Time to evaluation: what was AniFest 2012 like?
AniFest is over and the time has come to bilance and summarize. What have we experienced, who have we met, how many films have we screened? Which film heroes met in Teplice and what has the jury to say about it? Read…
Barry Purves at the closing ceremony
During the closing ceremony, 15 prizes were handed over to the authors. For the first time in the history of AniFest, Grand Prix went to a student film. Agnes Patron, author of the awarded film „Widow Caillou“ sent a virtual greeting to the audience during the ceremony. „It’s the firts prize for this film and I am happy and honoured that it comes from AniFest“ said the excited French student in her short video. Three prizes went to „locals“: in the short film category, main prize went to Rudolf Šmíd for the original animated documentary „Chronicle of Oldřich S.“ In the TV series category, jury awarded the newest episode from the legendary series „Pat and Mat in the country“. And the last Czech award is for Jan Šrámek and Veronika Vlková for „Bubi“, the first winner in the category of non-narative and experimental films ever. Juror Michal Žabka says, that he was „less depressed than last year when watching the competition films“. There were even a few positive things, he says… Well, we are really glad that you survived your role of a juror without a psychical trauma, Michal ! (By the way, Michal and his lovely and talented wife Aneta are planning to make a good old bloody and
AniFest Grand Prix: La veuve Caillou
scarry animated horror for their upcoming baby…). Pedro Serrazina appreciated the opportunity to watch so many different films from so many authors: „As a film-maker, I would say that it’s crucial for me to see how other people work. And, it’s my first visit here, the place is lovely…in the end, it’s a combination of all that, wonderful films, discussions with people that you like and respect…thank you for that!“
Besides the competition programme, AniFest also offered couple of Czech premieres: „The Painting“ by Jean-Francois Laguionie was screened for the first time, while „Tales of the Night“ by Michel Ocelot, one of our special guests this year, had its third release in Czech Republic (after the premiere at Karlovy Vary IFF and the screening in French Institute in Prague). The festival was opened by the official release of „The Pirates! Band of Misfits“ by Aardman studios. And of course, countless number of short films that are unfortunately being disregarded also in the long-term perspective in Czech distribution…
Not only about the problems of our distribution net were the discussions led during the 2nd edition of Visegrad Exchange Forum. Round-table debates, pitching of projects of animated shorts and the competition of school films from Visegrad countries were attended by more than 140 professionals from Eastern and Central Europe.
And a few numbers to conclude:
- 450 animation and film professionals visited Teplice
150 students from Czech film schools visited the specialized lectures- 60 students from foreign film schools joined their Czech fellows
- 40 Czech and 10 foreign journalists came to describe the atmosphere and review the films
Together 20 000 visitors attended the festival.
- 1600 films submitted
- 231 selected for the competition
- 254 films in the accompanying programme
= together 485 films from 69 countries were screened.
- 27 specialized lectures and presentations
- 3 exhibitions attended by 4 000 visitors
Last invitation of this year’s AniFest
There’s a sort of sleepy atmosphere right now in Teplice. But if the sun won’t exhaust you completely, there are still screenings going on…the best comes in the end, so don’t miss our last projection in the open air cinema. A real treasure on a big screen under the open sky, that’s Jiří Trnka’s „Midsummer Night’s Dream“ tonight.
If you’re not in mood for the classic after this week full of puppets, you can watch non-narrative films from 18:00 in Cinema Květen.
And that’s really, finally, all from us this year…if you’ll feel nostalgic, you can browse through pictures on our facebook page as well as in our gallery. And looking forward to see you next year!
Programové tipy: pondělí
Century of Jiří Trnka: Old Czech Legends (Culture House – Cinema Květen, 10.00 a.m.)
The programme „Century of Jiříh Trnka“ will continue with stories of Czech Mythology according to book of the same name “Old Czech Legends” written by Alois Jirásek. Visitors can expect lyrical and allegorical scenes in combination with dramatic action.
Zdeněk Miler Tribute (Culture House – Cinema Květen, 4.00 p.m.)
