Masterclasses, round tables and electrifying meetings at Anim’est 2010

One of this year’s highlights for the audience and animated film fans attending the Anim’est International Animation Film Festival are the meetings with the special guests. The Bucharest audience will have five days in which they can come face to face with some of the most notorious animators of the moment – members of the Anim’est 2010 juries, freelance animation filmmakers or spokespeople for important universities are present at the traditional Anim’est open-doors masterclasses held at Union Cinema.

On Tuesday, October 12th, 2010, two of the Anim’est jury members are going to be present at Union Cinema.  Phill Mulloy’s masterclass and the meeting with Simone Massi, both jury members for the Short and Feature Film sections, will entice the curiosity of animation aficionados on the day following the screenings for the judges, Tuesday, October 12th, 2010, between 12 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Italian independent animator Simone Massi, winner of the the 2007 Anim’est Award for Best Short Film with Memories of dogs / La memoria dei cani, has directed a total of 15 film, all awarded national and international festival. Aside from the 2007 Anim’est award, Memories of dogs  was also awarded at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival – the most important animation festival in the world, and at the Zagreb Film Festival. Massi has also worked on TV hit series such as Sushi – an MTV production, TGR or BLOB – aired by RAITRE.

In a hilarious and, sometimes quite shocking manner, Phil Mulloy’s animations bring light on the darker aspects of human nature and contemporary values. His filmography holds over 30 movies awarded at international festivals the likes of Annecy, Curtas Vila do Conde short film festival, Hiroshima or Zagreb. Some of the more popular works from the British director are The Ten Commandments (1994-1996), a satirical and naughty interpretation of the 10 commandments, or The Chain (1998), one of the 30 animated films ordered by the UN for the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights presentation to the wide audience.

The condition of Romanian animation is being analysed under the spotlight at the specially dedicated round table held on Thursday, October 14th, 2010, at 12 a.m. by moderator Daniel Todoran-Rareş, sociologist and chief editor of online publication animationmagazine.eu. Romanian born Danish director and first ever professional puppet animator in Denmark, Mihai Bădică will also be attending, as well as Animafilm trained animator Virgil Toader, and one of the youngest and most active Romanian animated film directors, Matei Branea. There will also be guests coming from the National Cinematography Council, the Ministry of Culture and National Patrimony and Romanian film producers, all ready to analyse several taboo topics in Romanian cinema like the past and the present in Romanian animation, the training of Romanian animators, the situation of animation studios, the Northern, American or Asian models. The round table will be followed at 2 p.m. by a screening of the films selected in the Romanian Film Competition.

On Monday, October 11th, 2010, from 12 a.m., Daniel Todoran-Rares will also be opening the presentation for the Romanian studio for 2D and 3D animation, Golem, specialized in advertising spots, animation and special effects, and founded by Cătălin Chelu, Mihai Costin and Bogdan Lazăr.

Jury members for Student Film, Romanian Film and Balkanimation, Géza M. Tóth and Michiel Snijders, will be holding two special masterclasses.

The four short films directed by Géza  M. Tóth: Ergo (2008), Ikarosz (1996), Maestro (2005) and Mama (2009) – are some of the most awarded European short films of the past 15 years and will be the topic of the masterclass held on Wednesday, October 13th, from 12 a.m. at Union Cinema.

Producer Michiel Snijders and Chris Mouw, producer and distributing coordinator, will be presenting il Luster Productions, founded in 1997 and easily developed, in only several years,  into the largest animated films production company in The Netherlands. Those interested in what animated film production implies, now have the chance to find out, at the Michiel Snijders production masterclass held on Friday, October 15th, 2010, at 12 a.m., right after the il Luster Productions presentation.

Another Anim’est presentation you can’t afford to miss comes from this year’s Anim’est Guest School, Moholy-Nagy Art and Design University- MOME in Budapest, and will be held by the faculty’s dean, József Fülöp, on Wednesday, October 14th 2010, at 2 p.m., at Union Cinema, with discussions about the top 20 short films and videos made in the course of a three decade period by the University’s animation section. Founded in 1880, MOME is one of the most prestigious art related superior learning institutions in Central and Eastern Europe, with Architecture and Interior Design degrees,  as well as Design ( jewelery, ceramics, various objects, fabrics and clothing) and Media Art ( animation film, photography, media design, graphics).

On Friday, October 15th, 2010, from 12 a.m., another round table will be dedicated this time the Balakn animated film. The festival’s guests from this region- Aleksa Gajic, Serbian director of the surprising Edit and I, selected in the Anim’est 2010 Feature Length Film competition; Lily Kontodima, director of the Greek film Mr Tetelin, Dukov, director of September, and Eva Cvijanovic, director of Once upon a many time- all selected for the Balkanimation competition; and Effie Pappa,  the director of the short film selected for the Student Film competition, 1.2 Million Children, will be debating the situation on animated film in the region, accompanied by the festival’s Romanian guests and foreign experts coming from other parts of the continent. The meeting will be followed, starting 4 p.m., by a screening of the films selected in the Balkanimation competition.