Article written by Linda Beck.
If you didn’t make it to Ron Diamond’s Animation Show of Shows, here’s the program of animated shorts you missed:
“Photograph of Jesus” – Laurie Hill/Basil Stephens
“The Da Vinci Time Code” – Gil Alkabetz
“Volgens de Vogels (According to Birds)” – Linde Fass
“Santa: The Fascist Years” – Bill Plympton/Biljana Labovic
“El Empleo (The Employment)” – Santiago “Bou” Grasso/Patricia Plaza
“Nuvole, Mani” –Simone Massi/Rob Dyens & Aurélia Prévieu
“The Spine” – Chris Landreth/Marcy Page, Steve Hoban, Mark Smith, Robert Munroe, & David Verrall
“Chick” – Michael Socha/Paltge Image/Marcin Kobylecki
“Partly Cloudy” – Peter Sohn/Kevin Reher
“Runaway” – Cordell Barker/Michael Scott & Derek Mazur
The HBO Theatre on Avenue of the Americas between 42nd and 43rd Streets is super swanky and was able to accommodate, in a separate screening room, standing-room-only guests.
The ten hand-picked films, which will be available in a dvd set for purchase at next year’s Animation Show of Shows, make up a diverse collection, both in medium and origin. 3D, Compositing, and drawn are all strongly represented, however if Stop Motion’s your thing, you won’t find it here. There are two selections from both the U.S. and Canada, with England, Germany, the Netherlands, Argentina, Italy, and Poland filling in the remaining slots. It’s a solid grouping.
Most of you will have seen “Santa: The Facist Years”, animated and produced in a sickeningly short amount of time, if I’m remembering correctly, by Plymptoons, and “Partly Cloudy”, the latest offering from the folks over at Pixar.
My short list of other films you shouldn’t miss include:
“Photographs of Jesus”, a documentary with animation about a stock photo and video facility and their incoming requests for, as you might gather from the title, pictures of Jesus, footage of yetis, and other impossible, nonexistent items.
“Volgens de Vogels (According to Birds)” is a beautifully drawn meditation and offers a nice mental break.
And “Runaway”, about an out-of-control train, is just pure GENIUS.
Thanks to Ron, his staff, and his volunteers, for this terrific event!