Academics and Philosophers

Next week I'll be stomping around my old stomping grounds of Montreal and, while my agenda is primarily syrup and bacon-oriented, my ever-brilliant spouse Laura-Beth will be in town to speak as part of the prestigious Society for Animation Studies Conference that this year takes place at Concordia University. For you animation academics who might be in attendance you can see her PhD presentation The changing face of replacement animation: how looking to the past can revolutionize the future of stop motion animation as part of the Auteurs and Experiments session that kicks off at 1:30pm at Concordia's De Seve Cinema. Among the other speakers are some fantastic artists including previous interviewees Janice Nadeau, Diane Obomsawin and my old UWE pal Philippe Vaucher.

In a couple weeks' time my not-very-academic film Klementhro will be playing as part of the At The Fringe International Arts Festival in Tranås, Sweden. I now know it will be part of the program Philosophy in Spoken Words (the name of which in and of itself has made my day) that takes place July 1st at 2pm, the again July 2nd at noon. Check out their site for venue specifics and the full programme and whatnot.

All Change

What's blue-ish, animationey and looking more swish than ever?
Why, it's our fancy new Skwigly relaunch!

Skwigly has a new look! Be sure to check out our latest animation coverage and our more user-friendly interface at https://t.co/rn56RaparE pic.twitter.com/NmDLipfI7i

— Skwigly Animation (@skwigly) June 2, 2017

Massive kudos to the ever-brilliant Aaron Wood for the fantastic overhaul of the site. Why, it's the perfect excuse to get all caught up on our Skwigly-doings! Including:
Episode 71 of the Skwigly Animation Podcast, where Steve and I discuss the next Manchester Animation Festival, Klementhro's divisive online reception and the enticing visuals of Cuphead. As always it is but mere blathering pre-amble to our brilliant guest, who in this episode happens to be Father and Daughter director Michaël Dudok de Wit chatting about his superb, 2D animated (mostly) feature The Red Turtle, out now in UK cinemas. Stream below (or download):
Also up now is episode 3 of Intimate Animation: Season 2, in which Laura-Beth and I ponder Annecy's upcoming Tribute to Erotica, reminisce about melted shoes and we welcome Canadian comic artist/filmmaker Diane Obomsawin. Diane's recent film J'aime les filles (I Like Girls) is a somewhat abridged adaptation of her graphic novel that visually recounts stories of various women’s affection for other women. The film won the Grand Prize for Independent Animated Short at last year's OIAF and will be screening as part of the Official Selection for Annecy 2017 later this month, as well as at Animafest Zagreb next week. Again, stream below (or, again, download):
Check it all out at http://www.skwigly.co.uk - bookmark it, share it, tell friends and foe alike!