One day after the CCFF, I made the run down to Detroit for the Detroit International Festival of Animation. Hosted by the Tangent Gallery and Hastings Street Ballroom, this was the DIFA's first year. However, as their first screening on Saturday was at 5 p.m., I couldn't miss the opportunity to spend the afternoon at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."
~ Henry David Thoreau
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After a quick lunch at the DIA's café, I discovered a nice series of prints by Richard Diebenkorn--Folsom Street Variation III reminded me of some of Mondrian's works.
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| Folsom Street Variation III |
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| 'Owl and Red Leaves' by Watanabe Shiko |
The rest of my visit was spent either drifting somewhat aimlessly from room to room, lost in my thoughts, or sitting in a few choice locations and writing down said thoughts. Never underestimate the power of a relatively quiet and serene location to cut through the static in your head and allow you to focus. Thoreau's escapes to nature make a lot of sense, especially now in the digital age where you're constantly bombarded by electronic noise and can be reached at any time and any place via your smartphone. I'm not a luddite, don't get me wrong, but there's a lot to be said about Thoreau's desire to strike a balance between the urban civilization and nature. By spending a few hours walking around a peaceful locale, appreciating whatever art caught my eye, then sitting down in a quiet room, the static in my head abated long enough for me to write down some ideas about what would make ASIFA Central a more valuable organization to it's membership--and hopefully more attractive to non-members.
But, time started to run out, so I left my serenity and made my way to the Tangent Gallery. Fortunately for me, it was only a four minute drive from the DIA.
The locale was split into three locations. The first had the bar and a comic art show on display. The second had local artists showing and selling their work. And the third was the viewing room. While there, I purchased a pair of prints that caught my eye from two young ladies.
"Space Invader" reminded me of the paintings that Joe Chen used to hang in the Chrysalids Theater back when he was running the Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema. They had that perfect mixture of B-Movie and Pulp Sci-Fi sensibilities, which I think Crystal has captured in her print.
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| "Drink Me, Eat Me - Alice in Wonderland" by Crystal Mielcarek (left) "Space Invader" by Emily Zelasko (right) |
If you'd like to see more of their work or purchase some of their prints yourself, they're located at: smushbox.net and EmilyZelaskoArt.com, respectively.
Well, on to the films...
Like the CCFF, the festival screening itself was a mixture of student films and professional films. However, unlike the CCFF, there were far fewer experimental or abstract films and they went much heavier on the narrative films--a fact that I enjoyed immensely! The following films were my picks for the evening:
Le Pain de l’Amour by Christine Barron
This film was just pure fun with all the bread puns and zany situations. You can watch it in its entirety below on Vimeo.
Le Pain de l'Amour from Christine Barron on Vimeo.
https://vimeo.com/user15977386
The Orchestra by Mikey Hill
Wow, what a beautiful little film--well, little is a bit of a misnomer. The film clocks in at fifteen minutes, but you'll get the joke when you watch the trailer below. Entertaining and thought provoking, I really hope this film gets seen by a much a wider audience in the festival circuit here in the States. You can read more about this film and see their 2016 festival listing at their website: www.theorchestrashortfilm.com.
Que Asco by Robert Curtis Randolph and Robert Charlie Daugherty
Another fun animation that was probably geared more for little boys, but it was still very enjoyable to a more mature audience (judging by how much we all laughed). You can see clips from Que Asco in the demo reel below.
character animation reel 2015 from Bob & Bob on Vimeo.
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| Intermission--now with enough time to reload on popcorn and grab another beer. |
Dispatch by Min Hwa Jung and John Seppala
Clearly influenced by anime, this ambitious student film had to have given the faculty advisors ulcers as they wondered if their students could pull it off in time. I can easily see these students Kickstarting a film and making a much larger production than this three-minute short. There is some serious talent in both animation and filmmaking here. I will be very interested to see what they produce in the future.
DISPATCH from DISPATCH on Vimeo.
Silence of the Siren by Liz McQuaid Martin
This was another ambitious student film that can easily hold its own against professionally funded and animated short films. This film had a really nice vibe to it--very Edgar Allen Poe or H.P. Lovecraft. Liz is another student to keep an eye on. You can view her entire film below.
Silence of the Siren from Liz Martin on Vimeo.
Chinese Princess by Tomas Bases
This film was unique. The story itself didn't hold my attention as much as how much emotion Tomas was able to evoke out of his 'blocks'. Just a fun little film. The trailer is below, but the full film is worth watching if you can catch it in a festival.
Princesa China trailer from Tomás Bases on Vimeo.
Last but not least: The Misadventures of Chubzilla by Dominik Koscinski and Elizabeth Lee.
If you ever wondered what Godzilla and King Ghidorah were thinking while duking it out over Tokyo, wonder no longer! This was my favorite film of the festival and the organizers made the right choice in closing the screening with it. You can watch the entire film below.
So, the big question: this being the first time I've attended either festival, would I go back next year? I'd have to say 'yes'.
While I'd like to see the Capital City Film Festival expand the animation offerings beyond lobbing it in with the experimental films, the fact that they were presented in a screening block instead of scattered amongst live-action films made them far more accessible to those of us who like to focus on animation and don't have the time or the interest in sitting through a bunch of live action shorts just to see that one token animated film. It was a very solid decision by the CCFF.
I was honestly willing to give the Detroit International Festival of Animation a lot more leeway, given that this was their first year. However, the selection of films was very good and I liked how they had local artists that you could interact with beforehand. The inclusion of a ten-minute intermission was... an interesting choice. Though I suspect it was more for drumming up a little extra in the way of beverage sales for the venue, but, hey, if it keeps the venue happy, it's a small sacrifice to make.
In both cases, the venues were a little on the hit-or-miss side for me (I like heated theaters with stadium seating so I don't freeze or have to crane my neck when tall people sit in front of me), but I wouldn't hold that against the festivals themselves. As theater venues are expensive, the CCFF and DIFA's choice of venues is understandable--and they did evoke some nice memories of watching the TAIS screenings at the Cinecycle over on Spadina Avenue in Toronto.
To summarize: if you missed these two animation screenings this weekend, take some time and visit them next year. I don't think you'll be disappointed. I certainly wasn't!
