Annecy 2016: Special Events (Part 2)
In the week since Annecy 2016 wrapped up we’ve been positively spoiled by the wealth of new animation talent, upcoming projects and recent industry successes in its wake. Today we bring you a second round of special event highlights from Annecy 2016, following on from part one.
EAA (European Animation Award) General Assembly
Annecy often yields the announcements of exciting new endeavours, projects and collaborations, and one of the most exciting of this year’s was the first General Assembly of the European Animation Awards, something that Brits with post-referendum blues can take comfort in still being a part of when it kicks off in 2017. Headed up by Aardman’s Peter Lord (President) and Annecy 2016 Honorary Cristal recipient Didier Brunner (Vice-President and originator), the EAA intends to function as the primary, all-professionals animation awards event (equivalent to – and taking its cue from – the USA’s Annie Awards) over forty countries, voted on by its members that consist of European professionals.
While a full-time director has yet to be appointed, other high-profile, highly accoladed (having received multiple Academy Awards between them) members include Danske TegneFilm’s Dane Marie Bro (Vice Preseident), Cartoon Saloon producer Paul Young, Michael Rose (Magic Light), Doris Cleven (Anima), Denis Walgenwitz (independent director), Jean-Paul Commin, Ton Crone (VNAP), Olivier Catherin (Barybal Animation), Stéphan Roelants (producer, Song of the Sea), Luc Toutounghi (producer, Peter & The Wolf), Juan Carlos Concha (Apeman Studio), Fabrice Fouquet (La Station Animation) and Odile Perrin (Gobelins). Two Honorary Members – CITA/Annecy Festival CEO Patrick Eveno and Cartoon Media director Marc Vandeweyer (Director of Cartoon Media) have also been nominated and have supported the initiative from the start. The General Assembly followed the organisation’s first board meeting in March, which took place at Creative Europe’s Cartoon Movie in Lyon.
Subsequent to the Annecy presentation it’s been confirmed that the name of the award will be the ‘Emile’ (after French pioneer Emile Cohl). The inaugural award ceremony will be held at the end of 2017, with the exact European city in which it will take place presently being determined. Also underway is the selection process and voting categories themselves, although there are expected to be roughly twenty. For more info on the specifics and membership fees you can have a read of the official EAA statement here.
Considering the recent turbulence and uncertainties that have developed in the days since returning from the Annecy festival, the hope and promise of a unifying event such as this is something valuable to hold onto. As Peter Lord himself expressed recently in the wake of the recent referendum result:
The news of the British decision to leave the European Community has come to me personally as a great shock. It’s a momentous decision, made I fear, in haste and for all the wrong reasons.
But as President of the EAA, I’d just like to record that all of us on the Board remain entirely committed to the inclusive, open and cooperative ideals that brought about this project in the first place.
We know that of all art-forms, animation had the greatest power to share ideas, philosophies and stories across barriers of nation and language. We believe in cooperation and communication, and we feel a passionate desire to bring communities together, rather than encourage them to fragment. We feel that isolationism helps nobody, and that individuals must firmly follow their beliefs in spite of the I’ll-conceived gesturing of politicians.
All of which high-flown language really means that our Europe-wide community of artists and creators is just as strong today as it was yesterday and just as determined to celebrate together the art- form that we love.
Though I can’t help but be disappointed by the decision my compatriots took, I shall of course continue to feel as proudly European as ever, and to promote the open, inclusive spirit of the EAA.
Spike & Mike’s Sick & Twisted Animation Festival
A soupçon of anarchy is always welcome amongst the festival’s supplemental screenings, especially considering this was the first Annecy jaunt in a long while to not feature the unofficial (but highly valued) Annecy+ party and rejected films screening. Fortunately festival staple Spike Decker was on hand to provide a solid retrospective of films that operate outside of the mainstream or the perceivably highbrow, with a focus on entertainment and an adventurous visual spirit.
