There is a great line-up of animated films at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival this month, including Persistence of Vision (see above, read about below). And also including a couple shorts from MinnAnimate alumni. For more information, visit mspfilmfest.org.
Alois Nebel
A reclusive train dispatcher in a small Czech town mistakes ghost trains for real ones in this darkly imaginative animated feature. While the Berlin Wall comes down, Alois Nebel is committed to an asylum, where is mind only continues to betray him. In this debut feature by Tomáš Luňák, we see a truly impressive mastery of rotoscoping and its powerful ability to convey the eerie innerworkings of Nebel’s troubled world. (D: Tomáš Luňák, Czech Republic, Germany, 2011, Czech, 84 min)
FRI 4/12 2:10PM
MON 4/15 7:20PM
Approved for Adoption
Special advance screening!
Jung, a 42-year-old cartoonist, is one of the many adopted Koreans spread around the world who elect to perform a reconciliatory trip to their country of birth. Jung decided to return to South Korea in order to breathe the air of his home country, tread the land of his ancestors, and maybe find traces of his biological mother. Shot as a documentary, this trip leads Jung to recall – through animation – the child he once was and the winding path that made him grow up. (D: Jung, Laurent Boileau, Belgium/France/South Korea, 2012, French, 70 min)
THU 4/25 7:15PM
Canadian Animated Shorts
My Financial Career
An animated short based on Stephen Leacock’s witty account of a young man’s brush with banking. (D: Gerald Potterton, Canada, 1962, 7 min)
The Sand Castle
Eugene Fedorenko’s animated short about an unwanted baby who is passed from house to house until he is taken in and cared for by two homeless men. (D: Eugene Fedorenko, Canada, 1979, 7 min)
The Cat Came Back
This hilarious Oscar-nominated animation is based on the century-old folk song of the same name. (D: Cordell Barker, Canada, 1988, 8 min)
Blackfly
This animated film about the pesky blackfly is based on the song of the same title, written and sung by Canadian folk singer Wate Hemsworth, with backup vocals by the McGarrigle sisters. (D: Christopher Hinton, Canada, 1991, 5 min)
My Grandmother Ironed the King’s Shirts
This animated film from Oscar-winning Torill Kove is a tale about her grandmother’s life in Oslo, Norway, during WWII. (D: Torill Kove, Canada, 1999, 10 min)
Ryan
This Oscar-winning animated short film Chris Landreth is based on the life of Ryan Larking, a Canadian animator who produced some of the most influential animated films of his time. (D: Chris Landreth, Canada, 2004, 14 min)
The Danish Poet
This fantastic short follows Kasper, a poet whose creative well has run dry, on a holiday to Norway to meet the famous writer Sigrid Undset. (D: Torill Kove, Canada, 2006, 15 min)
The Sand Castle
Enjoy Co Hoedmeman’s short animated film about the sandman and the creatures he sculpts out of sand. (D: Co Hoedeman, Canada, 1977, 14 min)
The Big Snit
This poignant and hilarious animated film perfectly captures the intersection of a domestic quarrel and a global nuclear war. (D: Richard Condie, Canada, 1985, 10 min)
George and Rosemary
This animated romantic comedy about two golden agers proves that passion is not exclusively for the young. (D: David Fine & Alison Snowden, Canada, 1987, 9 min)
SAT 4/13 2:30PM
Childish Shorts at the Library
A FREE screening at the Minneapolis Central Library located at 300 Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis of animated shorts for little ones, presented in partnership with the Friends of the Hennepin County Library
Papa Cloudy: Heartfelt Stories of a Gentle Cloud
Mustachioed Papa Cloudy cleans and mends hearts in a laundromat. Crafty stop motion animation using felt, cotton balls, and cardboard. (D: Akiko McQuerrey, USA, 5 min)
How Shammies Guessed
Colorful textile animated characters discover a mysterious red button and do a lot of wild guessing. (D: Edmunds Jansons, Latvia, 2 min)
Jillian Dillon
The ballad of Jillian Dillon, the daughter of a hippo and a platypus, filmed in an elaborate toy theatre. (D: Yvette Edery, USA, 4 min)
The Town Musicians of Bremen
A little goth girl’s strange imagination comes to life when she stays up all night and builds herself a robot-friend in the garage. (D: Jeremy Lutter, Canada, 5 min)
How Shammies Teetered
A mixed-media animation in which a live cat teaches scrappy cloth ‘shammies’ how to teeter totter. (D: Edmunds Jansons, Latvia, 2 min)
Into Spring
Rhythmic woodpeckers set a colorful Spring into motion. Drawn animation and music, nonverbal.
