Annecy + day.

The Annecy 2011 daily coverage is presented by Erlend Dal Sakshaug.

Friday is the last ordinary day at The Annecy Animation Festival in France. They screen the last program of shorts and features and people are slightly less enthusiastic. But Annecy is far from over! In the evening, Nancy Phelps and Bill Plympton does their infamous Annecy Plus Festival, and Saturday we get to all participate at the Nik & Nancy annual picnic on the lawn in front of Bon Lieu (the main cinema building). But first, here is a recap of day 5!

Day 5 highlights:

CMCS5: Short films in competition 5:

1. Zbigniev’s Cupboard
   Magdalena Anna Osinska, Poland, Great Britain, 15m20s
2. Blind Date
   Nigel Davies, Great Britain, 3m35s
3. Luminaris
   Juan Pablo Zaramella, Argentina, 6m
4. After Me (Apres moi)
   Paul-Emile Boucher, Thomas Bozovic, Madeleine Charruaud, Dorianne Fibkeuil, Benjamin Flouw, Mickael Riciotti, Antoine Robert, France, 4m2s
5. Kubla Khan
   Joan Gratz, USA, 3m39s
6. Sunday (Dimanche)
   Patrick Doyon, Canada, 9m50s
7. Clean Carousel
   Andreas Bodker, Denmark, 2m25s
8. Millhaven
   Bartek Kulas, Poland, 7m
9. The Monster Nix
   Rosto, Pays-Bas, Netherland, France, Belgium, 30m

Long film in competition: Chico & Rita

This was one film I wasn’t planning to see, but I ended up getting a ticket last minute. Chico & Rita is one to watch, and especially if you’re a romantic.

Origin: Spain/UK.
Length: 1h30m
Directed by Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal & Fernando Trueba.

My verdict: * * * * * * * 7 stars.

Annecy +: An Exhibition of Animated Shorts Rejected by Annecy

This was the night of the sixth semi-annual Annecy plus festival (…within the festival), presented by Bill Plympton and Nancy Phelps. We drank beer and saw four programs containing 20 shorts that the before mentioned Bill and Nancy graciously put together for us. What’s stunning is the quality of the shorts. I can’t believe non of these were screened at Annecy. Kinda sad. Here is a selection of the shorts I think you really shoud see. I highlighted the winners of Annecy+, my favorite, however was the first film: “Masks” by Pat Smith.

• Masks
  Pat Smith, 7m40s
• Grandpa Looked Like William Powell
  David Levy, 4m20s
• The Mouse that Soured
  Kyle Bell, 6m
• Enrique Wrecks the World
  David Chai, 4m27s
• Things You’s Better Not Mix Up
  Joost Lieuwma, 2m
• Pecker
  Erik van Schaaik, The Netherlands, 3m
• The Birthday Surprise
  Danne Bakker, The Netherlands, 4m
• Bottle
  Kirsten Lepore, 5m25s
• Guard Dog Global Jam
  Bill Plympton + a bunch of others from around the globe, 5m17s
• The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
  William Joyce, Brandon Oldenburg, 14m50s

That’s it for today. See you all tomorrow, and remember to subscribe in iTunes!

Erlend
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Cybernight.

The Annecy 2011 daily coverage is presented by Erlend Dal Sakshaug.

Yet another great day at the Annecy 2011 festival in France. I wouldn’t say any that the animation I saw today was anything special, but I did enjoy the Bill Plympton talk a whole lot. Also this was the Cybernight here at Annecy, where a famous DJ plays live on the big lawn outside the Cinema, and there was an insane amount of kids running around at the festival area, so it was quite crowded everywhere. We did not attend the festivities, but we did enjoy a few beers elsewhere.

Day 4 highlights:

CMCS4: Short films in competition 4:

1. Nullarbor
   Allister (Colin) Lockhart, Patrick Sarell, Australia, 10m15s.
2. Two Steps Behind (Dwa Kroki Za)
   Paulina Majda, Poland, 8m23s.
3. Miss Daisy Cutter
   Laen Sanches, France, 5m40s
4. Little Theatres: Homage to the Mineral of Cabbage
   Stephanie Dudley, Canada, 4m45s
5. A Lost and Found Box of Human Sensation
   Martin Wallner, Stefan Leuchtenberg, Germany, 14m50s
6. The Big Brother (Der Grosse Bruder)
   Jesus Perez, Elisabeth Huttermann, Switzerland, Germany, 6m
7. Night Sounds
   Jacob Stalhammar, Sweden, 6m
8. Stones (Kamene)
   Katarina Kerekesova, Ivana Sebestova, Slovakia, 26m

Long film in competition: The Tibetan Dog

The Tibetan Dog is less than a great movie, but it does have some good artwork spicing it up. Unfortunately, all in all: Avoid.

Origin: Japan.
Length: 1h30m
Directed by Masayuki Kojima.

My verdict: * * * 3 stars.

Presentation: Bill Plymton Masterclass:

Late in the evening I went and saw Bill Plympton do a talk on how you become successful making short movies. This wasn’t as much a masterclass as it was him showing clips from films and drawing his famous characters on stage on a board, but still, it was very inspiring and fun. Bill is a very likable guy, and he has a real motor in him that makes him all the more interesting. He ended his talk with a 7 min clip from his next feature film (yet to be named).

That’s it for today. See you all tomorrow, and remember to subscribe in iTunes!

Erlend
Your host.

Info:

Please e-mail us at: feedback@animationconversation.com with suggestions, comments or questions for the ACP-Team.

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Animation Conversation Weekly ep. no. 58

The weekly podcast is presented by: Morten Øverlie & Erlend Dal Sakshaug.

ACP News:

• Pixar´s Toy Story 3 debuts at nr. 1 .The third animated feature to pass $100 million in its opening weekend.
• Pogo´s releases 2 new songs from Toy Story & Toy Story 2
• Teaser for the smurfs movie and their web site
• Toy Story 3 merchandise: “Barbie loves Woody – Beware of choking hazard”

  
  (image from cartoonbrew.com)

Top 5 list of the week:

Top 5 directors of animated featuresa of all time

Classic Movie Review:

This week we review “the Tune” (1992), directed by Bill Plympton
Next week we take a closer loo at “Grave of fireflies” by Isao Takahata

Info:

Please e-mail us at: feedback@animationconversation.com with suggestions, comments or questions for the ACP-Team.

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Leave us a voicemail via Skype. Username: AnimationConversation

Enjoy the show!
Mortenl & Erlend
Hosts