World of Czech animated film lost one of its greatest representatives. Zdeněk Miler devoted majority of his work mainly to the child audience. He was author of legendary stories about “The Mole”, which since the year 1957 has been fascinating not only Czech Children. The selection will present also his films for adults.
Juror´s program: Ülo Pikkov (Culture House – Cinema Květen, 6.00 p.m.)
One of the representatives participating in our Baltic mission is a famous pupil of a famous teacher Priit Parn – Ülo Pikkov. His works are varied when it comes to topics as well as to the techniques – he uses scratching, drawing and in his last film Body Memory (2011) also puppet animation. He gained fame with his filmsBermuda(1988) or the year of the Monkey (2003)
Studio Presentation: Mackinnon & Saunders (Culture House – Estrada Hall, 4.30 p.m.)
Director and co-founder of the Studio Ian Mackinnon will present his company together with Victor, the main character of The Corpse. The Academy Award-winning Mackinnon & Saunders have been making puppet films for more than 25 years. The company built its name on the exceptional quality of the complicated puppets that appear in films and TV shows all over the world.
Alois Nebel (Open Air Cinema, 10.00 a.m.)
A film adaptation of the first comic novel of modern Czech history, Alois Nebel, was made by director Tomáš Luňák in 2011. The art
design and script were created by artist Jaromír 99 and writer Jaroslav Rudiš. The filmmakers used a technique that is unique to Czech films and combined live action and drawing.
Closing Ceremony (Krušnohorské theatre – Grand Hall Czech TV, 8.30 p.m.) and Awarded Films of AniFest 2012 (Culture House – Cinema Květen, 10:00 p.m.)
AniFest is about to end with ceremonial prize-giving of all categories in the Grand Hall of the theatre. But the festival is not at the end yet, the ceremony is continuing with projection of all awarded films in the Cinema Květen and the next day we invite visitors to more interesting screenings…
Sunday evening in a French style
Tonight, we’ll celebrate the French esprit. Cinema Květen as well as the open air cinema will offer feature films of French provenience.
In Květen, it’s „The painting“ by classic Jean – François Laguionie. Original story (about the figures of an unfinished painting, who are trying to find their creator) is reflected also in the artistic concept of the film, deeply and brightly coloured. Another French feature avoiding Czech distribution – so don’t miss it tonight at AniFest! (9:30 p.m.).
If you prefer fresh air, you can visit Paris tonight. The competition feature „A Cat in Paris“ is situated in the streets as well as on the roofs of this magical metropolis. Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol from the legendary Folimage studio used classical hand-drawn animation to tell a thrilling story about a cat named Dino, who’s leading a double life. Artistically elaborated tribute to the genre of film noir awarded with an Oscar nomination will please audience of all ages. Tonight at 9:30 in the open air cinema right next to the Culture house – and for free!
Results of Visegrad Forum
The winner of the second year of the Viserad Exchange Forum organized within AniFest is the animated film project “The Dressmaker”; the author, Inma Carpe, was awarded a prize connected with a sum of EUR 1,000 for film development. The second prize provided by the company Toon Boom was awarded to the project by Fruzsina Gaal “Inner Us”.
This festival platform presenting school works, talents and film projects also organizes a competition of school films of nine Visegrad schools. The award for the best film of the Visegrad school competition went to “Nesejdeš z cesty!” (You Shall Not Leave the Way) by a young author from the UTB in Zlín, Veronika Szemlová. Special mention and a licence for the Toon Boon Harmony PRO programme were awarded to Peter Budínský from Bratislavafor his movie “TWINs”. The company New Europe Film Sales awarded its own prize too; the representatives of this company, Jan Naszewski and Anja Šošič, has chosen the movie “Leaves” by Agnieszka Borowa from Łódź. “Final Call” by Sara Barbas was awarded a Special Mention.
One of the highlights was the presentation of Czech studios for professionals from abroad, but also the encounter of teachers and professors at a round table discussing the issue of education in animation.
