Thursday October 4, 19:00 - 25 Years in Slovak Animation
International Tour Film Festival, Fest Anča and Slovak Film Institute
presents
25 Years in Slovak Animation
Explore Slovak animation with a special selection 25 Years in Slovak Animation!
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary years of Slovakia’s independence, Slovak Film Institute and International Animation Festival Fest Anča prepared the compilation 25 Years in Slovak Animation, presenting widely recognized and renowned Slovak animated shorts made since 1993.
The selected shorts introduce various precedencies, milestones and distinguish authors who have formed Slovak contemporary animation. Titles demonstrate literacy, technical prowess, thematic maturity and inventiveness of their authors.
Slovak animation has gone through uneasy times since 1993. Drastic institutional changes right after the declaration of indepedence caused stagnation in Slovak animation that affected the whole community of animation filmmakers. The establishment of Department of Animation at the Academy of Performing Arts averted the risk of its total disappearance of Slovak animation. From this vague period arose a new generation of Slovak animators. At that time an important part for the growth of animation was represented by commissioned work on animated music videos.
25 YEARS IN SLOVAK ANIMATION
Kroky, skoky, roky… a posledný zhasne (Steps, jumps, years…and last one turn the lights off) (1995) directed by Katarína Kerekesová, Vanda Raýmanová, Michal Struss, Karol Holubčík, Maroš Končok, Vlado Král, Martina
Matlovičová, Matej Klade, Martin Snopek
A collection of first animation exercises by students of newly established Atelier of Animation at the Academy of Performing Arts Bratislava.
Dvojhlasná Invencia a-mol (Double voice invention a-minor) (1998) directed by Vladimír Král
The chase of the redhood and the wolf, with the sad end. Masters degree filmy by one of the first students of Atelier of Animation at the Academy of Performing Arts Bratislava.
V kocke (In the box) (1999) directed by Michal Struss
A character is inside a cubical room; there is a hole in the roof, which is too high to reach. Short film about being trapped in space. Among other awards In the Box received the Student Oscar awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Lionardo Mio (2004) directed by Ivana Šebestová
Florence, 1500 A. C. A theatre company performs a love story à la commedia dell’arte: Harlequin desires Columbine, but she loves a noble and mysterious painter Leonardo da Vinci. The story gets tangled, nobody knows anymore what fiction is and what reality. Only Leonardo keeps his head cool and makes use of the emotional disorder to create his masterpieces.
Viliam (2009) directed by Veronika Obertová
A story of Viliam, who lives his own animated life within the real world. Childish fun turns into a problem, the problem becomes a solution. No solution is perfect though…
tWins (2011) directed by Peter Budinský
The story is about two Siamese twins fighting each other in the boxers’ ring. “Thanks” to their disability they are sharing professional and private life, both from the different social side. The story is coming to the head when the smaller from the brothers tries to win a common fight. However, situation present that one part cannot be without another part.
Posledný autobus (Last bus) (2011) directed by Ivana Laučíková and Martin Snopek
It’s the start of the hunting season. The animals of the forest board a small bus and flee to safety. When hunters stop the bus in the middle of the night, its passengers reveal their true natures in fear for their lives.
Pandy (Pandas) (2012) directed by Matúš Vizár
They are the product of millions of generations before them and yet they're left all alone in the forest to fend for themselves. One day an all to active primate, the human being, finds them and they quickly become a pond in man's games.
Kovbojsko (Cowboyland) (2015) directed by Dávid Štumpf
According to the justice of the Wild West, thieves must be punished. But when the sheriff's horse breaks, and there is no-one to oversee justice, it's hard to forecast if justice stays justice.
Duch mesta (Spirit of the City) (2015) directed by Veronika Kocourková e Andrej Kolenčík
Pixel-art music video clip about the city and the life in it.
Journey (2018) directed by Marek Jasaň
A young man at an airport tries to fill his inner world after he discovers that compared to other people he is completely blank.
