The Holland Animation Film Festival: A Vast Array of Programming
Menno de Nooijer traveled to the Holland Animation Film Festival for a week of fabulous screenings and catch up time with old friends.
Tagged With: Film
The State of Independence
Otto Alder presents the current state of the Independent Animation film by delving into its definition and that of animation as a whole. Available in German and English.
The Prince of Egypt: DreamWorks' Biblical Epic
Toby Bluth discusses DreamWorks' long-awaited feature, The Prince of Egypt. While the animation and effects are stunning, the storytelling leaves something to be desired...
Here's A How de do Diary: October
he eighth installment of Barry Purves' production diary as he chronicles producing a series of animated shorts for Channel 4. An Animation World Magazine exclusive.
The animated feature, 'Kirikou,' arrives in France
"Kirikou et la Sorciere" ("Kirikou and the Witch") is a new 70-minute classically animated film by Michel Ocelot released in France on December 9, 1998. The film is about Kirikou, a tiny little boy, who's born in a small African village which has been put under a spell by the flagitious witch, Karaba. Kirikou is determined to set his languishing village free from the clutches of Karaba. The film features music composed by famous African singer/composer Youssou N'Dour.
'Prince' is top animated film at the box office
The box office was bustling this Christmas holiday weekend with DreamWorks' "The Prince of Egypt" and Disney/Pixar's "A Bug's Life" holding their own against many new live-action releases including "Patch Adams," "The Faculty" and "Stepmom." "Prince of Egypt" dropped two places from second to fourth; however, the film saw a 5% rise in business grossing $15.3M for a grand total of a little over $40M. "A Bug's Life" saw a 1% jump in totals despite being taken off more than 300 screens. The film finished seventh with $10.1M and has now grossed $114.6M in six weeks.
Results from Latin America's largest festival
The results are in from the 20th Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latino Americano, which took place in Havana, Cuba, from December 1-11, 1998. All the films in competition were from Latin American countries. The following awards were given out for animated entries:
Wild Brain does "A Dog Cartoon"
San Francisco-based Wild Brain has completed an in-house seven-minute short film called A Dog Cartoon, featuring a highly-energetic dog who faces many perils as he attempts to recover his coveted bone.
Win a Golden Sheaf award
The 1999 Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival, now in its 52nd year, will take place from May 13-16, 1999 in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. Entries to compete for the festival's Golden Sheaf Awards are now being accepted until March 5, 1999. Awards will be given to Canadian film entries in a total of nineteen film categories including: Animation, Children's Production, Arts and Entertainment, Comedy, Educational and Commercials. International filmmakers can enter works in five categories including: Children's Production, Documentary and Drama.
More ‘Bug’s Life’ bloopers are arriving
Disney may not have an animated film to put up against DreamWorks Prince of Egypt, but theyve come up with an ingenious way of profiting from the November release of A Bugs Life. The company announced that starting December 18th, a completely new set of animated bloopers will accompany the closing credits of the film.
Hollywood Shorts festival
* Sunday, December 13. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Hollywood Shorts, a monthly film festival dedicated to independent short films and videos, will take place 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at The Joint (8771 West Pico Boulevard in West LA). The screening includes the animated film "Call Me Fishmael." A holiday party follows the screening. If you don't live in L.A. and would still like to still see the films, they can be seen through the Internet at http://www.lalive.com.
"Queen Emeraldas" is coming to video
A.D.V. Films has announced the acquisition of "Queen Emeraldas," a new film from Leiji Matsumoto (creator of the '70s animated series "Space Cruiser Yamato," a.k.a. "Starblazers"). The film features Matsumoto's unique sense of character design utilizing traditional and computer animation. The story takes place in the far future when humanity has expanded into space and colonized the stars. Since pirates ply the space routes preying on the weak and helpless, the rebel Emeraldas sails the Sea of Stars fighting evil using her array of futuristic weapons.
Sony and Hasbro team up
Sony Signatures' Film and Television division has named Hasbro, Inc. as the master toy licensee for the holiday '99 Columbia Pictures live-action/visual effects film, "Stuart Little." Hasbro will produce everything from plush toys to interactive software. The film is based on the classic E.B. White book of the same name about a mouse who is raised by the Littles, a human family who learns to dream big and live large when they think little.
