Recently, Abi Feijo stepped down as the President of ASIFA. The Board has since voted for Thomas Renoldner to take his place. The following text by Renoldner is both a greeting and outline of his ideas for the future of ASIFA. Dear Friends, I wish to thank Abi Feijo for the work he has done as a president of ASIFA, and the ASIFA Board members for their confidence in accepting me as his successor. I want to briefly introduce myself and say a few words about my motivation behind accepting this position: Artist I've been interested in art since I was 16, working mainly in the fields of painting, music and film. I've studied animation at the university for applied arts in Vienna, have taught animation for many years in workshops and since one year at an art university. I have also done various research projects about animation in Austria. Organiser Since the age of 18 I have worked on different socio-cultural projects and within artists' co-operatives. I have worked for ASIFA Austria for ten years. In this time I have managed to build a complete animation studio (film/computer/sound), which artists can rent to realise their projects at low rates. We also organize several animation workshops per year. With my past experiences in organizing regional artists cooperation, I have become very interested in the idea of a larger-scale, worldwide animators network. I have been a member of the ASIFA Board since 1994 and have served the last 3 years as the editor of ASIFA's homepage http://asifa.net. OPEN THE DOORS! I have accepted the position of ASIFA President because there was an urgent need for someone to do so. But more importantly, I want to work more efficiently for ASIFA's future. My main goals for the future are to facilitate the communication between all ASIFA Groups (and members) worldwide and to encourage their participation in international activities. I would also like to focus on the professional management of our organisation. (By the way, "president" is quite a strong expression; thinking about the big names who have been ASIFA President before, I feel I don't deserve such a title. I would prefer something like "coordinator of activities" or "Chairman of the ASIFA Board'....) With the ASIFA Board elections at Ottawa 2000, ASIFA has reached a significant point in its history. The 'old ASIFA Board', comprised of high-profile animation artists from all over the world, has evolved into something new. The percentage of animation artists has decreased. The activities of most new Board members lie in other fields related to animation: journalists, film theorists, festival directors, producers, writers and leaders of local ASIFA Groups, to name a few. But I think we can take advantage of this new situation, because such a composition of people can reflect more facets of animation. But I also think that more fundamental changes are needed if we want to duplicate the success of the past 40 years. In the following part I make a proposal to improve ASIFA's statutes. It represents my personal opinion, but I have leaded a lot of intensive discussions with many ASIFA members worldwide to come to this point. (One should also mention that ASIFA Italia made a similar proposal approximately 10 years ago.) ASIFA's organisational structure: ASIFA's potency is dependent upon the strength of local ASIFA chapters. The majority of our members are recruited by a relatively small group of professionally organized local chapters. However, only a part of our local groups are represented on the ASIFA Board. We have 35 local groups and offices and more individual members from countries without ASIFA groups, but just 10 ASIFA Board members (from 8 different countries). The lack of communication between the ASIFA Board and ASIFA Groups (those who have no representative), and the relatively low participation of local ASIFA Chapters in the international activities of our organisation are partially caused by their exclusion from the ASIFA Board. Many groups have developed a strong identity locally and don't seem to feel that they are part of an international organisation. This is unfortunate because if ASIFA is to have any relevance, it needs active input and collaboration from the local chapters. My vision of the future is of an "ASIFA Parliament", where all ASIFA Groups are heartily invited to send one representative. This parliament should make all necessary decisions. Because of advancements in communication technology, discussion and voting can be organized mainly through e-mail. Naturally I do not expect that if the ASIFA Board opens the doors to all groups in this new parliament, this will produce instant results, but it would serve as a starting point for improving the participation and collaboration between ALL ASIFA chapters while ensuring that they each are entitled to certain rights and obligations. The most obvious criticism of such a concept would be that such a big group would not be able to do the organisational work efficiently. And the criticism is accurate. Therefore I propose a small "Executive Committee", with certain task-orientated positions. The members of this group could be members of the parliament, but also specialists from outside. Of course there are a lot of questions connected with this proposal, which have to be discussed in detail. The ASIFA Board will have to discuss this issue, a more detailed proposal will get published on the ASIFA homepage (together with a discussion forum) and the ASIFA Group leaders will receive material, so they can initiate discussions on a regional level. In case a majority of our members reacts positively, ASIFA would need to hold an Extraordinary General Assembly about this topic. I hope this article can be a first step towards a broader discussion. I am ready to read and answer any comments to be sent to my e-mail address <renoldner@asifa.net>. ASIFA's media One of the most important answers to the often-asked questions: Why should I join ASIFA? and What do I get for my international fee?" are ASIFA's media: the printed magazine ASIFA News" and the homepage http://asifa.net. The benefit for each ASIFA member is that these are places to both gather and distribute information. Both media welcome your articles, opinions, critics, hints, and also graphics, animations, etc. The ASIFA homepage also offers free web space for ASIFA members and ASIFA Groups. (We are very proud to announce the opening of the very successful ASIFA Israel Website at http://asifa.net/israel ) The "news"-section on the homepage is updated monthly and welcomes news and messages from the entire world. I envision many more projects (exhibitions, on-line screenings, video and art sales) on asifa.net, but to be more fruitful, we depend - again - on the participation of our ASIFA Groups and members. (People who wish to participate in any way can write to our ASIFA News Editor (robinson@asifa.net) or ASIFA.NET (webmaster@asifa.net). The doors are open already! Festival Cooperation ASIFA is closely connected with the history of some of the most important animation festivals in the world (Annecy, Zagreb, Ottawa, Hiroshima, Cinanima...). Recently, the ASIFA Board has opened the doors to other qualified festivals by approving a new "Festival Information System". The new system replaces the old "patronage system", which was limited to the traditional ASIFA Festivals. The idea behind the new initiative is to define quality standards at festivals. On one hand, this should protect the high quality festivals' against the flood of low-quality festivals popping out of ground and, on the other hand, defend the basic interests of the filmmakers. (More at the [FESTIVAL ZONE] at 'Festival Information System') As an independent worldwide animation organisation, ASIFA can also play the role of a mediator between festivals and filmmakers. For instance, when filmmakers experience any problems with certain animation festivals, ASIFA can speak in the name of the artist with the festival, and if needed, can publish any criticism in our media. The Festival Information System' is relatively young and it will need more working time to be fully implemented. However, over time it will be a great benefit to the animation community. In the future we might also consider publishing a printed Animation Festival Guide. Another benefit for ASIFA members are reduced pass prices (or even free tickets) at the "ASIFA Partner Festivals". Currently, Zagreb, Hiroshima, Cinanima and Ottawa all offer discounts to ASIFA members. There are many more activities, ranging from the acclaimed International children workshop project (ASIFA Workshop Group") to various unsung initiatives carried out by many individuals worldwide. JOIN THE DISCUSSION ! I have only mentioned those aspects of ASIFA's activities that are most important to me. I can imagine that the many colleagues and friends in ASIFA (and outside) might have a different perspective. By offering you my personal opinions and criticisms, I hope I can initiate a discussion that will lead to a broader discourse about ASIFA's identity, mission, and future. ASIFAs strength depends on worldwide participation. Join ASIFA, and tell your friends they should join too. You are ASIFA. Thomas Renoldner, March 2002 |
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