Bordo Statue (closeup)

Bordo Statue

CINANIMA Festival gave us their stage for the ASIFA Prize ceremony and they provided all other help we needed.

They offered the last, award giving night, for our Prize, but as our President Nelson had to leave on Saturday morning, we decided to organise the ceremony on Friday, 11 November at 9:30 p.m. before the Competition program.

It was a nice ceremony in warm atmosphere, just like everything is warm and in almost family atmosphere at Cinanima.  Firstly, Nelson had a short speech thanking Cinanima for the hospitality and after that he gave a short history of ASIFA Prize.

He announced the laureat (Bordo) who was totally surprised and very touched. Nelson gave the Prize to Bordo.

Ed Desroches then presented a short CV of Bordo, (see below) and other present Board members and former ASIFA Prize laureats were asked to join them on the stage – Sayoko Kinoshita, Vesna, Nicole Salomon and Bruno Edera.  At the end, one of Bordo’s film was shown:

Exciting Love Story which won a high prize at Annecy 1989.

ASIFA Prize Presentation at Cinanima 2011

About Bordo:

“For those of you who don’t know Borivoj Dovnikovic, Bordo, let me give you some background.

Bordo is a pioneer of Croation animation and one of the most awarded filmmakers of the renowned Zagreb School of Animation. This year he celebrates his 60^th anniversary in the animation field having worked on his first film in 1951.  His films have won many international awards including 8 Life Achievement awards.

Since ASIFA’s beginning in 1961, Bordo has been an active member first in ASIFA-Yugoslavia and then in ASIFA-Croatia.  He was a board member between 1977 and 1982 and was the ASIFA Secretary General from 1994 to 2000.  In 1972, Bordo co-founded of the Zagreb Animation Festival.

Bordo is also a wonderful person, very good humored, easy going, and a great friend.

This ASIFA Award to Bordo is long overdue. He is truly someone who represents the spirit of ASIFA.

Congratulations, Bordo.”

I have received good news which I hope will also be a pleasure for ASIFA. A few days ago, I won the Life Achievement Award at SICAF (Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival). The award was presented by the mayor of The Metropolitan City of Seoul. Although I received the award for a lifetime spent working in the animation field, the name ASIFA came to my mind first and foremost. I could not help mentioning ASIFA when I gave my acceptance speech.

Here are some fragments from my speech:

“The most important things in our life are all related to the timing. I have been involved in animation for 50 years, which means Korean animation has a 50 year history also. It is a lucky coincidence for me that ASIFA, a big part of my life, is also celebrating its 50th birthday this year. All three occasions are very meaningful to me and it is an absolute honor for me to receive the award with all of these 50th celebrations this year.”

1,337 films were entered in the festival competition from 54 countries. SICAF is a partner festival with ASIFA. Approximately 500 guests attended the opening ceremony where the award was given. Four members of ASIFA (Luca Raffaelli, Igor Prassel, Zhang Fu Gui, and Nobuhiro Aihara) who were invited as jurors listened to my words with sympathetic smiles.

I would like to think that this prize is not only for me but for ASIFA as well, and I want to share this wonderful moment with my friends of ASIFA. Again thank you for your support and I am very happy to be with you.

Best regards,

Nelson Shin, President of ASIFA

It was a unique moment in the history of African Animation and in the history of ASIFA that for first time the appreciated Prize goes to an African animator, Moustapha Alassane, and for the first time it is introduced in an African festival, Animafrik.

In this connection let me thank all ASIFA board members for their great support for this nomination and for urge to upgrade the art of animation in Africa .

We would like to thank very much the great artist, Michel Ocelot, for his kind acceptation to create our 2009 trophy, as a well-known name in Africa due to his numerous African animated films, the audiences and the animators in Animafrik were very surprised to see his genuine work among them.

I thank to our president, Sayoko Kinoshita, for her appreciated letter which she wrote to our 31st laureate, and make him very honored to get this homage from our international organization.
And other thanks go to our secretary general, Vesna Dovnikovic, for contacting Michel and sending the trophy.

