• ‘The Story of Cholera’ by Yoni Goodman and Global Health Media

    Animated public information film ‘The Story of Cholera’ explicitly depicts methods of transmission, prevention and treatment of the bacterial disease in a simple and informative manner. The commissioning body, Global Health Media, explains the film ‘follows evidence-based guidelines, has been field-tested, and reviewed for accuracy and content’.

    The entire sequence is strikingly utilitarian, breaking the conventional codes of pace found in mainstream film and television in order to emphasise the crucial learning points; for instance twice the viewer is left lingering on an image of a someone washing their hands properly. This film does not pull any punches; diarrhoea and vomiting is frequently depicted and explained in plain descriptive language.

    Largely in black and white, colour is used to illustrate the presence of the invisible bacteria. As Western viewers we might take for granted how public health campaigns and detergent advertisements have helped us visualise how disease is spread. At the film’s resolution colour seeps into the black and white palette. This visual metaphor, despite it’s incredibly simplistic symbolism, is suitably optimistic.

    The absence of lip-sync indicates one of the crucial functions of this film. Already it has been dubbed into nine languages and there are more in the pipeline. Global Health Media claim the film has been screened in 175 countries around the world. Animated Documentary wishes the campaign further success.

  • ‘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