PRESENTED AT OUR 2015 FESTIVAL
Explore the mad world of offbeat and strange hand drawn animations from the 70s & 80s. We’ll bring the VHS player, you bring the acid wash jeans. (Or maybe just the acid).
Featured films: Make me Psychic (Sally Cruikshank), Skeletons & Autosong (Al Jarnow), The Doodlers (Kathy Rose), Tempting Fate (Susan Young), Asparagus (Suzan Pitt), Sunbeam (Paul Vester).
Carl Spencer
Carl Spencer is an artist and teacher whose past works have explored systems theory and Process Art through the use of video, sound, and projection, with a focus on the modification of electronic devices.
Make me Psychic, Dir. Sally Cruikshank. (8:00) – Anita the duck buys a psychic device at a novelty store in an alternate universe and creates mayhem at a crazy party.
Skeletons, Dir Al Jarnow (1:00) – The 1979 classic Sesame Street short.
Autosong, Dir.Al Jarnow (9:00) – “Autosong’s remarkable spatial dimensional uses cartoon freedom to abolish the laws of physics inventing long, impossible tracking shots, Jarnow creates an inexorable forward movement sweeping over, around, into the window and out the rear-view mirror of a driverless Volkswagon as it careens down an empty-world autobahn.” -J. Hoberman, Village Voice
The Doodlers, Dir. Kathy Rose (5:00) – Director Kathy Rose’s animated characters seem to create their own art in various media.
Tempting Fate, Dir. Susan Young (7:00) – A cut-out film exploring feelings of shame, guilt, and impending doom.
Asparagus, Dir. Suzan Pitt (18:00) – This candy coloured nightmare rocked audiences upon its release and catapulted maker Suzan Pitt to the front ranks of indie animation. Stunning cel animation propels its blank-faced protagonist into the world of the phallus, rendered here as a field of asparagus, which she deep throats, excretes and flushes away…The film’s stunning set piece occurs before a claymation audience who gape as the artist opens her Medusa’s box to release rare wonders. A moving meditation on art and the cost of reproduction, Asparagus remains, twenty-five years after its release, a benchmark of single frame intensity.
Sunbeam, Dir. Paul Vester (5:00) – A short film set to the song, “What’s at the Top of a Sunbeam” (1941), based on sketches, photographs and ideas formulated during a period living in Venice, California in 1974. What’s at the top, really? Is there a top?
Animovies is part of Emmedia Production Society’s Homegrown Curator Series.
emmedia.ca
PRESENTED AT OUR 2015 FESTIVAL
See also:
HMPD “Best of” Collection:
Wed, March 11, 9:30 pm (60 min) 14+
HMPD Family Collection:
Sun, March 15, 5pm (40 min) All Ages
Curated by Heather Henson (USA), Handmade Puppet Dreams produces DIY puppet films focusing on real time puppetry performed specifically for the camera.
Heather Henson
The youngest of Jim and Jane Henson’s five children, Heather curates and distributes the HMPD film series, produces the annual Orlando Puppet Festival, creates original environmental theatre spectacles and has a variety of on-screen appearances in major movies. She’s also involved in Puppet Slam, an online networking resource connecting puppeteers and venues.
www. muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Heather_Henson | www.samkojihale.com | www.handmadepuppetdreams.com
‘Crane and Tortoise’ Dir. Matty Sidle – “A crane and tortoise engage in a humorous misty spring duel in this production by Dragon Art Studio.”
‘Narrative of Victor Karloch’ Dir. Kevin McTurk – “ Victor Karloch receives a journal from a colleague who is involved in a salvage operation for a series of missing sea freighters in the North Sea. Stock full of adventure , it features the voice talents of Elijah Wood and Christopher Lloyd.”
‘Round’ Dir. Kirk Hendry – “Forest animals face the greatest obstical of all, in this short by Serpico made entirely with multilayered Hand Shadow techniques.”
‘Genius Knows No Formula’ Dir. Paul Andrejco – “While busy formulating his Miracle Elixir, the Doctor receives an emergency house call…”
‘Klonox’ Dir. Thomas Guerigen – “A group of military creatures come across a mysterious and seductive song in the desert.”
‘Cicada Princess’ Dir. Mauricio Baiocchi – “Cicadas come out of the ground for a magical party at the end of their lives.”
