Prominent figures in the Anim’est 2010 Juries

This year, the films selected to enter the feature, international short, student and Balkanimation-balcanic film competitions, will be judged by two juries consisting of  illustrious European film  personalities, invited to Bucharest for the specific task of deciding the award recipients for the fifth edition of the most important animation film festival in Romania- Anim’est, taking place from the 8th to the 17th of October 2010 in Bucharest.

Romanian film critic Mihai Chirilov- artistic director of the Transilvania International Film Festival and curator of the Romanian Film Festival in New York; Simone Massi - Italian director of Memories of Dogs, Best Short Film Award winner at the 2007 edition of Anim’est; Phil Mulloy- one of most successful independent British animation directors of the last decades; Portuguese animation director Regina Pessoa – who brought to light a one of a kind animation technique awarded numerous prizes at important festivals around the world; Erik van Schaaik, Dutch director of The phantom of the Cinema, the Anim’est 2009 Trophy winning short film, will be selecting the Award winners for Best Short Film, Best Feature Film, as well as the Anim’est Trophy, granted to one of the films in the International Short Film section.

Professor, photographer and director of photography Sorin Botoseneanu, Dutch producer, co-founder of the most important animation studio in The Netherlands, il Luster Production, Michiel Snijders and Géza M. Tóth, Oscar nominated Hungarian director in 2005, represent the jury members in charge of choosing the Award winners for Best Student Film, Best Romanian Film and Best Film in the Balkanimation section - created for short films in Balcanic countries.

Mihai Chirilov is one of the highest rated film critics in Romania and, since 2002, the artistic director and co-founder of the Transilvania International Film Festival in Cluj - Napoca. He is the curator of the Romanian Film Festival in New York, held by the Romanian Cultural Institute in partnership with TribecaCinemas. He was also a jury member at several important international festivals (Hong Kong, Karlovy Vary, Berlin, Gothenburg, Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco, Moscow), and, of course, since fall 2010, Anim’est. As a member of FIPRESCI, Mihai Chirilov works with different Romanian and foreign publications, but he is also an active writer, and, together with Alex Leo Serban, the co-author of the Lars von Trier biographical volume Movies, women and ghosts. Chrilov has been the editorial director of the most important film magazines in post-communist Romania – Pro Cinema and Re:Publik.

Independent Italian animator Simone Massi won the Best Short Film Award at Anim’est 2007, with the film Memories of dogs / La memoria dei cani, his filmography numbering 15 titles awarded at national and international festivals. Aside from Anim’est 2007, Memories of dogs was awarded both at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival- the most important animation festival in the world, and the Zagreb Film Festival. He also worked on hit TV series such as Sushi – an MTV production, TGR or BLOB – aired by RAITRE.

The animations made by British director Phil Mulloy uncover the dark side of human nature and contemporary values, in a humoristic and sometimes shocking manner. His filmography consists of over 30 titles awarded at international festivals such as those of Annecy, Curtas Vila do Conde short film festival, Hiroshima or Zagreb. Some of the most famous works of the British animator are the The Ten Commandments series (1994-1996), a satirical and irreverent interpretation of the 10 commandments, or The Chain (1998), one of the 30 animation films ordered by the UN for a wide audience presentation of the Universal Human Rights Declaration articles.

After 2006, Regina Pessoa has become a popular name in European animation, as soon as she conquered the Grand Prize at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival with the short film Tragic Story with Happy Ending, an international triumph bringing along acknowledgment to a completely special technique used by the Portuguese director: engraving in plaster plates, helping her create a mood which deepens the mystery around her characters.

Erik van Schaaik is the director of the short film awarded the Anim’est Trophy in 2009- The Phantom of the Cinema, which was supposed to be one of Netherland’s suggestions for the Oscar nominations. In 2005, he directed the short film Wind, awarded the Chrystal Bear- Special Mention, offered for Best Short Film in the Berlin International Film Festival competition and the FIPRESCI Award at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. His carrier in Dutch television is also highly noticeable. Erik is the author of a cult animated Dutch series (Jerontje, The Little Man in the Radio, Sausage Dog Titus or Bush Beasts) - the delight of many generations of children.

Sorin Botoseneanu is, currently, the dean of the Film Faculty at the I.L. Caragiale National Drama and Film University (UNATC) in Bucharest, and, for many years, Associate Proffesor for the Film and Television Image school board of the same faculty. He was part of many juries (Astra International Documentary Film Festival in Sibiu, Romanian Filmmakers’ Syndicate Awards- UCIN, and CineMaiubit International Student Film Festival), as well as an active supporter of revolutionary initiatives to serve Romanian film education.

Producer Michiel Snijders is the co-founder of il Luster Productions, founded in 1997, and developed in just a few years into the biggest animation short films producer in The Netherlands, currently owning 40 produced titles- TV spots, music videos, TV productions, artistic films, and most notably, Erik van Schaaik’s films, The Phantom of the Cinema (2009) and Wind (2005).

Géza M. Tóth, the Oscar nominee for Best animation short film with the film Maestro (2005), and one of the most important contemporary animators in Central and Eastern Europe, is present at Anim’est 2010 as a member of the jury, and he will be bringing along a special program with several of the most important titles in his filmography. Ikarosz (1997), his first short film, was selected in the prestigious Berlin Film Festival competition and brought the director his first important award- The Special Mention for Best Animation Film at the Dresda International Film festival. The latest work signed by the Hungarian director, the short film Mama (2009), starring Orsolya Török-Illyés, former actress at the Sfantu Gheorghe Theatre, has a vast record of European festival selections and titles, including the an award for Best Short Film during Hungarian Film Week (2008), Best Soundtrack Award at the Braunschweig International Film Festival or the Special Prize at the important Krakow Animation Film Festival.