Saturday programme tips
The weather is just perfect to sit on a bench in the park and enjoying the sun, however here are few tips which may change your mind…
Honorary president’s programme: Barry Purves (Culture House – Cinema Květen, 9:30 p.m.)
British animator, director, designer, theorist and teacher is one of the few contemporary authors, whose works can stand a comparison to Jiří Trnka’s films. Barry will screen a selection of his films and talk about his inspirational sources.
Juror’s presentation: Sulafa Hijazi (Culture House – Social Club, 6:30, p.m.)
Syrian animator and author of a couple internationally awarded films is maybe the first female Arabic juror at European animation festival. She will talk about the Arab identity in animation and about the specifics of this still uknown production.
Feature films competition: Letter To Momo, Japan, 2011, dir. Hiroyuki Okiura (Culture House – Estrada Hall, 4:00 p.m.)
The brand new anime feature by a classic of the genre tells a story of Momo, who’s moving from Tokyo to a distant island after the death of her father. Momo tries to figure out the meaning of the letter her father left her and meanwhile, strange things are happening at the island…
Feature films competition: Dead But Not Buried, UK 2011, dir. Phil Mulloy (Culture House – Estrada Hall)
This film is part 2 of the Christies trilogy (special mention at last year’s AniFest for „Goodbye Mister Christie“). Why has Mr Christie’s body been stolen? Who stole it? A Japanese industrialist called Mr. Yakamoto is sure that Mr. Christie holds the secret of eternal life and thus is determined to bring him back to life. Meanwhile, a bunch of people claiming to be Mr. Christie’s relatives are on a quest to possess Mr. Christie’s Tesco sticker collection. Dear Mrs. Christie, on the other hand, seeks her husband’s body with perseverance and before they know it, they all end up in Iceland….another poignant and minimalistic social critique.
Non-narative/experimental animation – competition films (Culture House – Cinema Květen, 10:00 p.m.)
Brand new competition category will present the best of experimental films by contemporary authors. An unique opportunity to see experimental animation at a big screen, a real delicatesse for connoisseurs.
AniFest Friday: all the good things are just beginning…
Starting right know or in a while, programmes you shouldn’t miss today!
And the sun is shining, Teplice is the place to be...
Juror’s presentation: Igor Kovalyov (Culture House – Cinema Květen, 2:30 p.m.)
Ukrainian director (currently living and working in the US) became famous because of the precise artistic treating of his films (most of them are created with the classical hand-drawn animation) and the specific melancholy he’s able to express.
Tales of the Night (Culture House – Cinema Květen, 6:30 p.m.)
Famous French director will personally present his latest feature. Six exotic legend told with French esprit will captivate you with its beautifully colourful silhoutte animation.
Giannalberto Bendazzi meets Michel Ocelot (Culture House – Social Club, 1:30 p.m.)
The meeting of famous theorist (honorary president of AniFest’s artistic committee) and famous author and a discussion about the different faces of animation.
The Adventures of Tintin (Open air cinema, 9:30 p.m.)
The adaptation of popular Belgian comic-book directed by Steven Spielberg is a briliant example of the motion capture technique.
The exhibition „Film Poet Jiří Trnka“ officialy open
The exhibition in the Teplice Regional Museum, located in the beautiful building of an old castle, opened its doors to the public already a week ago, but today was the day of the official opening. The curators Michaela Mertová and Milan Svatoš as well as members of Jiří Trnka’s family met with international festival guests as well as local personalities and admired the newly restaured original puppets and screenplay sheets. The exhibition will be open till 14 May – and since its an unique occasion to see some exhibits which were never displayed in public before, it’s a must see not only for Jiří Trnka’s admirers.
Thursday at AniFest – let’s start!
Visegrad Forum is in the middle right now, but Thursday is the first „official“ festival day. The jury is here (Sulafa Hijazi was the last to land in Prague) and other guest are also arriving…and the Culture House, Krušnohorské theatre and Duchcov castle are ready for the great event.
So, what programmes you shouldn’t miss tomorrow?