‘Daniel By Deluxe’ Dir. Alexandre Vignaud – “In a western town, Bob Black seeks revenge for the death of his brother Billy, who was killed by Daniel the bounty hunter.”
‘Alien Cow Puppet Show Redux’ Dir. Ronald Binon – “Strange things happened to a farmer and his cows.”
‘Empra: Strange Condition” Dir. Oh Yeah Wow – “Three men all face similar conditions when abusing the natural world.”
‘Josephine & The Roach’ Dir. Jonathan Langager – “A surreal, offbeat live-action short film about a cockroach who falls in love with the woman whose apartment he infests.”
‘All This Joy’ Dir. Jesse Garrison – “This music video is an enthusiastic indie-folk tale about coming of age and living with spontaneity, courage, and hope. The creators incorporate elements such as puppetry, animation, and performance.
PRESENTED AT OUR 2015 FESTIVAL
See also:
HMPD Volume VI
Wed, March 11, 7 pm, (85 min), 14+
HMPD “Best of” Collection:
Wed, March 11, 9:30 pm (60 min) 14+
Curated by Heather Henson (USA), Handmade Puppet Dreams produces DIY puppet films focusing on real time puppetry performed specifically for the camera.
Heather Henson
The youngest of Jim and Jane Henson’s five children, Heather curates and distributes the HMPD film series, produces the annual Orlando Puppet Festival, creates original environmental theatre spectacles and has a variety of on-screen appearances in major movies. She’s also involved in Puppet Slam, an online networking resource connecting puppeteers and venues.
‘Colosse’ Dir. Yves Geleyn – ‘Colosse is a giant wooden robot puppet who doesn’t know his own strength, much less what his strings are up to. In this short film, the director explores his childhood obsession with puppets and all things robotic.
‘Finger Puppets Everywhere’ Dir. Laura Heit – Indulge your inner lagomorph with these films featuring handmade finger puppets.
‘All this Joy’ Dir. Jesse Garrison – This music video is an enthusiastic indie-folk tale about coming of age and living with spontaneity, courage, and hope. The creators incorporate elements such as puppetry, animation, and performance.
‘Mountain Goat’ Dir. Jamie Shannon – An excerpt from the award-winning Canadian preschool series NANALAN.
‘The Sure Sheep’ Dir. John Kennedy – Tad the lost sheep learns to overcome his shyness when he joins Handley Sheep Farm. When Tad gets his big break in a commercial he lets the whole flock rock in his catchy TV spot.
‘Eat Your Vegetables’ Dir. Jamie Shannon – An excerpt from the award-winning Canadian preschool series NANALAN.
‘Milano’ Dir. Bradley Kemp – A fun creation from Sesame Street puppeteer Leslie Carerra-Rudolph. Fiveyear-old Lolly enters a cookie-induced dream about Milano, Italy, where she discovers some delicious treats…
‘Mother Hubbard: Table for Two’ Dir. Paul Andrejco – Mother Hubbard and Toby call a cab, but get an out-of this-world experience.
‘Graveyard Jamboree’ Dir. Seamus Walsh & Mark Caballero – An old record by Harry Reser and his Radio All-Star Novelty Orchestra inspired Graveyard Jamboree. The creators’ unique approach combines the whimsy of classic cartoons with the texture and dimensionality of puppetry.
‘Piano Mouths’ Dir. Jeanne Stern – The title says it all! A lighthearted musical interlude from the creator of Les Malaventures de Zut-Alors.
‘Mother Hubbard’ Dir. Paul Andrejco – Mother Hubbard fetches some food for her dog, Toby, but is in for a nasty surprise.
‘Mother Hubbard: Anonymous Tip’ Dir. Paul Andrejco – Toby the dog is on the run from the law.
‘Mother Hubbard: Easy Come, Easy Goat’ Dir. Paul Andrejco – Toby finds a kindred spirit in a money-hungry goat.
‘Robot Adventures on Planet Earth’ Dir. Curtis Wiebe – Robots. Earth. Adventures. Cheese and fun!
‘Mother Hubbard: Last Rites’ Dir. Paul Andrejco – A priest is jilted by canine trickery.
www. muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Heather_Henson | www.samkojihale.com | www.handmadepuppetdreams.com
PRESENTED AT OUR 2015 FESTIVAL
See also:
HMPD Family Collection
Sunday, March 15, 5:00 pm (40 min) All Ages
HMPD Vol VI
Wed, March 11, 7 pm (85 min) 14+
Curated by Heather Henson (USA), Handmade Puppet Dreams produces DIY puppet films focusing on real time puppetry performed specifically for the camera.
