Sextet

Today sees the conclusion of the first season of Intimate Animation, the podcast in which Laura-Beth and myself have been dissecting animation's more lovey-dovey side. Well, mainly we've been talking about animated genitals, but the lovey-doveyness gets a look in every once in a while.
In episode 6 we end things on a bang (I apologise) with the great Andreas Hykade, whose filmography includes the multi-award-winning shorts The Runt (2005), Love and Theft (2010) and Nuggets (2015) as well as the children’s series Tom, produced in association with esteemed German studio Film Bilder. Prominently discussed in this episode is the director’s intense and hallucinatory Western opus Ring of Fire (2000), whose themes of relationships, sexuality and conflict were drawn from his own life. The film would go on to win Best Animated Short at several major festivals including that year’s Ottawa International Animation Festival. As always feel free to either direct download or stream below:
Also discussed in this episode – the threat of tightening UK censorship laws on depictions of ‘non-conventional’ sexuality, Studio Pupil‘s delightful short Tabook (one of my personal favourites from MAF last week) and the bizarrely compelling visuals of Genital Jousting from Free Lives.
Thanks very much to everyone who's supported this new venture, it's proved to be a very valuable extension of the animation conversation Skwigly has endeavoured to keep alive and we're already excited about season 2 next year. We'll be bringing you two other new themed podcasts over the next month or so that I hope will prove to do likewise, in the meantime however if you missed any of the first season of Intimate Animation you can listen to every episode in our handy playlist:

One more for November

Quick update on my previous post about Klementhro's upcoming screening as part of Hungary's 14th Anilogue International Animation Festival in Budapest - the film will be part of the Programme B which screens 3:30pm this Wednesday (November 23rd) at the Puskin Cinema and the 5pm following day at the Urania National Film Theatre. I'm very humbled to see it's screening alongside some of my favourites of the past year, including films by recent interviewees Dávid Dell'Edera (Balcony), Terri Matthews (The Wrong End of the Stick), Anete Melece (Analysis Paralysis) and Réka Bucsi (Love), the latter two films I was privileged enough to screen myself at MAF last week.
While things do seem to be winding down a bit for our lonely lad Klementhro, there are a couple more confirmed outings on the horizon after this one. Watch this proverbial space, my friends.

KLIK Tracks

Despite not being able to attend the event in person, I'm happy to be carrying on last year's tradition of Skwigly mini-podcasts for the KLIK! Amsterdam Animation Festival. As before these consist mainly of short Q&As with attending filmmakers conducted by German animation historian Hans Walther. These include chats with Giovanni Braggio (Cthupid), Junaid Chundrigar (Fixed Fairy Tales: The Princess & the Pea), Fleur Odylle of in60seconds (Manfred the Monkey), Artūrs Lācis (Versus), Carolina Cruz (Balbina: Das IST, die Zeit ist ein Egoist), Evelyne Dubois (Home Sweet Home), Nyan Kyal Say (My Life I Don't Want) and Daphna Awadish (Journey Birds)
One of the talkshow sessions unfortunately got misplaced and so to fill the remaining filmmaker slot my stalwart pal Jo Hepworth gave me some time to discuss her own KLIK! entry The Urban Fox, a lovely piece of work some of you may have caught when I screened it at MAF last year.
You can stream all the entire series below or, if you'd prefer, you can download episodes one, two and three respectively - gratis and for keepsies! Man alive do I ever treat ya right.

Keeping up appearances

I like my animation festivals like I like my women; COVERED IN BEES...

This week I'll be enjoying my first Manchester Animation Festival. Well, that's not technically accurate as I was there last year, but it was in the final weeks of writing my book before the manuscript deadline and so I was laptop-bound 90% of the time and a jittery, coffee-soaked mess, periodically breaking down and screaming at imaginary dogs that lived behind my eyelids. So happily this will be a more chilled affair.

As with last year I will be involved in some of the events, however, the first of which ties in with the book itself. If you swing by Book Your Ideas Up at the HOME event space around 3:15pm Tuesday 15th I'll be part of a panel of fellow animation book scribes discussing our work. I'll also be signing copies of Independent Animation: Developing, Producing and Distributing Your Animated Films if that's a remotely appealing prospect, plus I'll have some with me if you're on the fence about buying a copy but might be swayed upon seeing one all up close and shiny-like.

