The Review - AT THE MOVIES with DAN CARRIER Published: 27 August 2009
Pick of the Indies
SO HOW does 360 movies from 32 different countries sound? Like a pretty packed programme of cinematic fun and games. It all kicks off tonight (Thursday) at the Sixth London International Animation Festival. Playing at some of Pick of the Indies’ favourite screens – The Renoir in Brunswick Square, the Roxy in London Bridge, The Rio in Hackney and the Horse Hospital in Bloomsbury – there’s loads to do from workshops, Q&As, and, of course, the chance to see some truly awesome animated features from around the world.
Here is a quick rundown of some of the highlights:
On Saturday September 5 at the Renoir is a tribute to Zagreb film. The Croatian capital is home to a bunch of talented animators and they’ve been churning out incredible hand-drawn films since the early 1950s. They are worthy of a bigger audience and this rare chance to see a whole series of their works through the years should not be missed if you like animation.
It looks good, with influences from modernist art movements, as well as an older early 20th-century absurdism in the plots.
Animated documentaries also feature: not the most obvious use of cartoons, but one which is increasingly being turned to – in recent political movies The Yes Men and The Age of Stupid, animated sections were used to explain tricky concepts of global economics to great effect. Canadian legend Claude Cloutier – described as a 1970s William Hogarth headlines on Saturday, September 5 at the Renoir with a programme showing the best of his carefully hand-drawn work.
But if there is one event which sums the whole two-week festival up, it’s the Best of the Fest night on Sunday September 6 at the Renoir.
It includes a selection of films chosen by the judges of the festival and gives a great overview of what its all about.