Heather Henson
The youngest of Jim and Jane Henson’s five children, Heather curates and distributes the HMPD film series, produces the annual Orlando Puppet Festival, creates original environmental theatre spectacles and has a variety of on-screen appearances in major movies. She’s also involved in Puppet Slam, an online networking resource connecting puppeteers and venues.
‘Yamasong’ Dir. Sam K. Hale – “Nani, a patchwork girl, chases a falling star and meets Shojun, a tortoise fisherman and warrior. Together, they journey through his surreal, fantastic world to the star’s mountain resting place to discover its secrets. From turbulent oceans to mysterious nether spaces, Yamasong is a Japanese-style puppet experience placed in computer-generated worlds.
‘Douce Dame’ Dir. Bradley Kemp – A young painter, obsessed with his muse, continually paints a memory of her… until she lures him away.
‘Junk Palace’ Dir. Lyon Hill – Using elaborate paper puppets, Junk Palace takes you into the world of real-life hoarders the Collyer brothers and imagines what life was like for these unique individuals.
‘Too Loud a Solitude’ Dir. Genevieve Anderson – Based on the beloved novella by Bohumil Hrabal, and containing all the magic still present in the twisted streets of Old Town Prague, Too Loud a Solitude spins a tale of passion, beauty, and high moral stakes in the midst of a crumbling civilization.
‘Moonfishing’ Dir. David Michael Friend – A fisherman’s hobby of sculpting is interrupted when he must perform his monthly task of illuminating his town.
‘Graveyard Jamboree’ Dir. Seamus Walsh & Mark Caballero – Inspired by an old record by Harry Reser and his Radio All-Star Novelty Orchestra. Three techniques were used in this film including, live action puppetry, silhouette animation and stop motion animation.
‘All This Joy’ Dir. Jesse Garrison – This music video is an enthusiastic indie-folk tale about coming of age and living with spontaneity, courage, and hope. The creators incorporate elements such as puppetry, animation, and performance.
www. muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Heather_Henson | www.samkojihale.com | www.handmadepuppetdreams.com
PRESENTED AT OUR 2015 FESTIVAL
What do a lonely bus rider, microscopic puppets, and punk tumours have in common? The prairie, where “nothing ever happens.” Prairie Puppet Underground proves this wrong with a new collection of puppet films.
PPU is a collective of indie Saskatchewan artists creating and exhibiting puppetry on screen. Stay for a Q&A with directors Chrystene Ells, Berny Hi, Kenn McLeod, and Rowan Pantel.
Catch these artists in panels and workshops: Thursday Thinking Panel (Chrystene Ells, Kenn McLeod), Puppetry for Green Screen (Berny Hi, Chrystene Ells), Breakfast with Sleepy Artists Panel (Berny Hi, Rowan Pantel)
‘Star Bright, Meagre Might’ by Gerald Saul (3min) – Shrunken to a microscopic size, Canister the Robot’s infinitesimal invasion from another world to conquer a new sarcastic one-celled nemesis. Puppeteered by Gerald Saul and Geremy Lague with 1/250 scale 2D jointed figures, the film was shot under a Zeiss laboratory microscope using high precision dissection tools.
Gerald Saul is a professor in the Department of Film at the University of Regina. He has created over two hundred films ranging from feature length to under one minute. He can frequently be found with a bucket of photo chemistry under one arm or an empty bucket on his head.
‘Fade to Gray’ by Rowan Pantel (4min) – This film follows the anonymous life that an elderly woman lives as she leaves her lonely house to ride on a city bus.
Rowan Pantel is a Saskatchewan based visual artist and puppeteer, and she is one of the founding members of the Prairie Puppet Underground.
‘The First Engine’ by Ian Campbell (4min) – At the dawn of the 20th century the horse was supplanted by a new means of power. A working mare named Henrietta is startled to find this new invention making itself known across the prairies. Soon it will make its presence felt in a most radical way.
‘I Won’t Be Gone Long’ by Eric Kanius and Chelsea Slessor-Smith (3min) – Rancher Gloria reminisces about a life changing moment from her younger life in Saskatchewan while waiting for her husband to return home from Vancouver.