We can’t miss the opportunity to thank Mr. Samuel Quartey, the director of Animafrik festival, who organized the successful events of his festival and was very eager to host our Prize in his young festival. He truly deserves our support and a thanks letter from our president.

It was pity that due to bad health condition 78 years old Moustapha Alassane couldn’t be present on the festival Animafrik, but he sent his secretary Ms Rokaiatu Abobaka to be his representative on the festival and to introduce his homage night and his films. Moustapha also greeted ASIFA, the festival and the audiences by telephone, says:

“I took many awards before from many prestigious festivals and academies around the world, but this one is highly appreciated and it is much closer to my heart because this honor comes from the most important organization of animation in the world … I’m thanking ASIFA for its support, and I welcome any cooperation with it in the future”.

Moustapha’s country ambassador who gave a speech about the honor of the great man of his home, Niger, was present on the festival too.

It was a really great moment for the animators in Africa, who finally felt some confidence, that they could be recognized on the international level by an appreciated organization like ASIFA, and that Africa is not ignored or treated a as continent of misery anymore, but also a land of the oldest art tradition.

It’s really a great step of ASIFA towards Africa , and a good sign for the future of our community in its coming golden jubilee next year 2010. The African animators really appreciated this step, and look forward to more supportive steps to the art and industry of animation in Africa .

Thank you ASIFA!

Yours Sincerely,
Mohamed Ghazala
ASIFA Egypt

Drawings that Move: The Art of Joanna Quinn Gallery Two National Media Museum, Bradford 16 October 2009 – 21 February 2010

Free entry to exhibitions Information: 0870 70 10 200 www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk

From 16 October, 2009, to 21 February, 2010, a free-to-enter exhibition at the National Media Museum in Bradford is celebrating the career of one of Britain’s foremost independent animators, whose films and commercial work have won her renown and acclaim around the world.

Over the past 25 years Joanna Quinn’s love for drawing and movement has been the driving force behind a beautifully distinctive body of animation – all hand drawn on paper and cels. It includes her signature character; Welsh housewife, Beryl; an Oscar-nominated and BAFTA and Emmy-winning film based on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales; and the Charmin Bears, whose adverts for toilet paper are recognised all over the globe.

The first-ever gallery retrospective of Joanna’s work is being created at the National Media Museum in Bradford. Audiences will be taken on a journey starting with the artist’s early drawings and animations to some of her very latest, gaining an insight into the creative and business processes involved in running a successful animation studio along the way.

Artwork by some of her inspirations also features – the 18th Century British political caricaturist James Gillray; the great Spanish painter Goya; French Impressionists Toulouse-Lautrec and Degas, alongside contemporary cartoonists Steve Bell and Posy Simmonds.

As well as her evidently hand-drawn style, Joanna’s animation is characterised by acute social observation, the investigation of British history and culture, and broad humour, much of it scripted by her producer/writer partner, Les Mills.

Many of Joanna’s projects offer a strong female perspective; none more so than the Beryl series. The character first appeared in Joanna’s debut film Girls Night Out (1987) which won three awards at Annecy, the animation world’s biggest festival.

Since then Beryl has appeared in two further films: Body Beautiful (1990) and Dreams and Desires – Family Ties (2006), which won 42 international awards. A fourth, as yet untitled, adventure is currently in production.

Other films from Joanna include Elles (1992) featuring off-duty prostitutes inspired by the artwork of Toulouse-Lautrec, Britannia (1993), a biting satire about Britain’s imperial history, and the BAFTA and Emmy-winning Wife of Bath, part of the compendium film, Canterbury Tales (1998). This was also nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short, as was Famous Fred (1996), her film for children based on Posy Simmonds’ picture book.

Exhibition curator Michael Harvey, who counts Dreams and Desires among his favourite animated films and who also set up the Museum’s Animation Gallery in 1999, said: “Joanna’s career, like that of her contemporaries such as Nick Park, was initially fostered though commissions from the BBC, S4C and Channel 4 which in the 1980s and ‘90s pushed British animators to the forefront of a whole new genre of animation for adults.It is testament to her talent that she has continued to build on this success, and we are delighted to be the first-ever venue to display a comprehensive exhibition of her work. Joanna has a very special quality and a distinctive approach to drawing for animation.”

