Pittari by Patrick Smith, Blend Films, NYC A horned creature’s circle of abuse is halted by a stubborn foe.
THE AUDIENCE AWARDS FROM THE 2017 SPRING SHOWCASE OF ANIMATION
Best in show: Catching the L Train an independent production by Eric Raingruber, Modesto, CA; 1st Place, Independent: Pittari by Patrick Smith, New York City; 2nd Place, Independent: Tabook by Dario van Vree, music by Nik Phelps, Gent, Belgium; Honorable Mention: swiPed by David Chai, assisted by students from San Jose State; 1st Place, Professional: As the River Flows by Little Fluffy Clouds; 2nd Place, Professional: It’s a Wonderful Loaf by Little Fluffy Clouds; 1st Place, Student: Anxiety by Allison Jones, NYU Tisch School of the Arts; 2nd Place, Student: Ted by Tada Kongjonrak, Academy of Art, San Francisco.
The 90 minute program of 32 films was well received by an appreciative audience. There was considerable applause for every film and occasional laughter. Ten of the artists took part in an informative Q & A. The program ranged from a brief film with delightful cutout figures by 4th graders from the Diane Feinstein Elementary School to exquisite artwork in the two films by Little Fluffy Clouds (Jerry van de Beek and Betsy de Fries, https://www.littlefluffyclouds.com).
In A Dream of Dolls Dancing Christiane Cegavske, who teaches at the Kansas City Art Institute, breathes lifelike movements into her stop-motion puppets. Still images of her fascinating looking creatures are at http://christianecegavske.com/DreamOfDollsDancing.html.
Pittari by Patrick Smith is a powerful surreal work of art. An 18 second “trailer” is on his unique website http://blend-films.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html
For humor David Chai’s swiPed got the most laughs while Joanna Priestly’s Bottle Neck is a really handsome work of abstract art/design set to music. Coming from Europe there was Tabook, an amusing short about a young woman trying to hide her enthusiasm for a kinky publication from other shoppers in a bookstore.
If you missed the screening and want to attend a rerun, we are putting together with permission of the artists a DVD that can be shown in schools and by other ASIFA chapters for free. Members will be invited to some of them. One screening we are setting up is in Berkeley at their Community College. If you can help organize a screening contact Karl Cohen or Tim Harrington tharring@ccsf.edu