„The Century of Jiří Trnka“ starts with The Emperor’s Nightingale (8:30 a.m., Cinema Květen). In the same screening hall also the competition feature A Cat in Paris (5 p.m.) and the – the event of the day – the premiere of Aardman’s The Pirates! Band of Misfits (9:30 p.m.). In Estrada hall, competition shorts are screened: Short Film A at11 a.m. and Short Film B at 2:30 p.m. In Social club (located on the 4th floor of Culture House), Michael Frierson will talk about clay animation (starts at 4 p.m.). And finally, at 8 p.m., it all officialy starst with the opening ceremony in the Grand Hall of Krušnohorské theatre (this year the Czech TV Hall). And this is just the beginning!
P.S: In case you‘ll really miss something after all, don’t worry – just click on Media/Live to watch videostream from Social club and other places.
Wednesday at AniFest: Visegrad forum starts, the jury is coming
The preparations for AniFest are just culminating and one part of the festival starts tomorrow. In the morning, the discussions over projects of new animated films will begin in Krušnohorské theatre and in the evening, school films from Visegrad countries will be screened. Also, the jury is coming tomorrow and the arrival of the honorary president is expected as well…the posters are hanging on the walls and in the Culture house, puppet skeletons are climbing up the walls. Looks like everything is ready for the big start on Thursday!
New juror: Timothy Björklund
Unexpected events will keep Andrew Kavanagh in Ireland – we keep our fingers crossed for him. We proudly present our new juror: Timothy Björklund will replace Andrew in the jury for student, TV and commission films. Timothy Björklund became the director of the Dublin-based studios of Andrew’s company Kavaleer in January 2012, after a respectable 20 years long career as professional animator, writer, director and producer. Among others, he worked with Disney Studios (for Disney’s Teacher’s Pet, he won an Emmy award).
Timothy was born in San Francisco and has an M.F.A in experimental animation from CalArts.
Accreditations: online now closed, available at the festival
Yesterday at midnight, our online accreditation system closed. A big thank to everybody who have registered and good news for the rest of you: don’t worry, accreditations will be available in the festival accreditation center, located in the basement of Teplice culture house and open everyday from 9 a.m. till 9.p.m.
Novinky z festivalového stanu – Už jsme doma!
Miroslav Wanek with the director of the jingle Matyáš Trnka at the press conference
The legend of Czech underground music and great band Už jsme doma (perhaps we could translate it as „We’re home already?“) will play in our festival tent on Saturday 28 April. The frontman Miroslav Wanek is not only a proud Teplice-born patriot (though currently living elsewhere), but also the author of the music in our jingle. The tent will be open (and crowded, as usual) everyday from April 26 to May 1. Besides alcoholic and non-alcoholic (we have something for everybody!) beverages, you can also look forward to the art of local DJ’s.
So see you in the tent!
AniFest presents: juror Igor Kovalyov
Igor Kovalyov: Milch (2005)
Distinctively melancholical atmosphere and unmistakable visual style are typical for the work of Igor Kovalyov, who will be part of our jury for short and feature films this year. World-famous animator, director and designer was awarded with many international prizes for his films. Let’s name the two, which are perhaps most famous: „Hen, His Wife“ telling a surrealisticaly absurd story and „Milch“ about the hardships of growing up and facing human mortality. In these stories, Kovalyov’s East European origins are palpable. He was born in Kyev, Ukraine and spent a significant part of his life working in Moscow, where he became a co-founder of the legendary studio Pilot. In 1991 he accepted an offer from the studio Klasky Csupo and left for Hollywood to work on the feature „The Rugrats Movie“. He also created a successfull TV serie „Aaahh Real Monsters“. He’s working on commercials too, while his independet short films represent the top of contemporary independent animation. Only for „Milch“ for example, we won the main prize at KROK, Cinanima, Ottawa IAF, SICAF or Animated Dreams. At AniFest, Igor Kovalyov will present a retrospective of his films.
