Cinematic Pulse
Bold documentaries, enchanting animations, captivating dramas… cinema teeming with life! The 23rd Etiuda&Anima festival (22-27 November) is autumn’s centre stage in Kraków once again.
For fans of numbers, 225 films over the course of six days and 34 artists with boundless imaginations. For fans of tradition, the Etiuda&Anima International Film Festival is Poland’s longest-running event presenting works by students from art and film schools around the globe and achievements by masters of animation. For fans of human interaction, film screenings accompanied by meetings with outstanding artists and personalities from the film industry, workshops led by experts and concerts by stars of alternative music.
As usual, the heart of the festival is two international competitions: Etiuda for best short film, with participants competing for the prestigious Gold, Silver and Bronze Dinosaur statuettes, and Anima for Gold, Silver and Bronze Jabberwocky statuettes for best animation. There will also be special prizes: this year’s Special Gold Dinosaur brings together representatives of film schools from Poland, Germany, Mexico and the US. The jury of the Etiuda competition is joined by Ryszard Jaźwiński, favourite of Polish Radio Three listeners.
The competitions are accompanied by the latest part of the cycle Self-portraits of Animation Artists. This year we will be shown the secrets of the craft by multiple award winners Georges Schwizgebel from Switzerland and Andreas Hykade from Germany.
The festival also recalls outstanding artists, with this year’s retrospective dedicated to Jiří Trnka (1912-1969). The cult Czech director, artist and sculptor and founder of the Czech animation school – known as the Walt Disney of central Europe – was nominated for the Palm d’Or in 1959 for his short animation A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This year’s found footage is represented by the Polish documentary-maker Maciej Drygas.
Particularly notable will be the meeting with Signe Baumane, one of the most important women working in animation today. The Latvian artist who works in New York meets the public during the screening of her latest film. Rocks in My Pockets, Latvia’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2015 Oscars, is a biographical story of five women from Baumane’s family whose fates intertwine with Latvia’s 20th-century history.
The section dedicated to independent New York animation presents Hitler’s Folly, a mockument made by Bill Plympton. The film depicts a satirical vision of the Nazi dictator’s life, introduced here as an unfulfilled animator dreaming of creating a Disneyland-style theme park Naziland.
And of course there will be Polish accents. We will see Ederly, the second feature film by the acclaimed animator Piotr Dumała. The titular Ederly is a small town visited by Słow, an antique restorer. The locals recognise him as someone quite different, and the initially startled protagonist (played by the excellent Mariusz Bonaszewski) gradually takes on a new identity. The consequences of his choice turn out to be surprising…
The programme also includes a screening of the feature-length animation The Red Turtle by Studio Ghibli and Wild Bunch, hailed as a small masterpiece during this year’s Cannes festival, and the Polish premiere of Louise by the Shore, winner of the Ottawa International Animation Festival.
An important part of the festival are its animation workshops, this year hosted by Kris Pearn, acclaimed Hollywood-based creator of storyboards. Uri Kranot, film and animation director awarded at many international festivals, uses workshops and screenings to introduce the concept of animated documentaries. It’s also worth joining the prestigious 3D animation workshops with Platige Image and Autodesk.
The festival also features energetic concerts. The event opens with Bovska who took the Polish music scene by storm – her track Kaktus broke popularity records online. Kijów.Centrum hosts L.U.C. and Rebel Babel, while Sprocket Ensemble provides live accompaniment for short animations.
“Etiuda&Anima is an explosion of creativity, a carefree atmosphere during screenings and direct contact with artists. Be in cinema’s bloodstream!” say the organisers. Feel its pulse!
(Justyna Skalska "Karnet" magazine)