On Wednesday 16th I'll be presenting another Skwigly Screening showcasing some of the best films I've come across in the past year or so, again in the event space at 3:15pm. The full playlist is as follows (the film titles in bold link to recent interviews with the filmmakers):

• Tiny Encounters (Dani Abram/Lauren Orme/Michael Ostrolenk/Chris Wright, UK, 2016) 
• Love (Dir. Réka Bucsi, France/Hungary, 2016) 
• Parrot Away (Dir. Mads Weidner, Denmark, 2015) 
• Feathers (Dir. Hands On Deck, Canada, 2016) 
• Le Clitoris (Dir. Lori Malépart-Traversy, Canada, 2016) 
• Analysis Paralysis (Dir. Anete Melece, Switzerland, 2016) 
• Eat Up (Dir. Pretend Parent, UK, 2016) 
• Player 2 (Dir. Charlie Miller/Harry Slinger-Thompson, UK, 2016) 
• James: Dear John (Dir. Péter Vácz, UK/Hungary, 2016) 
• Final Call (Dir. Sara Barbas, Portugal/UK/Denmark, 2016) 
• Wednesday With Goddard (Dir. Nicolas Ménard, UK, 2016)

Immediately after that you might want to stick around for the latest Skwigly Quiz that Steve and I will be presenting. These are always a larf and there are some pretty tremendous prizes to be won, because frankly we at Skwigly Corp* spoil your asses rotten.

On Thursday 18th myself and Steve will be winging it for our first live podcast. Come by the Event Space (we love that space, it's just so...event-y) at 11am to watch it all unravel in person - or, if you can't make it, stream it via our Facebook page. Of course you can check out the full range of nifty MAF events via the festival website, so if you can't stomach the sight of me there's plenty of other stuff to do. Personal recommendations would include a rare UK screening of the beautiful My Life as a Courgette, a Chris Shepherd masterclass and retrospective, not to mention Joanna Quinn's lifedrawing class (kicking myself that I'll be missing that one). Hope to see some of you there!
*Not what we're called.

Stayin' Down South

While Klementhro's adventures in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo (courtesy of Anima Mundi) came to an end yesterday, some good news for any Brazilians among ye who didn't catch it - or may wish to again - is that the film will be back in the country next month for the 14th Mumia Underground World Animation Festival!
I'm happy to say this isn't the first time my work will be shown at this event, as back in 2012 it was one of the later festivals to screen The Naughty List during its original festival run. I don't have any info more specific than the film will play in the International 8 screening and that the festival takes place in Belo Horizonte from December 1st-18th. More info when I gets it! In the meantime you can check out the full selection here.

Of course the Samaritans have been told to expect an influx of activity once the listening audience discover I'm off the market

Mine and Laura-Beth's love'n'sex'n'stuff podcast series Intimate Animation continues today with episode 5, in which we meet Réka Bucsi, who has followed up her tremendous student short Symphony No. 42 with the multi-award-winning Love.

 

Produced in association with Passion Paris, Boddah and The Animation Workshop, the film premiered at the 66th Berlinale Shorts Competition to immediate acclaim, going on to screen at other prominent festivals including the Ottawa International Animation Festival, AFI Fest, Go Short, Melbourne International Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival. Manchester Animation Festival passholders will also be able to see the film as part of our Skwigly Screening (alongside Lori Malépart-Traversy’s Le Clitoris, featured in episode 4) later this month - I'll be elaborating on what else will be on offer soon. More recently Love earned a European Film Award nomination at the Uppsala International Short Film Festival as well as being shortlisted for the Cartoon d’Or when it won Best European Short at 3D Wire.
Also discussed in this episode are the broader themes of ‘love’ – beyond romantic and sexual relationships – that animation has effectively tackled, from family fare such as The Nightmare Before Christmas to more challenging work as Ma Vie de Courgette and Mary and Max. Laura-Beth and I also have a special announcement for the benefit of any podcast listeners who haven't heard our recent and rather wonderful news elsewhere. Give it a stream above or a cheeky little direct download.

Another Busy Weekend

It's been a long journey, but this Friday November 4th will be the final stop of the Nuit du Court Métrage leg of Short Film Nights, the touring programme that has graciously included Klementhro, seeing the film screened throughout Switzerland over the course of this year. The twenty-third and final city on what's been a terrific tour with some brilliant and much-appreciated exposure will be Lausanne, the screening itself taking place at the Pathé les Galeries at 7:25pm. Many thanks again to the Short Film Nights team for bringing my bizarre little film along for the ride!

