Animac 2007

Coordination: Isabel Herguera
Production: Arteleku-Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa
Executive Production: MDK
Collaboration: Animac, Ayuntamiento de Lleida, Generalitat, Decapacap, Kutxa.


Transgressing and questioning the limits of the traditional narrative, it tries to find visionaries — daring independent work that enhances and reinforces the expressive capacities of animated film.

As part of a collaboration programme that has been operating for the last four years between Animac and Arteleku, a selection of some of the festival's key films and activities will be shown from 6th to 10th March this year. In keeping with the independent nature of Animac and Arteleku’s interdisciplinary philosophy, the selection is intended to portray animation as a discipline whose involvement in the creative process covers many different facets.

This year includes a selection of work by Russian director Mikhail Aldashin. As in other years, there are two sections: Brou Animac, with some of the year's best work and Children’s Session, which is intended to introduce children to the world of animation. The festival also stresses the important role played by sound in animation, with performances by musicians and film-makers from Metamkine and a workshop and concert to be given by a number of sound creators.


Next activity:
Animation workshop given by Vuk Jevremovic
18 June - 18 July 2007


Biographies


Mikhail Aldashin. Russia. Director of independent and commercial animation, Aldashin is one of today’s leading exponents of international animation. After graduating in art, Mikhail studied animation under Yuri Norstein in exclusive All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow. He currently heads the Pilot Films studios. His own individual work has won prizes at some of the most prestigious film festivals in the world.

Josep Maria Baldomà i Monesma. Catalonia. A pianist, accordionist and arranger by profession, Baldomà i Monesma has worked with Enrique Morente, Loquillo, Kiko Veneno, Fermín Muguruza, Fundación and Tony Manero among others. He is currently presenting the show "Segundo de Chomón musicado por Josep M. Baldomà" for the network of film clubs of Catalonia, where he puts live music to the work of this multi-faceted silent film director, using a grand piano, computer-processed sounds and an accordion.

Xabier Erkizia. Basque Country. Musician, producer and columnist for several publications, Erkizia coordinates the Audiolab sound laboratory at Arteleku. He has worked with a large number of creators from different disciplines, especially in the area of sound. He is a member of the association Ertz and co-publisher of the Art Sonoro platform.

Isabel Herguera. Basque Country. Animator. BA in art from the University of the Basque Country and the Kustakademie, Dusseldorf (Germany). In 1994 she was awarded an MA in art by the Art Institute of California. Since March 2002 she has been directing Animac, the International Animation Film Festival of Catalonia, in Lleida. Her film La Gallina Ciega was nominated for the best short animation film at the 2006 Goya awards.

Metamkine. France. The Cellule d’Intervention Metamkine is made up of Christophe Auger, Xavier Quérel and Jérôme Noetinger. In their performances they combine 16mm and Super8 projections with electro-acoustic music, in the tradition of the cinéma élargi or expanded cinema. Auger and Quérel have worked in disciplines such as experimental photography and on experiences of artisan cinematographic laboratories for many years. Noetinger is one of the leading sound activists in France. He directs the quarterly journal Revue & Corrigé. He has composed extensive sound work, using primarily analog and acoustic tools.
http://metamkine.free.fr

Babar Sheikh. Pakistan. Sheikh is a multi-faceted artist who alternates musical activity with video art productions. His work includes Jahilia and My Infinite Nature Alone. He currently teaches at the Visual Communication Department in the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi, Pakistan.
3) Workshop


Animated sounds: How to work sound in animation

6th - 8th March 2007
Coordinated by: Xabier Erkizia
Time: From 10:00 to 13:00 h
Places: maximum 20 people
Enrolment: the workshop is aimed at creators and people interested in learning how to use music and sound in animated audiovisual work. No previous knowledge is required. In order to request a place at the workshop, you must send an e-mail including a curriculum and a letter explaining the reasons why you want to take part, to Arteleku before 2:00 pm on the 2nd of March 2007. Those interested will be personally informed whether they have been accepted.

This workshop wants to introduce participants to the world of music for animation. It would be hard to imagine any of the cartoons that form part of our collective memory without automatically summoning up the accompanying sound. Is it possible to think of Donald Duck or Bugs Bunny, for example, without recalling their particular form of speech? Three sound creators —Josep Maria Baldomà i Monesma, Xabier Erkizia and Babar Sheikh —will share their experiences creating soundtracks for animated films and videos, using presentations and commentaries on a range of audiovisual work.


Tuesday, 6th of March. From 10:00 to 13:00 h
Josep Maria Baldomà i Monesma. The peculiarity of this multi-instrument Catalan musician’s work lies in his experience in putting live music to films. Baldomà is a revisionist, returning to the origins of silent cinema, when musicians were hired to play live music as an accompaniment to the screenings.

Wednesday, 7th of March. From 10:00 to 13:00 h
Babar Sheikh. Creator of soundtracks for his own films, he sees his sound and visual work as being part of a single whole. He has put music to animation, video and film as well as editing videos and films. He has also played in and for many groups in his home country.
Selection of films:
Cityuations, 2005, 11’
Tabdeeli, 2004, 9’


Thursday, 8th of March. From 10:00 to 13:00 h
Xabier Erkizia. Creator of a number of soundtracks for video creations, documentaries and animations (including La Gallina Ciega by Isabel Herguera) Erkizia’s work might be defined as being a constant investigation of the nature of sound and its application to music and sound creation.
Selection of films:
HillBilly Hare Bugs Bunny, Robert McKimson, USA. 1950. Music: Carl Stalling
Slick Hare, Fritz Freleng, USA. 1947. Music: Carl Stalling
What’s Opera, doc?, Chuck Jones, USA. 1957. Music: Carl Stalling
Poème electronique, Le Corbusier, France 1958. Music: Edgar Varèse
Zu (feat. Okapi) vs Dalek, Davide Catraro, Marvin Milanese, Italy 2005. Music: Zu
The Illness, Joel Trussell, USA. 2003. Music: Kid606
Jesse160, Graham Woods, United Kingdom 2006. Music: Scott Walker
The Ablution, Eric Patrick, USA. 2002. Music: Jessica Catron, Ronit Kirchman
Programme

1) Show

Tuesday 6th of March at Arteleku
19:00 h. BROU ANIMAC I
Selection of independent short animated films by Isabel Herguera, produced over the last year.