Laputoids-Ticking Landscape (Videoinstalation)
Jan Šrámek and Martin Búřil are filmmakers who have been independently oscillating between narrative and experimental animation for some time. In their joint projects, they search for the deepest connection between the two forms, whether in films, videos or gallery exhibitions. The collection for the Duchcov Chateau called Laputoidy (Laputoids) is an audio-visual response to the troubled history of the landscape and the surroundings of this north Bohemian town. Through a significant exaggeration that simulates two views of the chateau garden, they provide visitors insight into Duchcov architecture, show changes in the environment and outline alternatives of possible future transformations to Duchcov’s surroundings. Jan Šrámek’s distinctive illustrative design is first time ever fully manipulated and animated by Martin Búřil.
British puppet at AniFest – Paul Wells, Barry Purves, Ian Mackinnon and The Pirates!
Great Britain is lately being considered as a sort of super-power when it comes to stop-motion, so it’s not surprising that we will pay a lot attention to this country in our special puppet programme.
It is our pleasure (and honour) to present this year’s honorary president Barry Purves, one of the most outstanding personalities of British puppet animation, animator, director, scriptwriter, who dedicated his talent to theatre as well as to the art of animation films. Barry started in theatre, occassionaly also as actor in theatres all around Britain. He then started with animation, but it took him seven years to become an independent animator. His films, which are inspired by opera, balet and theatre scenography, were awarded with more than 60 international prizes including an Oscar nomination. He’s also a theorist and author of the book Stop Motion: Passion, Process and Performance. AniFest will bring a retrospective of Barry’s films, followed by a lecture. At the meeting with Giannalberto Bendazzi, he will talk about the new books on animation together with Ülo Pikkov and Paul Wells.
Barry Purves might be the most outstanding representative of the contemporary British puppet animation, but he’s definitely not the only one. A very detailed and thoughtfully curated selection of British stop-motion production is being prepared specially for AniFest by Paul Wells, famous teacher and theorist. In three programmes, Paul will present you the most important milestones of British puppet, including such films like „The Sandman“ (1991, dir. Paul Berry) or „Peter and The Wolf“ (2006, Academy Award for Suzie Templeton). The programme will be completed with the Czech release of the latest Aardman feature „The Pirates! Band of Misfits“ (hopefully with personal presence of its authors).
„Sandman“ is also an example of the production of the studio Mackinnon&Saunders. Famous for animated films for public of all ages, from „Bob the Builder“ to „Fantastic Mr Fox“ and Tim Burton’s „Corpse Bride“, the studio will present its unique know-how in Teplice. Ian Mackinnon will be accompanied by Viktor, the betrothed of the above mentioned Tim Burton’s heroine.
Animated music videos in competition
Haroula Rose, OvePictures: Free To Be Me
The competition of music videos and jingles is already a traditional part of the festival. And this year again, we’ve received a few very interesting works, by famous authors as well as by young talents. Let’s begin with the biggest star – Bill Plympton with his video about a hard life of celebrities called TMZ. The representative of new and progressive Japanese animation Mirai Mizue created a video for the song Toru Matsumota, using his typical variations abstract forms. Massimo Ottoni is original due the the technique of glass-painting (Wheels and Love).
The most „freaky“ and absurd video is definitely Freak Out-luv Ka The End, the first stop-motion in this genre ever. In the opening video for the film Luv Ka The End, ten Indian actors are communicating with the pictures on their T-Shirts…
And finally, we can’t forget the local representants. We still feel like home in Slovakia, that’s why the video Free To Be Me by the increasingly interesting duo OvéPictures is mentioned as local. Czech director Jana Hrušková is the author of the video called „Hope“, a song by Czech singer Karolína Kamberská. From the Turkish – Czech cooperation a video inspired by animation of unusual materials celebrating the spirit of Hermína Týrlová was born. Circus Love by Akile Nazli Kaye will have its Czech premiere at AniFest. Ginger breads and marzipan-hearts will be made alive…
Předfestivalové Ozvěny AniFestu
AniFest se blíží, ale ještě než vypukne, můžete se vypravit na některou projekci Ozvěn. 18. a 25. promítáme v Městské knihovně v Lokti. První promítání bude věnované bloku Humor v animaci trochu jinak (aneb trocha absurdity neuškodí), druhé pak pásmu provokativních filmů „Animace 15+, dětem nepřístupno!“ 7.4. od 15h proběhne také projekce pro děti – AniFest 2010 dětem – pohádky o zvířátkách a se zvířátky. Dětem je určena i projekce 13. dubna v pardubickém Divadle 29. Od 19h se zde promítá pásmo AniFest 2010 dětem. Ještě před festivalem chystáme jednu projekci v Teplicích, a to v Bárka kafe (Školní 26), kam se budete moct přijít podívat hned na dva bloky – Humor černý a černější a Smích je celoobličejová křeč.
Všichni milovníci animovaného filmu jsou srdečně zváni!
Soutěžte o akreditace v Olympia centru v Teplicích!
Jste-li z Teplic nebo okolí nebo budete mít třeba v dubnu cestu okolo, nezapomeňte se zastavit v Obchodním centru Olympia. Najdete tam totiž náš festivalový koš, který byste neměli minout bez povšimnutí – kdo se nám v koši vyfotí a fotografii zašle na email soutez@anifest.cz, získá jednodenní akreditaci na festival zdarma! Fotografie můžete zasílat až do 25.dubna a nezapomeňte také připsat své jméno.
Ve dnech 14. a 21.dubna se v Olympii také konají oblíbené Školičky animace – bude-li počasí nadále takto deštivé, víte, kam vyrazit s neposednými ratolestmi…
Projects for pitching forum selected
Christian Pfohl from Lardux films at last year's Exchange Forum
Second edition of Visegrad Exchange Forum knows the results of the selection for the pitching forum of short animated films and TV series. There are three Czech projects among the selected topics: Kateřina Horčicová and Marek Berger will present a short grotesque from the times of 2nd World War called Pérák, Nelly Jančíková and David Havel will represent Jan Balej’s short puppet animation „Muži v lóži“. Young animator Michal Kubíček succeeded also with a puppet project called 30 Amper.
There are also three Slovakian and three Hungarian projects and a Polish pilot of a TV serie about the life of Frydrik Chopin. Very promising is also Berin Tuzlič’s (Bosnia) project, there are also Danish, Serbian, Russian or Romanian projets – a truly international forum. One of the favourites might be the project represented by Tamás Liszka, producer of the succesfull feature „Distrikt!“.
The pitching forum will be held on Friday, April 27, in the Smetana Hall of Krušnohorské theatre. Each participant will have 8 minutes to present his or her project and answer the questions of the jury composed of international producers. Two best projects will be awarded with a money prize 1000 Euro from the Knauf company and with a one year licence of the animation programme Storyboard Pro by ToonBoom.
The Hungarian project Limbo Limbo Travel presented at AniFest 2011 by two students from MOME Borbála Zétényi and Zsuzsanna Kreif succeeded last week with the application for CNC support. The student project was presented at last year’s 1st edition of Visegrad Exchange Forum, where the coproduction with Christian Pfohl from Lardux films was established.
Master Class with Michel Ocelot
Michel Ocelot will arrive to Prague on Tuesday 24 April and there’ll be an unique chance to see his last feature Tales of the Night in the Cinema 35 mm in the French Institute.
One day later, on Wednesday 25 April from 2 p.m till 6 p.m., Michel Ocelot will be a guest at the department of animation at Prague Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU). Master Class dedicated to his methods and creative practices is coordinated by prof. Jiří Kubíček.
Announcement: Puppet-making workshop full!
Dear friend, fans of animation and puppets,
thank you all for your interest in puppet – making. The capacity of the workshop „Making of Film Puppet“ with Milan Svatoš and Ondřej Zika is now full, we don’t accept applications any more. If you didn’t make it, don’t worry, there’s plenty of other interesting programmes…
So see you in Teplice!
