• ‘Nyosha’ by Liran Kapel and Yael Dekel

    Nyosha is the story of a young Jewish girl who becomes fixated on a pair of shoes as the source of her salvation while her life is ripped apart by the Holocaust. Based on the diary and video recordings of Nomi Kapel, one of the young filmmaker’s grandmother, director ‪Liran Kapel and Yael Dekel have employed both stop-motion and traditional 2D animation to render this harrowing tale.

    A certain uncanny charm keeps the viewer afloat in the rippling currents of such a dejected context. Despite the truly terrible nature of the historic narrative, naïve optimism is provided by the child’s perspective. The medium also engages us with a toy like simulacra; for better or for worse this buffer dampens the emotional response to the distressing subject matter.

    This towering project is impressive but by no means is it flawless. At times the stop-motion is a tad jerky, the models still have their flash lines and the illusion of scale is not fully realised. That said these are the imperfections that come hand in hand with such a challenging medium: an Aardman production, for example, would be missing a great deal if all thumbprints were removed. Set design on Nyosha is impressive and at times the lighting is too. Particular attention has been paid to attempting tricky post-production effects, like the beams of light that cut through the forest. Despite not always being entirely convincing, the over all atmosphere these create is invaluable.

    You can watch a making-of film here:

    Nyosha – Behind The Scenes! from liran kapel on Vimeo.

  • Animated Documentary workshop, Austria, 6th-10th July 2013

    Animation Summer

    News in of the five day animadoc workshop which will run as part of Animation Summer, the Tricky Women Summer Academy, at the University of Applied Sciences in St. Polten.

    Led by Sam Moore, participants will work collaboratively to produce a short film.

    This is just one of a programme of creative animation workshops running on the same week. The cost of each is €390, which must be paid by 29th July.

    The programme is open to male & female participants.

    More info here:
    http://www.animationsummer.at

    We look forward to hearing more about it!

  • ‘Heirlooms’ by Susan Danta and Wendy Chandler

    Heirlooms from Wendy Chandler on Vimeo

    Recently screened as part of the animadoc programme at the Tricky Women festival, Vienna, here’s a compilation of short episodes from a series made for Australian broadcaster SBS.

    In each episode a possession passed down the generations recalls memories and family histories, often of migration and war.

  • ‘Disfarmer’ by Dan Hurlin

    It seems that puppets are further crossing the threshold of reality by taking on non-fictional roles. Though this is not animation, the documentary genre is forever expanding and shifting mediums, even extending to live puppet shows.

    Dan Hurlin’s ‘Disfarmer,’ is a biographical puppetry performance about the American realist portrait photographer Mike Disfarmer, whose haunting and intimate portraits of the inhabitants of rural Arkansas became iconic works of art after his death in the 1950s. Hurlin’s show sees a full stage of puppeteers share command of one lithe puppet. The show chronicles Disfarmer’s solitary existence as a reclusive artist. The show ends up almost autobiographical, with the puppet bearing far more resemblance to Hurlin than Disfarmer, their respective determined and obsessive natures becoming clear throughout the performance.

    Here’s a taster of the show:

    To add another ‘meta’ element to this piece, first-time filmmaker David Soll has been following Hurlin’s ‘Disfarmer’ project, creating a documentary film about the documentary performance. Soll’s film entitled ‘Puppet’ charts Hurlin’s successes and failures, as well as scrutinising the art of puppetry in general. Soll sheds light on the negative reception puppet theatre often receives among an adult demographic.

    For those in London, ‘Puppet’ is being screened at The Little Angel Puppet Theatre for the ‘Puppets on Film Festival’ 12th-14th April 2013 – so watch this space for a review.

  • ‘The Power of Outrospection’ by Roman Krznaric and RSA Animated

    Roman Krznaric believes that developing empathy into a more highly regarded value could be the most promising approach to solving many of the world’s problems, whether they are related to climate change, violent conflicts or inequality. Krznaric’s idea of empathy as a catalyst of social change is a powerful contemporary mantra. Both practical and easily envisaged, the concept of encouraging understanding by seeing through the eyes of your counterparts has the potential to stimulate a minor revolution.

    Krznaric – Britain’s leading lifestyle philosopher, as described by the Observer – is the voice of the latest in the RSA Animate series of short films: ‘illustrated’ talks selected from the free public events programme the UK charity runs ‘which seeks to introduce new and challenging thinking’.

    In this episode as in others in the series, our eyes are guided across a growing mass of illustrations which concisely depict a fast stream of ideas. At times the barrage of uniformed visual and verbal information can feel tautological. At other points, one suspects, if the visual aids were missing it could be difficult to keep up with the deceptively fast current of fascinating ideas.

    The animation is unconventionally diagrammatic; it lacks motion, a linear narrative or central characters. The pen wielding hand rhythmically jitters across the screen as if filling a lecture room wipe board in double time. The arm is surprisingly un-distracting, keeping our attention in time with the allegro pace of ideas. The pen directs our eyes in rhythm with the narration like a conductor’s baton.

    Roman Krznaric’s Empathy project can be followed on his blog Outrospection.

    More info and other RSA Animate films can be found here: 
    http://www.thersa.org/events/rsaanimate

    And downloaded here: http://vimeo.com/thersa

  • Crowd funding ‘The Last 40 Miles’, a film by Alex Hannaford

    Although not claiming to be an animated documentary The Last 40 Miles, ‘a short animated film about life, death and compassion’, is based on a true story. The mixed media animation refers to the real life narrative of a death row inmate whom Alex Hannaford, writer and director, came across while working as a journalist covering the Texas prison system.

    Not yet completed, the filmmakers have chosen to use crowd funding to raise the rest of the capital they need to pay the production costs. Crowd funding has become an integral resource for contemporary independent filmmaking. Although not a new phenomenon, the advent of social media and specially designed sights has lead to greater numbers of productions choosing this root.

