Special workshops at Anim’est 2011

At the sixth edition of the Anim’est International Animation Film Festival, animation fans are invited to a series of exciting and useful workshops for all of those who would like to find out more about the process and techniques serving as the foundation of making an animation film. Already a traditional highlight in the festival’s program, the animation film workshops will now be more numerous than during any previous edition. Starting today, the first two workshops, one dedicated to puppet animation film and the other designed for the youngest of Anim’est’s viewers, are calling for participants.

Puppet animation will be the centre of attention for this year’s Anim’est edition. The audience will get to enjoy both a series of hit-titles brought by Se-ma-for, this year’s Guest Studio and one of the world’s most important production companies dedicated to stop-motion animation film, as well as a workshop especially dedicated to this particular filming technique.

Puppet Animation Workshop is taking place between October 11 and October 14, at the Czech Center in Bucharest. For four days, 10 participants, ages 16 and older, with or without any experience in animation film, will get the chance to go through the steps of making a puppet animation short film, with the freedom to set their imagination free and choose their own theme. The workshop will be held by František Váša, a Czech filmmaker specialized in puppet animation, whose creations have been awarded at the most important international film festivals. One of his best known works, The Billiards, the 44th episode from the famous Pat&Mat series, was part of the 1995 Annecy competition and won two trophies at the World Animation Celebration in Agoura.

Those interested must send an email to workshop@animest.ro, with the subject „PAPUSI/PUPPETS” and a letter motivating their choice to participate in this workshop, as well as, optionally, a selection of their own work - animation films, stop-motion exercises or any other audio-visual material.

Kids will yet again be spoiled at this year’s Anim’est. Minimest, the section dedicated only to the youngest ones of the festival’s audience, will screen the most popular of the recent animation films and host both several special events, as well as a stop-motion animation workshop. During 10-14 October, 15 children will get to create their own little films, using LEGO toys as their main characters. Initiating the little ones in the tips and tricks of animation will be Vasile Alboiu, a complex artist, who, throughout the years, developed a series of projects in the field of digital film making. Jury member of for the Music Video & Advertising section at the 2008 Anim’est, with an important portfolio in advertising as well, Vasi is a graphic and visual artist, a producer, set designer and director.

The workshop is reserved for children from ages 8 to 12 with a wild imagination and lots of stories to share. In order to be selected, they must send an email to workshop@animest.ro with the subject „MINIMEST” containing a one page essay titled „The cartoon character I’d like to be”. The animation film workshop for children from the 2010 edition of Anim’est was a great a success, with reactions from the kids, parents, trainers and festival partners encouraging the organizers into another year with a workshop of this kind. You can find images from the previous workshop edition in a material made by the festival’s video content team by accessing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4KFFEJ6fF0 

These are only two of the workshops you shouldn’t miss this year at the sixth edition of the Anim’est International Animation Film Festival. The short animations resulted from the Anim’est workshops will be shown on the big screen of the festival’s Closing Gala, happening at Patria Cinema, on Saturday, October 15th, from 7 p.m.

The signing up period for the two workshops is 7-28 September, and the results will be made public on the October 1st, on the official Anim’est website.