Animix 2012 – the International Animation, Comics and Caricature Festival, will take place from August 8 – 12, 2012 at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque. It’s an amazing 5 day marathon of animated films, exhibitions, lectures, workshops, activities for kids, and master classes. A complete schedule is available in Hebrew on the Animix website.
A special guest at this year’s festival is New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly. Ms. Donnelly will talk about the New Yorker as a platform for political cartoons, and discuss the issue of women – or lack thereof – in the field, on Thursday, July 9th at 21:00.
Israeli political cartoonist Moshik Lin will be honored by the festival. Lin, who hails from Kibbutz Netzer Sireni, the political cartoonist at Maariv Newspaper, was also the political cartoonist for the now-defunct Davar Newspaper for 16 years, and in addition to his cartoons, has illustrated 30 children’s books, and lectures on Visual Communication at Ben Gurion University. His work has been exhibited both in Israel and abroad. An exhibition of Moshik Lin’s work, “The Underdogs” will be on display throughout the festival, a look at the oppressed classes in Israeli culture.
Animix opening night will feature Global Vocal – the Vocal Octet will perform a concert of songs from around the world on the theme of love, accompanied by animation.
A more casual approach to the art of drawing will take place on opening night at the Porter and Sons Pub across the street from the Tel Aviv Cinematheque – Drink & Draw. Cartoon artists, beer in hand, will take drawing requests from the crowd.
Celebrating 20 years of diplomatic relations with China a panorama of animation from China will be presented by Mr. Liuyi Wang, Secretary General of the Asian-Pacific Animation & Comic Association, and a leading expert in the cartoon industry in China.
Israeli cartoon artist Michel Kichka will give several talks – one on his own work in the context of a “Pecha Kucha” style encounter with 7 Israeli artists each taking 7 minutes to describe his/her work; a lecture on his own encounters with Chinese animation; and a lecture on French comics artist Mœbius (Jean Henri Gaston Giraud 8 May 1938 – 10 March 2012) who died earlier this year, best known for his work in science fiction and fantasy.
A program of films on the human face in animation will be presented by Dr. Koby Assaf, accompanied by screenings of several fascinating films relating to the subject: Joan Gratz “Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase” (Awarded an Oscar in 1992); Bill Plympton “Your Face” (1987); Piotr Karwas “Masks” (1999 – Awarded the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival). August 10th at 21:00 and August 11th at 17:00.
“What Kind of Animation” presented by Dudu Shalita will discuss the relationship of animated film and sex. August 10th at 14:30 – for mature audiences only.
“Dynamic Drawing” a program showcasing the art of hand drawn animation will feature: Marcell Jankovic’s 1975 Oscar-nominated short Sisyphus; The Horse by Witold Giersz (Poland 1967); Britannia by Joanna Quinn (1994); and Aleksandra Korejwo’s Carmen – Habanera.
“Personal Story” – screened on August 8th and August 11th at 16:00 will feature: Caroline Leaf’s The Street; She Was The Only One by the Rauch Brothers; and Has Someone Seen My Mother’s Breasts by Pauline Roland.
Asifa Israel will present their harvest of Israeli animation with films and talks on August 12th – culminating in the annual awards ceremony.
Artistic director of the festival is Nissim (Nusko) Hezkiyahu, the Animation curator is Dudu Shalita, and Galit Bersky is the producer. The festival is a joint project of the Tel Aviv Municipality Department of Performances and the Tel Aviv Cinemathque, and is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture Israeli Film Council.
Ticket prices are: 27 NIS per film; 42 NIS per workshop; 35 NIS per lecture. Tickets may be purchased online www.animixfest.co.il or call: 03-6060800, ext. 1.