Spanning the past decade or so (save for 1998’s Horned Grandma by Dave Foss, a hallucinogenic punch in the face to kick off proceedings) in its selections, particular highlights of Spike & Mike’s Sick & Twisted Animation Programme include Giovanni Braggio’s Cthupid, a short’n’sweet Valentine’s Day microshort marrying the brilliant comic timing of the likes of Ant Blades with the darker sensibilities of South Park in its heyday; 12 Days of Elves: Season 3, a parade of fun, animated awfulness from Jan Stebbins in which the workers of the North Pole pass the time in increasingly insalubrious ways; and Touchdown of the Dead from Pierre Mousquet, Hubert Seynave and Marc-Antoine Deleplanque, a zombie carnage affair infused with the sensibilities of the American splatter genre and an early indicator of the unfettered brilliance Mousquet would showcase in Wind of Share several years later. Less sick and twisted than visually inventive were inclusions from the likes of PES (in the form of his ‘food trilogy’ concluding chapter Submarine Sandwich), Juan Pablo Zaramella (his 2007 effort Lapsus which boasts some brilliant animated manipulations of form and concept, if unfortunately set to an aggravating voice track) and Bill Plympton (last year’s endearingly goofy Gastronomic Shark, indulging his fondness for animated wordplay).
The atmosphere of the event itself is a particular draw, with jubilation in the air as beach balls are tossed around the audience and souvenir DVDs tossed at people’s heads. Spike’s introductory stage patter (‘stage’ not being entirely correct as his introduction was delivered from the back row of the cinema) is particularly endearing, a charmingly-deadpan drawl reminiscent of Steven Wright and extending into the screening itself – those of us near the back were treated to additional editorialising: “If I’d known that was going to happen I wouldn’t have included it” remarking in faux shock at the visual innuendo of Fabrice Pieton’s genitals-heavy Chiens & Chats. All told, the Spike & Mike experience remains a perfect mid-festival palate cleanser.
French Animation: The Mirror Effect – The Longing of Michaël Dudok de Wit
One event that seemed bizarrely divisive among attendees was the screening of a documentary portrait of Michaël Dudok de Wit during the production of The Red Turtle, an astounding film that opened the festival on the first day. To those who were unable to catch a screening (places being limited) of the film itself, the verdict on the documentary in discussions afterward were that it perhaps ambled along at too leisurely a pace and without much by way of contextual establishment. The importance of the film and the circumstances around its existence are touched upon only briefly, though fortunately Dudok de Wit was in attendance at one of the screenings to address them in a Q&A session afterward.
Having been among the privileged few to have seen The Red Turtle, the documentary is an entirely different experience, exquisitely focusing on key sequences and the degree of labour and technical/artistic considering required of them. Without spelling out the process in a way most animation documentaries do, the experience of the documentary is a very quiet, observational one, peeking over the shoulders of Dudok de Wit and his team as they meticulously bring the film together. In lieu of narration, the film pieces together small handfuls of interview snippets that paint a picture of the passion, obligations and occasional tensions the crew – a surprisingly small one, given the level of technical sophistication the finished film boasts – carries on their shoulders. The director himself is portrayed sympathetically, though not deified by any stretch of the imagination; at one point an artist on the film relays the opinion that “Michaël is like a child, his head always in the clouds” – it’s hard to determine whether this is a compliment or a comment on the struggle to keep up with the film’s production schedule.
While I’m not 100% certain what the long-term plans for this documentary are, it has more of a feel of a very well-made Blu-ray extra than a film in its own right. For an absolute animation dork like myself, there’s a certain joy to be had in seeing the onion layers peeled off a film, its intimidating shots broken down until they become feasible yet no less brilliant for it. Though I can fully appreciate that the experience of The Longing of Michaël Dudok de Wit lands far better to those who have seen the film in full and wish to get a glimpse of its production, rather than a patchy introduction to it for those who went in blind.
Keep your eyes on Skwigly for more coverage from Annecy 2016!