Steyn du Toit
THE FOURTH annual Kunjanimation Film Festival(KFF) starts on Wednesday and promises five colourful days of adventure and wonder. Curated by Animation SA, this year sees the screening of some of the world’s top animated international feature films, including a major landmark title in the history of French animation.
Promising to “tell captivating stories of love and fury, heartless kings and prophesying frogs,” each day will see a different title screened at the Labia Cinema. Tickets are R25 each.
If there is one movie you simply cannot miss it’s Paul Grimault’s The King and the Mockingbird(Sunday, 2pm). A masterpiece on various technical, musical and stylistic levels, its journey from creation in the early 1950s to first being screened in 1980 is a long one, filled with creative differences and release rights issues. Written by French poet Jacques Prévert and beautifully composed by legendary Polish composer Wojciech Kilar, the storyline is loosely inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep.
Taking place in a totalitarian kingdom and opening to a suit-wearing mockingbird introducing himself to us, the feature starts by having the painted figures of a shepherdess and her chimney sweep lover break free from their respective portraits. Pursued by the tyrannical king and protected under the patronage of the mockingbird, what follows is an incredible adventure filled with various surrealist, cultural and cinematic references.
Another film that draws on a well-known story (Noah’s Ark) in order to create its own distinct universe is Jacques-Rémy Girerd’s Raining Cats and Frogs(Saturday, 6pm). First released in 2003, the movie starts with Tom and his parents being put in charge of looking after a zoo while its owners are away on safari in Africa. It all goes well at first, until a group of frogs from a nearby pond come to warn them of an impending flood that will cover the earth in water for 40 days and 40 nights.
Utilising a striking colour palette that focuses on various shades of light, the plot then sees Tom, his family as well as all the animals in the zoo take cramped shelter in a barn when the rain starts to fall. Conceived in the vivid imaginations of its creative team, the result is an exciting tale of surviving on the “open seas,” filled with humorous mishaps and arguments on board along the way.
A young ladybug befriends a black ant at the start of Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants(Wednesday, 8.30pm). Fusing animation onto real footage shot in nature, the story will soon see the ladybug caught up in a full-on war between the forest's ant colonies over a delicious tin of sugar cubes found at an abandoned picnic site. Presented without any spoken dialogue, it is a film with a great sense of humour and attention to intricate sound detail.
The final two titles screened as part of this year’s KFF are Rio 2096: A Story of Love and Fury(Friday, 8.30pm), an ambitious Portuguese production about an immortal protagonist who witnesses various important moments in the history of Brazil between 1500 and 2096; and Mia and the Migoo(Saturday, 8.30pm), winner of the Best Animated Feature award at 2009’s European Film Awards and dealing with a young girl's search for her father in a tropical paradise being threatened by the construction of a gigantic new hotel resort.
In addition to the screenings, a French animation delegation will also be in Cape Town as part of the festival. Representatives include Marie Soufflot from Imaginove Animation Cluster, Véronique Encrenaz from the Annecy International Animated Film Market (MIFA) and Alice Riviere from Emile Cohl Animation School.
This year’s KFF sees a series of Pop the Culture workshops being conducted as well. Taking place at the Animation School (42 Searle Street, Woodstock), ticket prices start at R175, with a full festival pass for all workshops and screenings costing R1900 (students pay R1000). Featuring some of the biggest players from the disciplines of animation, comics, graphic fiction, illustration and marketing, attendees will be given both practical an theoretical insight into some of the industry’s hottest topics.
“Pop the Culture is a content hub and talent incubator. We want to help build and promote the South African animation and visual arts sector from the ground up, using new media platforms and plugging into cutting edge technology,” says Wendy Spinks, cofounder of Pop the Culture. “These workshops are an incredible opportunity for students and professionals to engage with and learn from some of the best leaders in the industry.”
Among the seminars to mark with a koki pen on your calendar are Where comics and animation meet: the process, the similarities and getting your story out there (Wednesday, 9am), featuring Lauren Beukes, Richard Morgan from Strikas and Rico Schacherl from Madam and Eve; Story-boarding tips and tricks (Saturday, 2pm), a hands-on workshop on graphic storytelling and techniques led by Daniel Snaddon of Triggerfish Studios; as well as How to create your own superhero(Friday, 10am), presented by Susan Opperman and Roberto Millan.
l www.kunjanimation.org, www.facebook.com/Kunjanimation