Cirugía, Alberto González Vázquez, Spain 2006, 2’15’’
Who I am and what I want, Chris Shepherd, David Shrigley, United Kingdom 2005, 7’30’’
Dreams and Desires–Family Ties, Joanna Quinn, United Kingdom 2006, 10’
Never like the first time, Jonas Odell, Sweden 2005, 14’30’’
Rabbit, Run Wrake, United Kingdom 2005, 8’30’’
Doom Farm, Ian Hickman, United Kingdom 2005, 6’01’’
Lightning Doodle Project (PIKA PIKA), Takeshi Nagata, Kazue Monno, Japan 2006, 4’
Història tràgica com final feliz, Regina Pessoa, Portugal 2005, 7’46’’

Runtime: 59’52’’

20:00 h. AUDIO-VISUAL CONCERT: CELLULE D’INTERVENTION METAMKINE
The French group Metamkine presents one of its performances in which musicians and film-makers share a stage on an equal footing, offering live improvisation. They use analogue tools such as film projectors and recorders to generate sounds and images manually. Metamkine offers a personal interplay between image and sound, a relationship between the two disciplines that they define as “cinema for the ears and music for the eyes”.

Jérôme Noetinger, electroacoustic device.
Christophe Auger, film projectors.
Xavier Quérel, film projectors.


Wednesday, 7th of March at Arteleku
19:00 h. MR MIKHAIL'S STARS
Selection and presentation by Mikhail Aldashin.

Mikhail Aldashin is a painter who masters all variations of film language. He uses whatever object he has to hand to invent stories, which he resolves elegantly and conclusively.

Tales of Tales, Yuri Norstein, Russia 1978, 29’
The Other Side, Mikhail Aldashin, Russia 1993, 8’29’’
Story of Moscow Czars, Mikhail Aldashin, Russia 1997, 1’15’’
Bukashki, Mikhail Aldashin, Russia 2002, 10’
About Ivan the Fool, Mikhail Aldashin, Russia 2005, 11’05’’

Runtime: 59’49’’

Thursday, 8th of March at Arteleku
19:00 h. FANTASÍAS ANIMADAS DE AYER Y DE HOY PRESENTS:
TRANSORIENT EXPRESS
Runtime: 40’

Transorient Express is a show coordinated by Xabier Erkizia and co-produced by Lleida City Council's Municipal Institute of Cultural Action (IMAC) and Arteleku/Territorial Government of Gipuzkoa.

This audio-visual spectacle, specifically created for the 11th Animac, consists of a screening of five animated short films, the music for which will be performed live. This is the first collaboration by the three musicians, who come from different countries and very different musical cultures: Josep Maria Baldomà i Monesma (Catalonia), Xabier Erkizia (Basque Country) and Babar Sheikh (Pakistan).

Screenings of short films
Lux, Vuk Jevremovic, Serbia 2006, 8’30’’
Kaleidoscope Jazz Chair, Charles and Ray Eames, USA. 1960, 6’28’’
Abstracciones, Ton Sirera, Catalonia 1956-1970, 1’25’’
Future revealed by the lines of the feet, Émile Cohl, France 1914, 5’

Friday, 9th March at Arteleku
19:00 h. BROU ANIMAC II
Selection of independent short animated films by Isabel Herguera, produced over the last year.

Poëzie is kinderspel, Bouwine Pool, Netherlands 2005, 2’30’’
Steam Head, Hiroyuki Nakao, Japan 2005, 1’30’’
The Carnival of the Animals, Michaela Pavlatova, Czech Republic 2006, 10’
Walking, Alexandre Bayle, France 2005, 5’
Silence is Golden, Chris Shepherd, United Kindom 2006, 14’30’’
Panique au village, Pic Pic André Productions, Belgium 2002, 5’
La memoria dei cani, Simone Massi, Italy/ France 2006, 8´
Astronauts, Matthew Walker, United Kindom 2005, 8’20’’

Runtime: 54’10

Saturday, 10th March at Sala Kutxa (Arrasate st. 12, San Sebastian)
18:00 h. CHILDREN’S SESSION. Recommended for children aged 6 to 12. No dialogues

Printed Rainbow, Gitanjali Rao, India 2006, 15’
Black on white, Andrey Tsvetkov, Bulgaria 2005, 4’30’’
Verschlossen, Albert Radl, Germany 2006, 2’55’’
Horn Ok Please, Joel Simon, United Kindom 2006, 9’
Der Propellervogel, Thomas Hinke, Jan Locher, Germany 2005, 4’58’’
Hard-Boiled Chicken, Arjan Wilschut, Netherlands 2006, 4’30’’
Goodbye Canine, Lallement Simon, Fatien Grégory, VandenBroecke David, France 2006, 5’10’’

Runtime: 44’83’’


2) Documentary space
Alongside the activities at the show, a number of monitors will be mounted in Arteleku's exhibition hall from 6th to 10th March, screening a varied selection of animation films. These will be grouped into several blocks: Mikhail Aldashin, Brou Animac, Vuk Jevremovic.