    Often such campaigns offer rewards in exchange for donations, the highest levels of philanthropy resulting in a credit as executive producer. Follow the link below to see how the team have used a short video to pitch to potential donators. Indiegogo, the fundraising platform also allows us to observe their progress.

    http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-last-40-miles?c=home

  • ‘Are You My Mother’ by Alison Bechdel

    books

    In this reflective, self-referential lesson in psychoanalysis, Bechdel sketches out every inch of her conscious and subconscious. She includes immaculately drawn extracts from Winnicot, Freud and Virginia Woolf, cross referencing and applying them to some complicated relationships with the women in her life.  It is impossible not to relate to this brutally honest memoir. It is even more impossible not to devour it in one sitting.

    If you’re a graphic novel novice like I was, reading this will have you forever veering towards the comics section of your bookshop.
    There are freshly signed copies at Gosh Comics, Soho, London.

    See all things Alison Bechdel at http://dykestowatchoutfor.com/

  • ‘Green Porno’ by Isabella Rossellini & Jody Shapiro

    mammasrossellinifish

    No animation here, but a new way with documentary story-telling which we feel sure you’ll want to see!

    Five years ago, the most iconic of David Lynch’s heroines, Isabella Rossellini, went from ‘Blue Velvet’ to ‘Green Porno.’ The actress and student of biology took on the characters of a mantis, a dolphin, a bedbug, a snail and many more, all for the purpose of enhancing our knowledge on the sex lives of animals.

    These educational, experimental videos see Rossellini in full species costume, puppeteering her cardboard mates, whilst providing thoroughly researched narrative in her sultry accent.

    Rossellini recently gave an interview for the Independent to discuss a new series for 2013, ‘Mamas’. This time she’s exploring maternal instincts in the animal kingdom.
    For those who missed the online series (if you’re past the PG age) I’d recommend watching all of the ‘Green Porno’ videos.

    In North America you can view them and lots more info on the Sundance Channel website http://www.sundancechannel.com/series/greenporno/

    Elsewhere you’ll need to watch on Youtube:

    Also available on iTunes for $9.99.

    You’ll never look at an earthworm in the same way again.

  • ‘Camp 14 – Total Control Zone’ by Marc Wiese

    Camp 14 - Total Control Zone

    Screening in London on the 18th & 20th March as part of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, this feature tells the story of Shin Dong-Huyk, born into a North Korean prison camp as the son of political prisoners.

    Using animated sequences which are not perhaps the most elegant, the film nonetheless take us into a brutal and challenging world, both inside and outside the camp.

    Festival info here: http://ff.hrw.org/film/camp-14-total-control-zone?city=4

    Read more and watch the trailer on the film’s website here: http://www.camp14-film.com/CAMP_14_ENGL/Home.html

  • Review of ‘A Liar’s Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman’

    Graham Chapman, in his own voice, leads the audience through his bookish youth at Eton, confused sexuality at Cambridge and the early days of success with Monty Python, but this is not a narrative of glory. The deceased narrator also provides a cutting analysis of alcoholism and the vacuous existence of fame.

    The feature is divided into 17 scenes, animated by 14 different studios in the UK and abroad. This proves to be a huge challenge in terms of continuity. Often the feel is that of a stream of well-curated short films. Without the ever-present voice of Chapman himself cohesion could be lost entirely.

    One way to look at this is as an anthology of contemporary British animation. In these terms there are many diamonds to be cut from the rough. Matt Layzell directs a sumptuous journey through space and celebrity. We encounter abstracted polygon caricatures of Graham’s peers as he drifts though a swirling cosmos in search of famous guests to attend his party.

    The aesthetics of alcohol withdrawal are successfully encapsulated in the sweating glow of the oil on glass technique employed by Arthur Cox director George Sander-Jackson. The intricate free hand texture lends itself superbly as a luminous expression of suffering. The fiery sepia glow goes so far as to suggest a sort of hell on earth.

    The glassy veneer of Los Angeles was captured in all its transparent glory by Matthias Heogg. Rendered digitally, the Beakus director made every component see-through to emphasize the falseness of Graham’s life at that point. This superb visual metaphor is both beautiful in its simplicity of concept as well as its formal execution.

    BEAKUS1

    Sadly one or two of the scenes were behind the quality of the others and stood out in contrast. Mr & Mrs Monkeys, a gathering of 3D primates each representative of a Python member, were not appealing. The look of the scene was visually underwhelming; textureless with a muddy colour palette, while the character design was at the level of the most basic of caricatures.

    Such a plethora of styles has it’s pros and cons. A certain excitement is built up when waiting to discover the next scene regardless of the narrative arc. Some say a change is as good as a rest, however I must admit this may not be true for 17 changes. Being exposed to a new visual language every few minutes was at times draining, but more concerning it distracted on from the narrative and drew attention to the frame.

    Nick Park of Aardman speaks of around 200 people working on any one of their features, but he emphasises the studio would always make the effort to create the illusion that this all came from one person’s mind. This cohesion is so clearly disrupted in A Liar’s Autobiography. The unique selling point of dividing labour between studios, despite all its richness, shouts of practical reasoning. Potentially it is more affordable to ask many animation houses to complete relatively short sequences in exchange for a modest fee and the chance to contribute to a feature film.

    I must emphasise that despite a disordered formal composition the film is thoroughly enjoyable, visually fascinating and witty. The feature is propelled forward by the sheer quality of its source material. Graham Chapman lived life like a shambolic rock star while maintaining dignity, self-awareness and a self-deprecating tone which is unique to British comedy.

    A Liar’s Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman is available on DVD and Blu-ray now. The trailer can be watched here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbW842eMNtI