More about the Academy and it’s Department of Animation
While Film and TV Faculty’s tradition is more than sixty years old, its DEPARTMENT OF ANIMATION was established only in 1993 (three years after the Faculty of Film and Television establishment as an independent body). Films of the graduates, characterized by strong autarchic visuality, have been seen with great success and recognition at many representative international events (Annecy, Los Angeles, Moscow, Stuttgart, Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong and many more). Among the winners of world prestigious awards for animators are names such as: Katarina Kerekesova, Vanda Raymanova, Ivana Laucikova, Michal Struss, Michaela Copikova, Peter Budinsky, Martin Snopek, Vlado Kral, Boris Sima or Martina Mikusova. During the last 25 years Department of Animation educated more than 80 graduates who are currently working in the professional field, have their own production companies and help educate next generations of filmmakers.
The Faculty of Film and Television has been founded in 1990 as the youngest of the three faculties of the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. With more than 150 films produced every year, ranging from short exercises to medium-length films, it is the most important film school in Slovakia. The faculty offers ten academic specializations: scriptwriting, fiction film directing, documentary film directing, editing, cinematography, animation, sound design, production and management, audiovisual studies and visual effects. We encourage experimentation and research in artistic creation and help our students to adapt to the professional needs of contemporary audiovisual and multimedia arts.
Fest Anča
Fest Anča International Animation Festival is unique in being the only Slovak multimedia festival focused on animated film targeted mainly at a mature audience. The festival aims to raise awareness about animated film as an autonomous art form, and to educate about its multiple types and aspects.
The competitive programme comprises a selection of the stand-out animated films completed in the last two years. Through non-competitive thematic sections and regional focuses, Fest Anča presents artistic and production milestones in the history of animation. The festival includes an international competition of animated short films, music videos, and non-competitive screening sections. Additional accompanying events include presentations, exhibitions, workshops, concerts, film screenings for children, Pecha Kucha Ancha, and Animation Karaoke Battle.
Fest Anča Game Days is a core part of the festival programme, which aims to promote the videogame industry and cooperation between videogame studios and animators. The Fest Anča New Talents industry forum is targeted at film professionals with a focus on the planning, development and presentation of animated film projects.
Fest Anča has always called the Stanica Cultural Centre in Žilina (Slovakia) its home, gradually rolling out to other venues – such as the New Synagogue – as the festival grew in size, scope and vision. The truly distinctive an attractive element of Fest Anča is the unique informal setting, which fosters a positive atmosphere of like-minded individuals coming together for a few days to watch films and exchange ideas about what they love best – animation and video gaming. There’s no red carpet treatment, bouncers or VIP zones at our festival – filmmakers, organizers and visitors freely mingle in a cultural and creative exchange over beers and hotdogs. While some come just for the films, all festival goers leave informed, inspired and eager to return next year – to see more films, play more games, and make new friends.
Slovak Film Institute
The Slovak Film Institute (SFI) was established in Bratislava on 1 April 1963. The film archive of the Central Film Distribution Company of that time, founded by Ivan Rumanovský in 1958, became a part of the SFI. Following resumption of the activities of the Czechoslovak Film Institute (CSFI) in Prague, the SFI was appointed as its branch in 1963; shortly afterwards, the statute of the joint archive of the CSFI Prague and SFI Bratislava was approved at the Congress of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF). The SFI became an independent institution in 1991 and an independent member of the FIAF only in 2001. Ján Komiňár became the first director of the SFI, holding that office for the longest time of all SFI directors to date. More than twenty others succeeded him in this post, the current General Director being Peter Dubecký. In 1968, the Institute moved from its first site on the premises of the Film Club on Rybné námestie to its current location on Grösslingova ulica. Since 1968 it has archived selected foreign film works in addition to domestic productions and since 1969 it has initiated a broad range of activities in the area of research of the history of Slovak cinematography.