Over the weekend of February 8-9, 2020, I attended the third iteration of Animation First at the French Institute Alliance Française. It was also the third time I’ve attended the event, but looks like the first time I’ve written about it. As with the previous two events, I enjoyed myself and the animations.
Here are a few of my highlights and a few photos at the end.
Highlights
Louise by the Shore
The feature-length film I watched was Louise by the Shore (2016), by Jean-François Laguionie, the guest of honor. It was a movie about remembering the past and living simply.
Animated Shorts, by Jean-François Laguionie
I also watched a series of Jean-François Laguionie‘s early animated films, which had been recently restored and digitized. His works were both hand-drawn and stop-motion, such as the example below.
The animation style was relatively rudimentary, compared to today, but the stories were really good. I saw some student works and I’d say one of the key differences came down to telling a good story over technical ability.
The video below needs no translation.
Lorenzo Mattotti: Panel Discussion and Illustrations
I also attended a panel discussion with Lorenzo Mattotti, who recently directed The Bears’ Famous Invasion of Sicily. He has also been an illustrator for New Yorker magazine for many years and examples of his magazine covers were on display.
After the talk, he signed books. Those lucky people got a sketch from him, right there on the spot. Amazing.
I wanted see the The Swallows of Kabul but it came on right after Louise by the Shore. I didn’t want to sit for back to back films and I wasn’t in the mood for something super heavy. Hopefully it will be released in the US, soon.
Photos
