Twins are weird….

Article by Tristian Goik.

Twins Are Weird…

… and apparently so is everyone else.  Ha ha ha, well that is to be expected at The Peculiar Picture Parade.  Twins Are Weird Productions are two lovely twins Noelle Melody and Joy Vacesse who put together an intimate festival of animation at the 92Y Tribeca Theatre last week ($10).  Straight off the bat, I have to say it had one of the best panel discussions of animation I’ve ever been too.  This is what I would have wanted my college classes to be like, where people discuss their feelings and ideas for creating animation, instead of being too busy with their Moleskin sketch books to talk.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, as Fran Krause’s latest animation Nosy Bear demonstrates.  The festival itself was comprised mostly of films familiar to the ASIFA Jury audience, with a few notable exceptions.  Animation Workshop is always a good bet, and The Backwater Gospel by Bo Mathorne Schou-Nielsen entertained me with a gritty ambiguous style and lots of violence to make you squirm.  And Boobatary by Leah Shore is about a secretary with magnificent mammaries.

There will most likely be more of these festivals and if you get in I encourage you to make yourself available to take questions from the audience.  Dusty Grella promoted his Animation Hot Line Series and told us what it is like to mail a letter to your-self everyday forever.  Signe Baume opened up to the audience with her excerpts from her film Rocks in My Pocket (Suicide) and now I’m going to have to track down all her animations and watch them.  Jessica “JP” Polaniecki talked about the best flea markets to buy miniatures and tiny wooden clogs.  Brett W. Thompson, who designed the poster and made two short paper-n-marker films, rocked out and possibly took photos of the other panelists (hilarious).

Twins are Weird gave us a sneak peek at their latest short Place Stamp Here which creates a travel-romance out of digitized mementoes.  They have a special talent for handling a Q&A session, putting their panelists at ease and letting answers run their natural course with out things getting too out of hand.  I look forward to more of their screenings.  And asking more ridiculous questions.