The 3rd annual Maratoon competition is underway! This year, in addition to the adrenalin-charged animation competition, December 2011 will be a month-long celebration of animation at the Holon Cinematheque, with feature length screenings of animated films as well as a special screening of Maratoon finalists on December 10th.
The Maratoon competition is open to all animators – students, young animators, professionals and amateurs alike (age 16 and up). The contest is the initiative of the Holon Cinematheque in collaboration with the Rabinovich Film Fund Cinema Project, FLIX, the Polish Institute and JCS. Participants create animated films from 30 to 60 seconds in length over a period of 5 days, starting December 1st. A panel of judges will select the winning film, and the prize includes a visit to the Platige Image post production studio in Warsaw and the Krakow Film Festival, and a monetary award of 5,000 NIS.
FLIX surfers will have a chance to vote for their favorite film, with FLIX sponsoring an “Audience Favorite” award of 2,500 NIS. The Rabinovich Film Fund is sponsoring a development grant of 2,000 NIS for the films ranked in the first three places, and JCS is sponsoring a 2,500 NIS scholarship for 3D animation classes.
Maratoon special events include:
The Holon Cinematheque will hold a special tribute to the late animated film director Satoshi Kon, who died of cancer last year at age 48. The Holon Cinematheque in cooperation with ICON TLV will show exclusive, one-time screenings of two of his films: Perfect Blue, Kon’s first full-length feature, is about a once-popular pop singer who loses her grip on reality when a stalker enters her life. The film will be screened on Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 18:30. Millenium Actress, his second feature, depicts a TV reporter who draws an aging film actress into a surrealistic journey into her past, and will be screened on December 12, 2011 at 21:30.
A masterclass and discussion session with animator Isabelle Favez will take place at the Holon Cinematheque on Wednesday, December 7 at 20:00, in cooperation with Culturescapes, the Swiss Season of Culture. Favez will show short films and discuss her creative process.
The Prodigies, the first film by French computer game creator Antoine Charreyon, will be screened on December 8, 2011 at 20:00. The film focuses on five young people endowed with incredible powers, who seek revenge. There will be a screening of short animated films from Holland on December 8th at 22:00, and short animated films from Switzerland on December 9th at 15:00. These screenings are made possible by Culturescapes, the Swiss Embassy, and the Film Institute Netherlands.
The trailblazing film Fritz the Cat by director Ralph Bakshi, based on the comic strip by Robert Crumb, the first animated feature to receive an X rating in the U.S., will be screened on December 7, 2011 at 22:00.
Looking ahead, a discussion on the future of Israeli animation, sponsored by the Bezalel Academy of Art & Design, Jerusalem, “Animation in Israel – 2015” will take place on December 9, 2011 from 12:00 to 13:00. A professional panel will be moderated by Hanan Kaminsky, animator and head of the animation track in the Screen-Based Arts Department of Bezalel.
A more nuts & bolts discussion will take place at “A Tutorial for the Busy Animator,” a seminar organized by the Animators Union. Topics include: “How to Plan and Manage a Project,” with animator Yoni Goodman; “Starting Your Own Business From a Tax Perspective,” with accountant Guy Pfeffer; “Selected Issues in the Life of a Service Provision Agreement,” with the union’s legal advisers, attorneys Avi Sarusi and Guy David. The seminar will take place on December 9, 2011 from 10:00 to 13:30.
Tickets are 35 NIS per screening, with a 50% discount for each additional screening. Animation professionals may purchase a pass for all events for 65 NIS. To order call: 03-5021552.
