2024-05-13 22:21:20
Scriptwriter and dramaturg Jiří Kubíček received the award for lifetime contribution to animated film at the opening of the 23rd annual Anifilm festival in Liberec on Tuesday. The organizers of the six-day show also announced the results of the national Český obzor competition. The 132-member board chose the puppet film Tonda, Slávka and magical light by director Filip Pošivač as the best domestic work.
According to festival director Tomáš Rychecký, 80-year-old Kubíček is a personality of animated film and few people have such an overview of Czech animation. “He was in Short Film as a dramaturg. He was also there after the revolution when the department of animated film was founded at FAMU, so he helped educate several generations of animators and directors,” recalls Rychecký.
Award-winning Kubíček is also the author of the theoretical book Introduction to the Aesthetics of Animation and the series Masters of Czech Animated Film.
In the national competition Český obzor, a jury composed of professionals in the field evaluated a record 69 works. She chose Filip Pošivač Tondo’s full-length puppet film Slávka and the magical light as the best, which takes place before Christmas in a gloomy apartment building. The film, in which the eleven-year-old Tonda and the mysterious newly moved girl Slávka search for the origin of the mysterious wisps of darkness, also won first place in the categories of best Czech short and feature film at the opening of Anifilm.
The prize for the best student film goes to Darya Kashcheeva with the short animated film Electra. He also won her the Czech Lion this year. This is not the first success for the 38-year-old director, she has already collected dozens of awards in the past, including the student Oscar.
The pilot episode of the Veggierado series directed by Jan Bubeníček won the prize in the category of the Český obzor intended for series.
The award for the best series went to the pilot of the Veggierado series by director Jan Bubeníček. | Photo: CTK
The award for the best Czech commissioned work goes to Marek Berger, the author of the spot Fast Arrows celebrates 85 years. As the best Czech video clip, the jury chose the artistically unique work Prezident Lourajder: Lunapark, directed by Matej Mihályi.
The international Anifilm festival will last in Liberec until Sunday, offering 444 competitive and non-competitive films. Part of the accompanying program are exhibitions, concerts, theaters, a music or dubbing studio. The organizers will announce the results of the international categories on Saturday, with ten full-length and 28 short animated films in the most watched competitions.
Program director Pavel Horáček believes that the feature films are of better quality this year than in previous years. “For me, there are a lot of favorites for the award. The selection itself was difficult, because there are much more full-length animated films than there used to be,” he noted.
How to stand up to AI
This year’s edition deals, among other things, with the use of artistic intelligence in creative professions, for now only in specialist seminars for film and game professionals. There is no film completely created by artificial intelligence among the competition films. “We haven’t entered such a one yet, because it probably wouldn’t be of such high quality in the competition. But I think we’ll be waiting for it in a few years and that we might not even know if the creators don’t say so,” says festival director Tomáš Rychecký.
According to him, the question will be how to deal with it in the future. “If we make, for example, two categories. That there will be a competition where we will evaluate human work and films made without artificial intelligence, and then the rest, which will probably be the majority and where the creators have already helped themselves in some way with artificial intelligence,” he suggests.
Director of the Anifilm festival Tomáš Rychecký with the prize for the winner. | Photo: CTK
Today, even an amateur can create a film with the help of artificial intelligence. “The development is very fast. Every week a new application is created. So it brings with it a lot of possibilities, but also potential threats,” Rychecký outlines another reason why the festival deals with the topic.
For example, one of the seminars here asks how to use AI in accordance with the law. “Lawyers who specialize in artificial intelligence will debate how to grasp this phenomenon,” adds Rychecký.
The organizers also deal with the use of artificial intelligence from a philosophical point of view. “How far can it go and what awaits us in the near and distant future,” Rychecký mentions the topic of the next seminar. They will also have a practical part. “Creators who already know how to use the tools will come, use them in their work and share their experiences here in Liberec at Anifilm with others,” summarizes the director.
According to him, some creators of animated films are already partially simplifying their work thanks to AI. But it is not clear whether it will remain only a benefit in the future. “When production speeds up and becomes cheaper, if we don’t expect a certain flood of new content, that there will be multiples of submitted films. And then what will happen to cinema distribution and streaming in general? Because it will no longer be humanly possible to watch all the new films. It is definitely a thing , which we have to prepare for and think about, like distribution, production and so on. It’s still an economic environment. So how will producers and studios be able to make money from it?” asks the festival director.
Two messy topics
In addition to artificial intelligence, this year’s edition focuses on two areas. One is fine art in animation, the other is puppets used in movies. “We thought for a long time that the water puppet was such a small topic that wouldn’t take up the entire festival. And we said the same thing about visual arts in animation. In the end, it turned into two such messy topics that we almost didn’t fit in there.” explains program director Pavel Horáček.
Fine art in animation is presented by the organizers in the non-competitive section called Fine-Art-Animation. It includes films inspired by specific images, artistic trends or collage animation. Little-known rarities created by artists Kája Saudek and Adolf Hoffmeister will also be on display.
The second theme of the festival – marionettes and other types of puppets used in films – are, according to Horáček, a somewhat neglected and special genre of cinematography. “In the Czech Republic, this phenomenon has a long history, from Spejbl and Hurvínek through Jan Švankmajer to the present, when there are films like Kuky se vráci or Malý a Velký pán,” reminds the program director.
This theme is also part of the accompanying exhibition, which already started as a trailer for Anifilm a few weeks ago at the North Bohemian Museum in Liberec.
Anifilm tries to present the best that has been created in the past year in domestic and foreign animation production. At this year’s event, for example, the movie Velký pán directed by Radek Beran will have its premiere, which will be released in regular distribution in the fall.
Among the judges will be personalities from the world of animation, such as British director Hugh Welchman, who will present his feature films Vincent and Jagna with love to the audience. And for example, the Hungarian director and artist Milorad Krstić will be remembered not only with the film Collector Ruben Brandt, but also with an exhibition of his drawings and graphics in the Oblastní gallery in Liberec.
After moving from Třeboň, Anifilm takes place for the fifth time in Liberec, and the number of visitors increases every year. Over 35,000 people arrived last year. This year’s budget is 26 million crowns, the organizers partially cover it from public resources. The subsidy from the Ministry of Culture is 6.4 million, from Liberec 1.5 million, and the Liberec Region will give the same amount.
This time too, the castle will be the center of events, but the organizers are preparing the program for 13 other places around Liberec. The exhibition center has been newly added, it will be screened in Pavilion I. “There will be a full-fledged projection in it,” concludes festival director Tomáš Rychecký.
Video: Her film conquers the world. It is a bodily experience
Darya Kashcheeva presented her film Electra in Cannes. “It’s a bodily experience that gets under the skin of the audience,” she said on Spotlight. | Video: Blahoslav Baťa