Craig Bartlett's Charmed Past Life
Did you know that before Hey Arnold!, Craig Bartlett completed several projects for amusement parks and World's Fairs? Joe Bevilacqua looks into Craig Bartlett's past life...
On A Desert Island With....Animated Feature Directors
A survey of this season's animated feature directors answering, What ten films would you want to have with you if stranded on a desert island?
Here's A How de do Diary: September
The seventh installment of Barry Purves' production diary as he chronicles producing a series of animated shorts for Channel 4. An Animation World Magazine exclusive.
A call for U.S. Film Fest Entries
The 32nd annual U.S. International Film and Video Festival is now seekingsubmissions in computer animation and non-computer animation categories.Entries must be received by March 1, 1999. For entry kits and additionalinformation, contact (630) 834-7773 or visit www.filmfestawards.com.
Baby Huey's coming to video
Columbia Tristar Home Video and the Harvey Entertainment Company willrelease "Baby Huey's Great Easter Adventure," a live-action, feature-lengthmusical comedy, starring the classic oversized, diapered duck in his firstmovie ever. The direct-to-video film, which will be released on March 2,1999, stars Joseph Bologna, Maureen McCormick, Harvey Korman, David Lander,and David Leisure. The song-filled film also includes a bonus Baby Hueycartoon, "Daycare Duckie," packaged with the film. The film is about how
Radomski Joins Film Roman
Producer/director Eric Radomski recently joined Film Roman as ExecutiveProducer. His new role includes heading up the company's restructuredanimation development and production program as well as taking the helm ofFilm Roman's expanding digital shorts program. Company president and CEODavid Pritchard stated, "Film Roman is fortunate and excited that Eric hasagreed to help us rebuild the new Film Roman. We see him as part of thefuture of this company, will rely on him to lead our animation division
Film Roman names new president
Los Angeles-based Film Roman has brought Mark Lieber on board as the new president of domestic television development and distribution. Lieber's responsibilities in this newly created position include directing the development of all proprietary television product (both animation and live-action), as well as overseeing the distribution of Film Roman's proprietary series through broadcast, cable and syndication in the U.S.
Screening of Purves' new film
* Tuesday, November 17 - Thursday, November 19. Beverly Hills, California,U.S.A.
"Gilbert and Sullivan - The Very Models," a film from artist Barry Purves("Rigoletto," "Achilles") will screen at Laemmle's Music Hall for AcademyAward qualification. Show times are 3:30 and 4:10 PM daily. For more info,contact (310) 274-6869.
A Screening of Bunny
* Tuesday, November 17 - Thursday, November 19. Encino, California,U.S.A.
"Bunny," a new computer-animated short film written and directed by BlueSky | VIFX founder Chris Wedge with music by Tom Waits, will be screenedfor three days at Laemmle's Town Center 5 for Academy Award qualification.The film uses a new computer application called "Radiosity" that mimics themost subtle properties of natural light. Show times are 11:15 and 11:30 AMdaily. For further screening information, contact (818) 981-9811.
Animated film festival comes to Switzerland
* Tuesday, November 24, - Saturday, November 28. Mendrisio, Switzerland.
The Mendrisio Swiss International Animated Film Festival includes a short,feature and animated "pilot" competition, as well as student films, 3Dcomputer animation, retrospectives, exhibitions, conferences and more. Forinformation call (41) 91 646 16 54.
WorldFest Film and Video Festival to highlight independent animation
* Friday, November 13, - Sunday, November 22. Flagstaff, Arizona, U.S.A.
The WorldFest Film and Video Festival, an event which focuses onindependent works which have not yet been picked up for distribution,features eight animation categories this year. For information onattending, contact Worldfest at tel (713) 965-9955, fax (713) 965-9960 oremail at worldfest@aol.com(link sends e-mail).
Leipzig Festival results
Five thousand spectators attended theanimation programs during the five day 41st annual Leipzig InternationalFestival for Documentary and Animated Film which wrapped up on October 31in Leipzig Germany. The prize for Outstanding Film went to "Underground" byMatti Kütt (Estonia), and the Audience Prize went to "Hoelenangst" byBenjamin Quabeck (Germany). For more information about next year'sfestival, email dock-leipzig@t-online.de(link sends e-mail).