Filmmaker Eric Kanius and artist Chelsea Slessor-Smith are a major component of Split the Bill, an independent film troupe creating tons of films to better their talents and have some fun.
‘Dolly’ by Berny Hi (3min) – A handmade doll helps a man decide whether or not to have children of his own.
Berny Hi is endlessly fascinated by the cosmos and aspects of the human experience: beauty, sensation, and our unique perception of time and space.
‘The War Effort’ by Kenn McLeod (2min) – In the summer of 1943, two young friends attempt their own mischievous brand of war profiteering. Based on a true story.
Hailing from Regina Saskatchewan, Kenn McLeod is a performer, director, and educator that is always on the lookout for new ways to expand his theatrical repertoire.
‘Study for the Painting Sunflowers’ by Jessica Reiss, (2min) – Based on a poem of the same name, written by Tracy Hamon, this ekphrastic work peeks into the anxiety of voyeurism and the gaze through puppetry and the art of poetry.
Jessica Reiss is a multi-media artist living in Regina, Saskatchewan.
‘Parathyroid Punk’ by Chrystene Ells (3.5min) – A swaggering punk parathyroid tumour puppet boasts about the hell he causes. After being sick for a decade, in 2013 Chrystene was finally diagnosed with a life-threatening parathyroid tumour in her neck. Now post-op, healthy, and turning to cinema for catharsis, Chrystene’s ‘medu-tainment’ film has already helped others get diagnosed.
Chrystene loves life, making stuff, having adventures and conducting experiments. Mostly she loves to do these things with other people.
‘She’ by Jingyi Zhang (4min) – A story about how social institutions and other powers assimilate and form different individuals, especially women, towards same standards.
Jingyi Zhang is a graduate film student in University of Regina. Her research field is matriarchal communities and documentary.
www.prairiepuppetunderground.com | www. filmpool.ca | www.puppetfilm.blogspot.ca
PRESENTED AT OUR 2015 FESTIVAL
Director’s cut! Calgary’s Bleeding Art Industries creates a fun and whimsical Monty Python-esque stop motion animation to the song, River of Snot by the comedic musical trio The Arrogant Worms. After the screening, director Leo Wieser and fabricator and animator Alyssa Moor will talk about their process and show some of the set pieces and props used in the animation.
BLEEDING ART INDUSTRIES (Calgary)
Bleeding Art Industries is a multi-faceted, innovative production company creating cool things. Focused on creative content, special effects, and custom fabrication, they’re known for high quality work, creative solutions, and ability to turn vision into reality. Bleeding Art Industries produced Canada’s first native 3D and stop motion animated film Skeleton Girl and Twisted Tales for Demented Children.
THE ARROGANT WORMS
Since 1991, The Arrogant Worms have written songs to make fun of our “big dumb world.” Luckily, the world is still dumb and The Arrogant Worms, (Mike McCormick, Chris Patterson and Trevor Strong), still have plenty to sing about including, rivers of snot. Their shows are fast, furious and family friendly. Their quick wit, biting satire and stellar musicianship, appeals to fans from kids to grandparents to Princess Leia.
www.bleedingartindustries.com | www.twistedstories.com | www.arrogantworms.com
PRESENTED AT OUR 2015 FESTIVAL
Using spray paint on a fence where Aboriginal mother and grandmother Gloria Black Plume was brutally murdered, AYAP graduate Jesse Gouchey paints a large-scale animation of a bluebird in flight. This award-winning film screened at TIFF and over 70 film festivals worldwide.
PRESENTED AT OUR 2015 FESTIVAL
A collection of brand new shorts created during the Quickdraw Animation Society’s 2013/2014 Aboriginal Youth Animation Project. Participants ages 18 to 24 learned animation techniques, and created films on issues related to youth, culture, and identity.
Featuring: Untitled (April Powder Face), Neighbors (Amber Two Young Men), Norre Athem Sacred of Dragons (Kelsey Two Young Men), Keena (Kes Left Hand), Body and Soul (Ben Pipe Stem), A Special Gift (Christian Boulet), Tales from the 7th Dimension! (Lane Ferguson), Spirit of the Bluebird (Xstine Cook & Jesse Gouchey).
www.quickdrawanimation.ca