On Saturday November 5th the film will see its Chinese premiere at the KuanDu International Animation Festival in Taiwan. It will be screening in the programme KDIAF's Choice 5 for a relatively early (9am) start. It's another interesting crop I'm very happy and humbled to be amongst, with work from some great artists including Kim Noce, Shaun Clark and Isabelle Favez among others.

On those exact same dates the film will doubtless be befuddling Brazilians over at Anima Mundi. Following the first batch of screenings that took place in Rio de Janeiro, the second wave will be in São Paulo with two screenings at the Cinemateca Brasileira. On November 4th it'll screen at 6pm in the Sala Petrobras, with a 3pm screening in the Sala BNDES the following day.
Tchau for now!

Lucky 14

Klementhro's adventures continue with two more upcoming festivals I can cheerily reveal. Following last month's Hungarian screening at Busho, in roughly another month's time the film will return to Budapest as part of the 14th Anilogue International Animated Film Festival's competition programme. The programme specifics have not yet been announced but the festival runs from November 23rd to the 27th with event highlights including screenings of Michaël Dudok de Wit's The Red Turtle and Claude Barras's My Life as a Courgette.

The first (possibly only) screening of 2017 will be a little closer to home, as part of the 14th London Short Film Festival. Out of the 80+ public outings our ginger rafting enthusiast has seen, UK festival screenings have been something of a rarity, so it's very nice that, whether or not this proves to be the end of his journey, Klementhro will eventually wash back up on British soil. Small victories and such. No programme specifics for this festival either right now, but I'll be sure to keep you all up to speed on both fronts.

Briggsian Delight

For our sixty-first episode of the Skwigly Animation Podcast we meet Roger Mainwood, director of the much-anticipated animated feature adaptation of the Raymond Briggs classic Ethel & Ernest, out in UK cinemas this Friday. Roger’s industry experience includes Kraftwerk: Autobahn, Heavy Metal and The Wind in the Willows as well as the prior Briggs adaptations The Snowman, When the Wind Blows, Father Christmas and The Snowman and the Snowdog. Also returning to the podcast is the movie’s Art Director Robin Shaw, who previously served as Assistant Director on The Snowman and the Snowdog and is currently co-directing the upcoming We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.
Also discussed in this episode: First impressions of the new DreamWorks offering The Boss Baby, the overwhelming social media response to the short film Borrowed Time, Signe Baumane's uncompromising review of The Red Turtle and The Simpsons joining forces with Google Spotlight Stories.
Stream below, subscribe or direct download:

"Can't pay? We'll literally do everything in our power to not have to take it away, 'cause I got these bad knees, see..."

These days my fictional creation Klementhro, once thought to be a bit of an out-to-sea loner, has way more of a life than I do. As such he has a pretty packed few days of galavanting hither and thither ahead of him while I sit at home watching Can't Pay repeats and praying the various After Effects renders I have cued up don't crash.

Klementhro, the comparative socialite, will be enjoying a rare US outing at the SoDak Motion Festival this Thursday, October 27th. Screening alongside work by some excellent filmmakers including Tomer Eshed and fellow Bristol School of Animation grad Simon Acosta, the film will play in the festival's Animation Competition 6:30pm at the South Dakota Art Museum.
Some miles away on the following night, the Nuit du Court Métrage tour will take the film to La Chaux-de-Fonds, where the evening's proceedings will kick off around 8pm at the Cinéma ABC.
The night after that (October 29th, not to condescendingly imply you can't do basic addition) the tour is headed to Neuchâtel, again looking at an 8pm start at the Cinéma Studio.

On top of all that, the Brazilian animation fest Anima Mundi has unveiled its full programme and, as previously indicated, Klementhro is among the official selection! From tomorrow onwards it will screen as part of Shorts 5 in such fine company as Joost Lieuwma's Paniek! and the times/venues for the Rio de Janeiro screenings (there'll be more in São Paulo next month) are as follows:

• 25th October: 10pm, Cine Odeon - Centro Cultural Luiz Severiano Ribeiro
• 26th October: 6pm, Livraria Cultura
• 28th October: 3pm, Cine Odeon
• 29th October: 5pm, Cidade das Artes - Teatro de câmara
• 30th October: 6pm, Cine Odeon

Ooh, hang on. I think they're about to finally take something awa- no, false alarm. As you were.