The persistence of visionaries

Get Animated! and the Montreal Stop-Motion Film Festival celebrate the work of great animators

EXPRESSIONISTIC ASSAULT: Lipsett Diaries

Animation fans get served with two great events this week celebrating the medium’s diversity: the NFB’s fourth annual Get Animated! showcase of new works and the second annual Mon­treal Stop-Motion Film Festival.

Highlights in the free Get Animated! series include Higglety Pigglety Pop!, from Madame Tutli-Putli creators Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (and based on the story by Maurice Sendak),as well as Karl Lemieux’s dreamy Mamori and Andrea Dorfman’s adorable ode to wavering self-esteem, Flawed.

But for anyone who missed it at FNC, the real showstopper is Theodore Ushev’s Lipsett Diaries, about renowned Canadian avante garde filmmaker Arthur Lipsett, which may well be a con­tender for best film of the year—and I don’t just mean “best short film,” “best animated film,” or “best Canadian film.” A visual and aural assault that meshes expressionistic painting with re-pur­posed clips and dialogue from Lipsett’s films, the film creates a fictional diary (written by animation historian Chris Robinson, who will appear in person to discuss the film) that follows the chaot­ic trajectory of Lipsett’s life, sadly ended by suicide in 1986.

The Montreal Stop-Motion Film Festival features an impressive line-up of more than 60 stop-motion films from 16 countries, but the major coup is an appearance by veteran British animator Bar­ry JC Purves, who will be presenting a master class on opening night. Purves is best known for his work on the seminal Cosgrove Hall productions of the 1980s (Wind in the Willows), but his short filmsare decidedly more dark and caustic. Screening at the festival will be Next (1989), in which William Shakespeare wordlessly acts out his entire catalogue in under five minutes; Screenplay (1992) whichsees the fable of “The Willow Pattern” coloured equally by pop-up books, music boxes and Kabuki theatre; and his version of Verdi’s Rigoletto (1993). The festival’s programming is rounded out by a master class with local director Patrick Boivin (of Phylactère Cola fame) and the world premiere of local short La famille sac à papier, with director Patrick Péris and the production team on hand fora Q+A. ■

GET ANIMATED! RUNS OCT. 28–31 AT THE NFB CINÉROBOTHÈQUE; THE STOP-MOTION FILM FESTIVAL RUNS OCT. 29–31 AT THE J.A. DE SÈVE THEATRE. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT STOPMOTIONMONTREAL.COM

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