Complementing the exhibition will be an in-depth website packed with additional information, video clips and features, including a video diary of Joanna and Les at work.

Joanna will be supporting other events at the Museum. She will act as a judge and introduce a selection of her favourite films at this year’s Bradford Animation Festival (BAF) 11-14 November. On 15 October she will be a guest panellist at Mediafest, the Museum’s annual industry conference which this year focuses on women in the media. Joanna will also be hosting two family workshops as part of the ‘Big Draw’ season of learning activities at the Museum.

For more information, to request interviews or images please contact:

Phil Oates, Press Officer, National Media Museum 01274 203317 Phil.Oates@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk or

Sophie Choudry, Press and Marketing Assistant, National Media Museum 01274 203334 Sophie.Choudry@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk

Phil Oates mailto:Phil.Oates@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk 2009-10-04

“Neighbours”

When ASIFA was founded in 1960, McLaren was elected our first president. ASIFA embodies the values McLaren, John Hallas and our other founding fathers cherished. Working initially with UNESCO, ASIFA worked to unite the world in peace by finding ways for animators from both sides of the Iron Curtain to meet for the first time, to see each others work and to develop lasting friendships. That spirit of peace, love and tolerance continues to guide us as we approach the 50th anniversary of our association.

UNESCO (the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization), encourages international peace and universal respect by promoting collaboration among nations. Their Memory of the World Register identifies and lists the most significant documentary heritage collections in the world, including the Gutenberg Bible and the original manuscript of the Ninth Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Other noted films include Metropolis, The Wizard of Oz, and the films of Ingmar Bergman.

McLaren’s most famous film is Neighbours, an anti-war film which received numerous awards and screenings, including the Academy Award in 1953. In total, 82 films and 52 film tests, completed by McLaren between 1933 and 1985, were selected for the UNESCO registry.

The Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada nominated McLaren for the award. “Norman McLaren showed the world the power of animation as a means of serious social commentary, making a contribution to world art that cannot be overestimated. The National Film Board of Canada is proud that his great legacy has been added to the Memory of the World Register, just as we’re dedicated to ensuring that Norman’s genius and social conscience reach the widest possible audience,” said Tom Perlmutter, Government Film Commissioner and NFB Chairperson.

The Current President of ASIFA/International, Sayoko Kinoshita (Japan), commented “Norman McLaren was the very first President of ASIFA, when our association was to be established, and I am very pleased that he joined the Memory of the World Registry. I felt especially pleased to read about his important work “Neighbours” this morning in Hiroshima, on occasion of the Peace Memorial Day of August 6th. I would like to express my sincere respect toward our founders, who made great effort to realize world peace through animation, and through the international exchange between different cultures, and I feel that it is our obligation to extend this policy to the younger generation.”

A press release from the Association of Moving Image Archivists states:

“Norman McLaren (April 11, 1914 to January 27, 1987) was one the most influential figures in film animation, creating an extraordinary body of work and continuing to inspire generations of filmmakers. He was also deeply involved with UNESCO, through his pioneering UNESCO-sponsored missions to teach animation in China (1949) and India (1952) for use in promoting public health and education.

In 2006, the NFB marked the 65th anniversary of NFB animation with an ambitious restoration of the complete works of Norman McLaren, from his early years in Glasgow in 1933 to his final film with the NFB in 1983, including experiments, tests and outtakes. These restored classics were released as part of a 7-DVD box entitled Norman McLaren – The Master’s Edition, which received the Focal Award for Best Archive Restoration or Preservation Project. A theatrical retrospective of McLaren’s films also toured Canadian and international cities.

Neighbours and other McLaren classics can be viewed, free of charge, at the National Film Board of Canada’s online Screening Room, NFB.ca. “

Deanna Morse and Karl Cohen 2009-08-09