AURORA - THE NORWICH INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL
AURORA 2007 http://www.aurora.org.uk
The Norwich International Animation Festival
7th - 10th November 2007
Kayla Parker and Stuart Moore
Sundog Media
AURORA 2007: Possible Worlds
Background
This year's Norwich International Animation Festival took place at the new Cinema City, recently reopened after an extensive refurbishment, with the programmes of film screenings and talks complimented by a wide range of animation-themed activities taking place at different places across the city. Cinema City is Norwich's independent art-house cinema, and is sited within a medieval building that has been used for film screenings since 1925 (1). The venue has been the focal point of moving image festivals in Norwich since the early 1980s, hosting annual Autumn events such as the Cinewomen International Film Festival and the Film Arts Norwich (FAN) festival, founded by Rose Hanna in the late 1990s. FAN was the showcase for a broad perspective of moving image and visual arts, including animation, and laid the foundations for the current series of animation festivals under the sponsorship of Norwich School of Art and Design, its principal funder.
In recent years the definition of animation has become an area of debate because of technological developments, social and cultural shifts within the community of practice, and its increasing pervasiveness. Rebranded this year as AURORA, the festival has positioned itself at the centre of the ongoing debate about the nature of 'animation' and what its future might be in the 21st century. Festival Director Adam Pugh explains this shift in emphasis from a festival of animation to a festival of 'the extended moving image' (2):
'Earlier this year, Norwich International Animation Festival became AURORA - a change which arose less because of any need for a snappier or more marketing-friendly title, more because the words 'animation festival' had become little more than a noose. Ironically, last year's event, whilst successful, failed in a small way, both to attract a new, broad 'visual arts' audience and to communicate satisfactorily with a traditional 'animation festival' crowd: the visual arts people were put off by the animation label whilst that audience were alienated by programmes which contained what they perceived as 'non-animation.'' (3)
The theme chosen for this year's festival was 'possible worlds', with all programmes and events exploring and celebrating different interpretations of interior, imaginary, external, and alien worlds - including interactive and virtual worlds. The star attraction at AURORA was the legendary animator Robert Breer. Fellow North Americans Jeff Scher and Jim Trainor were also there to present programmes of their films. Other artists' programmes featured the nightmarish universe portrayed by Naoyuki Tsuji, and the abstracted world of Tokyo-based Takashi Ishida, complimented by a screen installation by Yuiko Matsuyama.
We had attended two previous animation festivals in Norwich, but on both occasions had been contributing artist film-makers: in 2001 a selection of films and artwork were exhibited in the Norwich Gallery (4), and last year our film 'Sunset Strip' was screened in the cinema (5). As festival organisers ourselves (6), we were keen to attend AURORA as delegates to observe and learn more about the process of managing and promoting a large, complex festival event.
What worked
The new digital projection facilities at Cinema City are outstanding, and the quality of the visual imagery and sound reproduction are exceptional. The facility to project from 16mm and 35mm film prints has been retained, and this enabled the screening during the festival of rarely-seen archive material in its original format. With three screens running in parallel at Cinema City it was possible to devise a festival schedule which permitted repeat screenings of many programmes, and ensured that each day was packed with a variety of events from ten in the morning till midnight at Cinema City, in addition to all the other events and exhibitions taking place within walking distance in Norwich city centre.
A full festival pass cost £60 and was real value for money: delegates had free entry to all the festival programmes and events across the four days, and were given a copy of the AURORA catalogue which contained full, illustrated details of all the films shown, interviews with the featured artists, film-makers and animators, plus contextual articles.
The festival was successful in attracting an audience from across the UK and beyond, ensuring that the event had a true international and multicultural feel: we met a group of Dutch students who were working on collaborative projects with animation students in Norwich (7), a Belgian painter whose first animated film had been selected for the AURORA Student Award, a Singaporean animator and lecturer, as well as many other animators, film-makers, artists, film historians, and students from Europe, Asia and North America.
The festival organisers were successful in securing several highly accomplished international practitioners: these 'celebrity' artists and film-makers were present throughout the festival and gave the event a unique profile. In addition, many of the films in competition were being screened for the first time - AURORA 2007 hosted the world premiere of the latest batch of Animate films (8) commissioned by Arts Council England and Channel 4, beating the Encounters festival in Bristol and the Whitechapel Gallery in London.
The combined music and film events held each evening at the nearby Norwich Arts Centre demonstrated the variety of forms animation can take within a live event, and the interactive relationship of sonic art and the animated image, and featured performances by 'Semiconductor' and 'The ZX Spectrum Orchestra'. In contrast, Yuiko Matsuyama's exhibition at the Norwich Gallery added another, understated dimension to the festival programme - her installation 'Look into the Water' invited contemplation, as shifting, mesmeric images of organic colour were projected onto a pillow of sand upon the floor.
Some gripes
During redevelopment of the Cinema City site, part of the building and outdoor courtyard was repurposed as a restaurant - unfortunately this has restricted the space for socialising and networking. The guest film-makers, festival organisers and jury members tended to stay on site during programme breaks, in the Cinema City bar, but this was a small space and most audience members were forced to go elsewhere during the intervals. Although there are many cafés and bars close by, that all-important festival buzz was diluted as it was difficult for people to engage informally at the main venue.
The design and layout of the festival brochure were very confusing and it was difficult to plan one's viewing 'itinerary' with confidence. On the first day we arrived in the foyer of Cinema City to collect our delegate passes, and saw several people hunched over the A5 AURORA brochure, peering at the programme information - this was a common sight throughout the festival, as festival-goers tried to work out which programmes were being shown when, and where!
