The first ever British Animation Film Festival was held in London om Sunday 29th July, and as luck would have it I had the privilege of being invited along to watch the 30 plus animations that had been submitted for screening.
Due to the event being held in London, at pretty much the same time as the Olympics kicking off, I was racked with delays on my journey to the Rich Mix cinema in Bethnal Green, meaning I sadly missed the very first 2 animations on show (an 8 minute animation by Andrew Martin called Gus, and a 7 minute animation by Amanda Tasse called The Reality Clock); luckily I was able to catch the rest of the first screening and continue the day from there.
There were a total of 4 screenings throughout the day, showcasing various animations from both independent groups and a couple of well known studios, with 30-60 minute breaks between each set of films.
Due to the nature of the festival, and the sheer number of animations that were screened at the event, it is impossible for me to review every single piece that was screened on the day. However, there are some animations of note that I wish to share with you.
Miss Remarkable and her career
This animation was by far one of my favorite entries at the entire event, purely because it manages to do what all good animations do; it conveys its story within its animation and style, even though the language used is not one that I understand, I was still capable of following the storyline.
The use of a dark and often impenetrable bubble around the main character as a sign of her growing depression is, in my opinion, a wonderful use of the limited colour scheme they chose for the animation and a brilliant way of showing how depression can truly feel for the sufferer at times.
Worlds Apart
This particular animation really struck a nerve with me while sat in the theater. It's a fairly simplistic tale of a group of aliens visiting a ruined Earth and discovering a soft toy that is able to show them what the planet was like before humans ruined it (a bit like A.I: Artificial Intelligence, but replace the robots with aliens).
The soft toy is loved by a small boy, taken everywhere with him, until the fateful day where he has to leave due to severe conditions. The bear is left alone until the aliens rediscover him.
This hits home for me for several reasons, partly because I care about the effects that humanity is having on our planet, but mostly because my wife has a similar relationship to her soft toy collection that she has had since she was a child...it sounds odd, but the very thought of her having to go through the same kind of made me want to weep a little. Luckily the theater was dark, and I was sat at the very back.
It may not have the same affect on every viewer, but the message of the animation and the professional quality are clear enough for all to see.
Being Bradford Dillman
A somewhat unique animation style and incredibly unique storyline made this an enjoyable watch for the whole audience at the festival.
As you may be able to guess, the story revolves around a child of an alcoholic mother who is one day told that she was once born as a boy (Bradford Dillman), and later changed into a girl after pleading with the doctors.
Director Emma Burch made an appearance at the screening to talk with everyone afterwards, allowing us to probe her mind as to how this unique story came to be. Interestingly, after much talk of budget restraints of production times for the animation, it was revealed that the story came from personal experience as Ms. Burch was growing up.
Beyond everything, I think this revelation when combined with the prior viewing of the piece helped the audience understand that to create an endearing and long lasting piece of work, at least a tiny bit of yourself or your life experience need to mixed in to it.
Much Better Now
Another animation that really made a connection with something special to me, Much Better Now is the story of a bookmark that finds itself exploring the book it has been left in.
In all honesty, without wanting to write too much on a beautifully simple concept, I find this animation to be a wonderful way of showing people how books are able to take the reader to anywhere in the world, or even anywhere in the universe.
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As I said above, with over 30 films being screened at the festival it is impossible for me to talk about them all in any amount of detail. Sadly not all of the films shown had trailers available, but to view those that are available you can head on over to Film Festival Guild's YouTube account HERE and watch the rest. Alternatively you can follow the guil on Twitter HERE and contact them for yourselves for more information on future events or how to get involved.
As the first ever British Animation Film Festival to be held, I have to say I was massively impressed. Tickets for the festival were all sold out by the end of the day, the animations being screened were mostly all highly professional (there were a couple of bad eggs, but this may just be my taste over anything else!), and the ability to Q&A with some of the talent behind the animations was a wonderful addition to the event.
Although the event was fairly low key for its first year,the organisers are already discussing how they can expand in future years, with plans involving bigger screens, larger Q&As with more of the talent behind the films, and the possibility of having some of the original artwork for the pieces of display throughout the Rich Mix Cinema.
It sounds tacky and cliché to add this to the end of this blog, but I honestly want to say a huge thank you to the organisers of the event (especially for inviting me along to review it, and for not being angry that the review is up a little later than expected) for being able to organise such a fun and interesting day out. I am greatly looking forward to future events, and I eagerly anticipate any and all future entries that the UK Film Festival Guild receive.
If this is the sort of thing that interests you (which I really hope it does given you've found your way to this blog), you can keep tabs on all future plans by the UK Film Festival Guild over at www.filmfestivalguild.com