(D: Udo Prinsen, Netherlands, 5 min)
China Fantasia
A swirl of Chinese music, folklore, and colorful ink and wash animation. (D: Joe Chang, Bohong Qian & Fangxiao Zheng, China/Canada, 6 min)
Aston’s Presents
Eagerly awaiting his birthday, Aston creates interesting gifts to give awaySwedish children’s book. (D: Uzi and Lotta Geffenblad, Sweden, 9 min)
SAT 4/20 10:30AM
MN-Made Animated Shorts
Festival Trailer
Arguably the best in the Festival’s history, the Official Trailer of the 2013 Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival features a cutting-edge animation style imagined and realized by Eric Riggs and Crash+Sues.
Leonard
A short narrative about a relationship between a burly lumberjack and an unexpected friend. (D: Michelle Brost, 3 min)
Stay Home
A dog and cat live together. The sun shines down and a day goes by. (D: Caleb Woods, 6 min)
Hello, Stranger
“Hello, Stranger” is about a guy who just wants to share a bowl of soup with his shadow, but it’s never that easy, right? (D: John Akre, USA, 2012, 4 min)
Marcel: King of the Tervuren
Marcel survives the bird flu, alcohol, sleeping pills and his son Max. Though blinded in one eye, he remains the King of Tervuren. Greek tragedy as acted out by Belgian roosters.(D: Tom Schroeder, 6 min)
FRI 4/19 6:30PM
The Painting
for ages 7+
Le Tableau
France – 2012 – 78 minutes
Director: Jean-François Laguionie
From famed French animator Jean-François Laguionie comes a highly original and inventive feature set in the many worlds of an artist’s oeuvre. Inside an unfinished, abandoned painting, abandoned figures identify themselves by how realized their images are. A caste system is created, and the capricious characters humorously debate the artist’s intentions. There are conflicts and strife, but also unity and forbidden love. Banished but determined to restore harmony, half-finished Claire, her beloved Ramo, and best friend Lola journey to the edge of the frame and escape their canvas. The trio stumbles into the Painter’s studio only to discover more vivid tableaus (paying homage to early 20th century Modern and Fauvist painters such as Matisse, Picasso, Chagall, and Derain). Each painting invites further imaginative adventures, all adding to the larger mystery: what has become of the Painter?
SAT 4/20 11:00AM
Persistence Of Vision
Director Kevin Schreck Attending
Striving to make the greatest animated film of all time, acclaimed and visionary animator Richard Williams (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?) toiled on his epic masterpiece, The Thief and the Cobbler, for nearly three decades – only to have it torn from his hands. Using mind-blowing animation, rare archival footage, and exclusive interviews, Persistence of Vision is a tale of art, obsession, and dreams, and the untold story of the greatest animated film never made. (D: Kevin Schreck, USA, Canada, UK, 2012, English, 83 min)
FRI 4/19 6:30PM
Tragedy of Man, The
Az Ember Tragédiája
Adam and Eve engage Lucifer in a discussion about the best humanity has to offer, and its many pitfalls, as they travel through time and space, witnessing pivotal moments in history. 16 historical and futuristic scenes comes to life in this animated philosophical discussion, based on the famous Hungarian play of the same name. World-renowned animator Marcell Jankovics spent 30 years making the film, creating distinct styles for each individual segment, resulting in a visually-rich tapestry that’s sure to stir the imagination. (D: Marcell Jankovics, Hungary, 2011, Hungarian, 160 min)
TUE 4/16 6:15PM
FRI 4/19 12:40PM
Zarafa
for ages 7+
France/Belgium – 2012 – 78 minutes
Writer/Director: Remi Bezancon
Supervising Animator: Jean-Christophe Lie (Triplets of Belleville)
Beautifully animated fable, Zarafa, was inspired by the true story of a giraffe gifted from the Pasha of Egypt to the King of France. From under a baobab tree, a village elder narrates this children’s tale: Maki, a Sudanese boy escapes an evil slave trader and befriends an orphaned baby giraffe. On a series of epic adventures from Sudan through Alexandria, Marseille, and the snow-capped Alps, the young boy and giraffe journey to France. After arriving at the Parisian zoo, Maki is determined to do everything in his power to return them both to their native land. Crossing paths with a mysterious Bedouin animal trader, an eccentric hot-air balloonist, and a beautiful pirate queen, the unlikely pair defy and outsmart hunters, slave traders, and royalty. Zarafa will entertain all ages, but also provides an accessible lens to historical dynamics between Africa and France.
Best of Fest and Children’s Jury Grand Prize, 2012 Chicago International Film Festival
Children’s Jury Prize for Best Feature, 2013 Children’s Film Festival Seattle
SAT 4/13 1:00PM
SAT 4/27 1:00PM
minnanimate 