Intimate Animation: Veljko Popović (‘Cyclists’)
UPDATE 08/2020: Having been recently released online in full as a Staff Pick premiere, Veljko Popović’s Cyclists has since been featured among Vimeo’s Best of the Month. selection. You can watch the film in its entirety below.
In the latest episode of Intimate Animation, Skwigly’s podcast series that focuses on animation dealing with themes of love, relationship and sexuality, we’re very pleased to welcome independent Croatian director Veljko Popović.
Having graduated in 2003 from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, Veljko has since co-founded the animation studio Lemonade3d and gone on to teach Animation as a tenured Professor at the Arts Academy in Split. With a track record of stunning and stylistically disparate films including 2016’s massively successful Planemo, Veljko has returned this year with Cyclists, a gorgeously-rendered tribute to the work of the late artist Vasko Lipovac. The film, produced by Lemonade3d and Bagan FIlms in co-production with 3d2d animatori, depicts a small Mediterranean town in which two racing cyclists motivate themselves to win the trophy through their sexual desire for the same woman, who herself has other plans.
Having premiered at Animafest Zagreb in June (where it won the award for Best Croatian Film), Cyclists has enjoyed a busy summer of international screenings at major festivals, picking up further awards at Hiroshima International Animation Festival, Betina Film Festival, Linoleum Festival and Croatian Film Days as well as picking up a Jury Award at Annecy. Upcoming screenings include Bristol’s Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival, the Ottawa International Animation Festival and KLIK! Amsterdam among many others.
Also discussed in this episode: The Society for Animation Studies’ conference highlights, memories of the making of Animate! Projects’ The Life-Size Zoetrope, sex education through animation (from Disney to amaze.org) and the body-positive work of Joanna Quinn and Anna Ginsburg.
Stream below or direct download: