Having seen 32 short films and one feature throughout the day, I’m obviously not going to go through every film, but to give a flavour of the day I’ve picked out some highlights.
Split into two separate screenings, combining to give a total of eleven films, the Official Selection: Professional Films were competing for one of the coveted BAF Awards. It was a well rounded and highly competitive collection; a perfect variety, allowing for hand drawn, stop motion and wholly computer created animation, as well as spaces inbetween.
From Dutch artist Rusto, comes Monsters of Nix, one of the most worthy of discussion, though quite frustrating, in that it could be – and hopefully will be – much more than its 30 minute running time would allow. Having a four year old son -and being a massive kid inside – means that I love few things more than a whimsical fairytale world being created with imaginatively designed characters populating it. ‘Nix finds an aesthetic somewhere between the contemporary Coraline and the classic Dark Crystal, yet original in its own right by combining some form of motion capture along with grossly exaggerated physical features.
The whimsical, though eerie and haunting world/characters are fully supported by the story. The essence of it is the very concept of storytelling and fairy tales themselves. The ability for humanity to tell stories is precisely what means that we exist. The film proposes that to eradicate this would call an end of life itself.
Where it falls down is that it clunks through the comprehensive plot incredibly quickly, and has no time to breathe. I can only hope that this is phase one of a larger project and someone will fund a feature. I’m aware that the results of this don’t always turn out great, but there is easily a feature’s worth of material here.
Having had some time to reflect, my favourite in competition, and the one that has stayed with me the most, is Barry Purves Tchaikovsky – An Elegy. It is an explicitly passionate dedication to… well, passion. There are numerous eloquently spoken passages as if read from Tchaikovsky’s personal journal at various points of his life. They are spoken while the stop-motion animated Tchaikovsky bares his emotions within the boundary of a picture frame. The wall of the room within the picture frame is animated with still and moving images complementing the elegy. All this while sweeping through Tchaikovsky’s distinctive musical arsenal. With so much going on, it is a complex, multi- layered homage to art and passion. Plus, I am no classical music aficionado, so I really feel like I learned something about Tchaikovsky’s character and life.
It’s worth noting that Grant Orchard’s Morning Stroll won the award, but as charming as it is, I didn’t find it as worthy of comment as the films mentioned above.
In contrast to the solid, almost seamless flow of the professional shorts, the Panorama I attended fluctuated. There were many that didn’t reach the quality end result of the Official Selection, but on the other hand, there were some that showed more fire and promise than was available in the safety of the Professionals. They had something a bit edgier, tried something a little different or generally invoked more of a prick to the senses.
The main example of this was a Canadian film from Frederick Tremblay called The Princess; a black and white stop motion animation using marionette puppets. It is dark, brooding, suspenseful and has a hint of surrealism. A woman is trapped in a cabin every day, unable to leave the premises for fear of the wolf outside further damaging her horribly disfigured face. All down one half has clearly been previously savaged, presumably by this wolf. The husband returns every evening (is he the wolf?) and the same routine is repeated: eat tea, he gets drunk, then effectively rapes her. One evening he brings home an injured woman and everything is about to change.
There are clear but immensely engrossing themes of Fraudian/Lacanian psychoanalysis at play here. From the uncanny nature of these puppets, to the unconscious desire, to the notion of the doppelganger. The sound design perfectly sets the tone of the simmering tension and the claustrophobic, closed space of this cabin.
The highlight of the day, and one of my cinematic highlights of the year, was the New Croation Animation event. The screening was introduced by Aline Conti of the Cambridge Film Festival. She explained how animation has been taken very seriously in Croatia’s capital Zagreb for decades and ran through the various renowned names and moments throughout history.
After the Yugoslavian political crisis in the 1980s, animation production was seriously impeded as funding vanished and many of the talented artists fled the country. Yet in the 1990s, a new wave of Croat filmmakers carried on the tradition established by the older generations as they showed no fear in utilising new technologies and new approaches to further push the boundaries of animation.
The films shown reflected this variety and intensity through many styles; all of which doing something distinctly unique, not only to each other, but to what you might expect of animation in general.
One example, Irena Pranjic Jukic’s Ornament of the Soul, is a magnificently expressive example of how the soul has almost a distinct character to our physical existence. The two things negotiate with each other, but the soul is much better at understanding the deeper aspects of human connection.
There was plenty more on offer but above are the snippets that have stuck with me the most vividly. The festival has such an exciting feel about it, with animation enthusiasts from all around the world soaking in everything on offer. It was a pleasure to attend and there’s no doubt I’ll be back there next year.
Mike McKenny can be found on Twitter (@destroyapathy). He covers film festivals for Film&Festivals Magazine and runs the Leeds based community film society Minicine (Twitter: @miniminicine)