Highlights
Robert Breer introduced both screenings of his films, and entertained us with his insights and memories. Now aged 80, 'Bob' recalled how he first got into making films and the methodology behind his prolific output - he has made one film a year during the last half century, and completed what he said would be his last film three years ago. On the last day of the festival, Breer was in conversation with curator and film historian David Curtis, and expanded upon his life, his art and his influences, and how his early training as an engineer had informed his film-making practice. This was an historic occasion as Breer is one of the great animation pioneers of the 20th century.
New York-based painter Jeff Scher was inspired by Breer to adopt a similarly 'random' and autobiographic approach to animation. With a prolific output of one film a month, in the 1990s Scher began to undertake commercial commissions for television and create music video in addition to his own personal films. There was an interesting discussion after his screening about how the collapse of 16mm film processing and printing in the USA had affected Scher's process, and he revealed that he now uses iStopMotion software to capture his imagery.
It was great to see the new collection of Animate films 'first', although all six depended upon a narration or voice-over of single or multiple voices. We thought that the strongest film was 'End of the Street' in which Andy Martin imaginatively illustrated the effects of the original 19th century Beaufort Wind Force scale to a specially written piece by poet Ian McMillan. 'Francis' by Let Me Feel Your Finger First was misjudged: in this film, an unseen child psychologist makes comments about the character of a disabled boy, and repeats Victorian attitudes about 'the feeble-minded', and we felt that it should not have been commissioned.
Prize winners at AURORA 2007 included Elizabeth Hobbs 'The Old, Old, Very Old Man' (Best Short Film Award) about Thomas Parr, who is said to have lived until 152, and was animated in blue ink using the unusual and difficult technique of painting on a white bathroom; and 'Nijuman No Borei (200,000 Phantoms)' by Jean-Gabriel Périot (Dick Arnall Award). Périot's moving film was a UK premiere, and told the story of Hiroshima from 1914 to 2006 through a chronological collection of family photographs, snapshots, official photographic records and postcards.
The Future
We did our best to see as many of the 'possible worlds' as we could, and even though we were there for the whole four days there were some events we just couldn't squeeze in. There were a few grumbles from the more traditional animators about some of the more experimental and non-animated films shown, but the breadth, depth, and ambition of the event overall was very impressive. During our time in Norwich we saw an amazing variety of animation in a range of contexts, and we're still digesting and reflecting on our experiences. AURORA works because its key venue has an established history as a screening venue, and because its adoption by Norwich School of Art and Design ensures its stability - the festival has a permanent director who works with a team of influential and informed advisors and supporters to develop and shape the festival each year. We think that next year's festival is likely to explore further the territory of manipulated photographic space and time, interactivity in the digital realm, and expanded notions of moving image.
A selection of the best new work from AURORA, including animated adverts, music videos and short films, can be seen by Plymouth audiences early next year: Peninsula Arts are screening the three British Animation Awards Public Choice programmes in the Jill Craigie Cinema at the Roland Levinsky Building, University of Plymouth on 19, 20 and 21 February 2008.
Notes:
1. 'Cinema History' in 'Cinema City, Norwich', on Picture House website, October 2007, City Screen, London (online)
www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema_history.aspx?venueId=nor
2. Dick Arnall, 'Death to Animation', in 'Imagine Magazine', Issue 2 Summer 2005, Greetlake Services, Bristol, p.58
The AURORA festival is dedicated in perpetuity to the memory of animation producer Dick Arnall, one of its key supporters and advisors, who died earlier this year. In 2005 Arnall published a manifesto which expressed a need to find a new term for animation that was not a cartoon, or character-based storytelling, or frame-by-frame entertainment.
3. Adam Pugh, 'Have You Seen the Stars Tonight?: The manipulated moving image shines brightly in Norwich this Autumn', in 'Vertigo', Volume 3 Issue 7 Autumn/Winter 2007, Gareth Evans (ed), Vertigo Publications, London, p13
4. Curated by Suzie Hanna, the exhibition 'Animation: synaesthesia in the experimental animated film' included work by contemporary artists Jeff Keen, Kayla Parker, and Clive Walley, and pioneers Oskar Fischinger, Norman McLaren and Len Lye, 17 October - 10 November 2001, Norwich Gallery, Norwich
5. Curated by Dick Arnall, 'Animate! Revisions: Life Beyond Live Action', at 'Norwich International Animation Festival', 20 October 2006, Playhouse, Norwich
6. We founded 'START Moving Image' in 1993 to promote the film culture of south west England and Kernow, and have organized and curated many festivals, screening events and film tours. Last year we presented 'Sunday Shorts' at the Desmond Tutu Centre, College of St Mark and St John, Plymouth, to showcase the best new international and British short films; information online here:
www.sundog.co.uk/start/sunday_shorts
7. 'Project St Joost/Norwich', an exchange programme between the animation departments of the art academy in St Joost, Breda, Holland and Norwich School of Art and Design, information online here:
All the 'Encounters' animations produced during the exchange were screened at Norwich School of Art and Design from 7 to 9 November, with an accompanying exhibition of artwork and storyboards.
8. '6 new commissions' in 'animate!: Films', on 'animateonline' website, October 2007, Finetake, London (online)
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Plymouth Media-Partnership for supporting our attendance through a bursary.
© Copyright Kayla Parker and Stuart Moore 19th November 2007
Sundog Media: www.sundog.co.uk
