Up The River

Our seafarin' scamp Klementhro still has a few festivals left on his journey it seems. Rather fittingly this September the film will be included in the KROK International Animated Films Festival that takes place on a Russian river cruiser. From September 13th through to the 21st the festival will be making its way through Moscow, Uglich, Goritsy, Petrozavodsk, Mandrogi, Valaam Island and Saint Petersburg. I already have a fondness for this festival as back in 2011 they included The Naughty List and it's always a nice feeling to have new work presented at a familiar event. If you happen to be in that nook of the world it looks like a rather fun way to spend a week so check out their Facebook page for more info as it comes.

Island Life

I mentioned last week that Laura-Beth's film Boris-Noris would be playing in Malta at the first Gozo Film Festival. I neglected - neglectful fellow that I am - to mention that Klementhro will also be screening, in the same programme as it turns out. So if you're happen to be Malta-ing it up this weekend you can catch them on Saturday 26th in the Short Movies 1 screening. Also a shout-out to our pal Fiona whose film Blanked will also get a screening the following day in Short Movies 3. Both screenings will be at the Sentinella Cultural Centre and you can check out the full programme at the festival website here.

World Traveller

I'm incredibly stoked to be able to say that Laura-Beth Cowley's film Boris-Noris (for which I did some noise-making and general post-production) is on fire at the moment. Since screening at CIFF back in May it's been shown in Spain, Italy, France and the Czech Republic, with a whole bunch more to follow in the coming months:

First up is Stop Motion MX that takes place August 17th-19th down Mexico way, where the film is part of the Student category. As far as exactly when the screening is I found the programme to be kind of impenetrable, although native speakers may have better joy than my uncultured ass.

Over on the island of Malta you can see it at the first Gozo Film Festival. Exact screening times and programme categories don't appear to be up yet but it will be running from August 25th-27th at the Sentinella Cultural Centre and St. John's Demi-Bastion.

From August 26th it's in Paris at Festival Silhouette in the Young Audiences (4-6 years) category that has a bunch of (what I'm pretty sure are free) screenings:
Saturday August 26th - 11am at Le Hasard Ludique
Saturday August 26th - 4pm at Holiday Inn Express
Sunday August 27th - 11:30am at Espace Khiasma
Sunday August 27th - 2:30pm at Holiday Inn Express
Saturday September 2nd - 4pm at Holiday Inn Express

On Monday September 4th at 8pm the film will be screened at The Smalls Film Festival in their Student Film category. This one's here in the UK at London's Calvert 22, nestled 'twixt Shoreditch and Bethnal Green.

Earlier that same evening and even closer to home - on our doorstep, pretty much - is the Bristol Festival of Puppetry, who are putting on a special Women in Puppetry and Puppet Animation screening, celebrating 'the talent of female directors, animators, puppeteers and other filmmaking creatives, in front and behind the camera'. You can catch this one at The Watershed in Bristol at 6pm September 4th.

Next stop is Stop Motion Montreal, one of our absolute wishlist festivals what with Montreal being my sometime-stomping-grounds and its long-established reputation as one of the best stop-mo events around. It takes place September 15th-17th - literally the weekend of our wedding, so alas we can't attend in person. I think she genuinely contemplated calling it off when she found out. The main festival venue is Concordia's J.A. de Sève Cinema, with specific dates/times to be revealed soon.

Another wish-list fest we're pleased to be ticking off is Bristol's long-running Encounters Short Film Festival, whose main hub of operations is once again The Watershed. Boris-Noris will see itself screening in the first animation programme Packing A Punch at 12noon on Wednesday September 20th as well as repeat screening of the Bristol Festival of Puppetry selection at a time yet to be announced. This one we will be there for, in fact I'll also be there in my usual Skwigly capacity so if you're one of the animated filmmakers also in the programme who'll be there also then there's a good chance I'll be interviewing you at some point the week.

Lastly (for now), there's the Linoleum International Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival that runs from September 28th to October 1st in the Ukraine. This one I already hold in high regard for throwing in Klementhro last year. Again more specifics when we get 'em.
There are more a-comin' but I think that's all I'm able to announce right now. So check it out if it's playing near you, it's a cracking fillum (he said with complete impartiality).

How about a little music?

Following on from our end-of-year special back in December, I've launched a new Skwigly podcast series Animation Composed, a celebration of the harmonious relationship between music and animation.
In our first episode co-host Wez and I explore the musical side of some favourite animated shorts, including Le Clitoris (Dir. Lori Malépart-Traversy), Lonely Bones (Dir. Rosto) and Analysis Paralysis (Dir. Anete Melece) among others.
We also meet Paris-based composer  Mathieu Alvado, whose work spans over 50 short films including the recent animated projects To Build A Fire (Dir. FX Goby, Nexus) and The Inspector and the Umbrella (Dir. Maël Gourmelen). Having studied at the Bordeaux Conservatory, the Saint Maur des Fossés Conservatory and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, Mathieu has received three Jerry Goldsmith awards and collaborated with numerous ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Paris Symphonic Orchestra.
Full playlist:

• Overture (To Build A Fire) – Mathieu Alvado
• Anton im Kaufhaus (Analysis Paralysis) – Ephrem Leuchinger
• Theme from Boris-Noris – Ben Mitchell
• Une bonne petite souris (Quenottes/Pearlies) – Mathieu Alvado
• Building A Fire (To Build A Fire) – Mathieu Alvado
• Clitoris Magnificus (Le Clitoris) – Eliazer Kramer
• Lonely Bones – Thee Wreckers
• Wings and Oars – Pierre Yves Drapeau
• End Credits (The Kiosk) – Ephrem Leuchinger
• The Inspector and the Umbrella – Mathieu Alvado
• New Fire (To Build A Fire) – Mathieu Alvado
• End Credits (To Build A Fire) – Mathieu Alvado
• Reprise (The Inspector and the Umbrella) – Mathieu Alvado