designed planet with a feature-length running time saw it take nearly five long years to be completed. After the team of animators’ commitment and being able to relocate during a changing political landscape, the film was finally completed and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1973.

At this point in time, cutout animation was used for popular films and television shows that many were familiar with, including Yellow Submarine, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, and Captain Pugwash. But while these properties took audiences on fantastical adventures across the world, they were not able to teleport them to other planets and witnessing intimidating aliens years before the popular rise of sci-fi films in the 1970s like Star Wars, Alien, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, making it stand out even further from the crowd at Cannes. So how and why did it become a cult film after all of these years rather than being as fondly remembered as any other ground-breaking piece of science fiction? And despite its hurdles to be seen outside of the festival, how did it influence the animation industry years after its premiere?

Child Traags and their Om pets
© Les Films Armorial, Ceskoslovenský Filmexport

Despite its striking imagery and designs, the film was competing with Disney’s more family-friendly stories and expressive hand-drawn animated characters with Robin Hood pleasing children as much as adults when they went to the cinemas in that same year. And with little competition at the time, Disney dominated the market when it came to animation. Fantastic Planet would eventually find its cult status on the home market after the release of the VHS tape in 1976 among others who also couldn’t quite find their way to audiences at the cinemas. It had several re-releases since then with the introduction of DVDs and Blu-rays that gave the film more opportunities to be discovered and made itself recognised by more people.

It may not have been the only piece of cutout animation in the 1970s, but it and these other unique productions did make an impact on the industry between the 1980s to the 2000s due to their artistic and experimental approach to the aesthetic that no other forms of animation could quite accomplish. The bands Talking Heads’ And She Was and Tears for Fears’ Sowing the Seeds of Love incorporated this form of animation into their music videos for these singles and gave them a unique flavour with the rise of MTV in the 1980s. And while cutout animation may not be used as much as it was fifty years ago, filmmakers and producers did continue to use this format to create some truly interesting projects. George Lucas would go on to produce his first animated film with this approach in 1983’s Twice Upon A Time while early episodes of hit television shows like Blues’ Clues and South Park used it before they switched to computer animation in the 1990s.

Fantastic Planet
© Les Films Armorial, Ceskoslovenský Filmexport

Roland Topor may not have worked again on an animated feature, but René Laloux on the other hand would make two follow-up films, Time Masters (1982) and Gandahar (1987) that would also receive cult statuses from fans of his work. But what made Fantastic Planet stand out from Laloux’s trilogy was Topor’s brilliant and beautiful designs, making a sci-fi title that is as fresh and unique with today’s large collection of films and shows in the genre as it was back in 1973.

Currently available on the BFI Player, this 50-year-old animated classic shouldn’t be missed for its warped and psychedelic alien world and an extraterrestrial tale of inequality and freedom that resonates as much today as it did upon its release. Those who enjoy this unique and creative form of animation and thought-provoking science fiction should not miss the opportunity to celebrate this film for its remarkable achievements and accomplishments by these two talented French artists.

The post Laloux & Topor’s Beautiful World: The 50th Anniversary of Fantastic Planet appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

The post Birds of a Feather appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

Thatchers commercial 2023
Pint-Sized Perfection © Aardman

Thatchers Cider unveils a new TV commercial this week which sees the Somerset cider maker collaborate with multi-Academy Award® winning studio Aardman.

Airing for the first time at 9.15pm on 25^th May, the commercial uses stop motion animation to bring the viewer through the gates of Thatchers’ own Myrtle Farm home in a light-hearted and affectionate way. We see how the family cider maker’s dedication along every step of the way achieves Pint-Sized Perfection.

Aardman uses its world-class skills in perfectly crafted hand-made miniature worlds to bring Thatchers’ expertise to the screen. Iconic elements of Myrtle Farm such as its orchards, help tell the story of carefully crafting the perfect drop of cider. Some familiar faces make an appearance throughout the commercial, including fourth generation cider maker Martin Thatcher making a big entrance for the weekly 12.30 tasting. Viewers may also recognise the iconic Thatchers hot air balloon from previous ads, as well as Myrtle, the family dog.

Thatchers Cider, with market leading premium brands including Thatchers Gold, Haze and Blood Orange, is still making cider at the same family farm where founder William Thatcher first grew and pressed apples almost 120 years ago. The Pint-Sized Perfection commercial tells the story of the Thatchers commitment to crafting the tastiest ciders, resonating with consumers who seek out values of authenticity and sustainability in their cider choice.

With its relentless pursuit of perfection, the commercial follows the cider making journey from the orchards to glass, through Aardman’s unique and characterful story telling technique.

Martin Thatcher, who has had cameo appearances in all of Thatchers recent TV ads, says, “Partnering with Aardman, a truly iconic brand with such amazing creative genius, and situated in the West Country as we are, allows us to introduce consumers to a new light-hearted, storytelling creative about our ciders.

“With total commitment to quality, perfection and sustainability every step of the way, the commercial shines a spotlight on the Thatchers world in this contemporary way.”

Viewers may also recognise the familiar voice of the narrator – Richard Ede – who has also featured in previous commercials from Thatchers. The commercial, conceptualised by creative communications agency, Bray Leino, has been directed by Will Studd from Aardman and produced by Danny Gallagher.

With total dedication to their craft, a team of 40 creatives at Aardman were involved in the film, with animators alone needing over 480 hours to shoot the 40 second commercial.

Will Studd, director at Aardman adds: “I am thrilled to be directing a new advert for Thatchers, a cider brand that shares our passion for craft and attention to detail. As a paid-up cider enthusiast, I am drinking in the opportunity to bring the Thatchers family, farm, dog, and selected staff members to life with detailed puppets and sets.

“Being able to collaborate with such a well-established South West brand on this project is an honour, I’m eager to create a beautiful film that captures the essence of Thatchers and their focus on perfection.”

Martin continues, “This is a film that allows people to step into the world of Thatchers. Our passion for creating the most perfect cider is reflected in the genius of Aardman, whose animators have recreated life at Myrtle Farm in the most minute and exacting detail, from our iconic barn doors, to our hot air balloon where the basket was handwoven out of real straw. Fabric from our own workwear has even been used to create some of the costumes.

“In partnering with Aardman we’ve been in awe of their attention to detail, their pursuit of perfection, which truly resonates with all that we strive for at Thatchers.”

The commercial will have a multi-media launch, the campaign continuing through to August. This will include linear TV, broadcast video on demand, cinema and YouTube.  This will be enhanced with 48 sheet and 6 sheet OOH, and a consumer focussed social media campaign.

The post Aardman Produces ‘Pint-Sized Perfection’ Commercial For Thatchers Cider appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.