Hosting a full house at the J.A de Seve Theatre , the 8th edition of the Festival Stop Motion Montreal finished with a showcase of some of Europe and North America’s finest stop motion.
The night kicked off with TIS a French production directed by Chloe Lesueur, a story of a paper cut-out with an existential fable; it continued with Chase Me, by Gilles-Alexandre Deschaud, a French music video with a skillful use of textures and form; went on with Tuhi Ruum an Estonian animation by Ulo Pikkov, which with flawless movement told a nostalgic daughter and father tale; next was Noevus by Samuel Yal, another French animation with surrealist imagery and a choreography of body parts; this was followed by the small science fiction narrative of White, directed by Elodie Poncon; SQUAME continued the corporeal trait, this time representing Nicolas Brault vision for the decomposition of the human body; the Russian animation Kukuschka contrasted with its short fantasy narrative of a bird like character caught between a mystical pursuit and parenting, it was the work of Dina Velikovska; the fantasy carried on with the Polish animated poem Rivers, where Daria Kopiec showed the relationship of the protagonist to the rivers of the title; Jailbreak provided brief comedic relief with an unexpected twist, a US animation directed by Aaron Sorenson; more sombre was the post-apocalyptic tale of a Vanocni Balada, by Michal Zabka from Czech Republic; nevertheless, humour was the desert and main plate as Under the Apple Tree brought dark humour laughter for 18 minutes, it was directed by Erik Van Schaaik from the Netherlands and Belgium.
After the screenings, festival director and founder, Érik Goulet, entertained the guests talking about the festival’s origins in 2009, the first specialized stop motion animation festival in the world. He remarked on the presence of this edition’s guests, from studios like Laika and Clyde Henry productions, and introduced the juries Sylvie Trouvé and Claude Robinson. Their choice for winners were Under the Apple Tree by Erik van Schaaik for the professional category, The Five Minute Museum by Paul Bush for the independant prize, and Hi, It’s Your Mother by the Concordia graduate Daniel Sterlin-Altman for the student award. The audience had its pick too, and the public choice winner went to Fulfilament by Rhianon Evans from the UK. As Goulet remarked, the festival had three sold out shows for that day alone, a sign that it is gaining momentum and helping to promote stop motion artists from both sides of the Atlantic.
-01.png)
Comments