Panorama

Dreams into Drawing: Retrospective of Koji Yamamura Animation Films

Koji Yamamura has been making short animated films for over 40 years, using a variety of techniques and storytelling methods. His works range from allegorical, literary, and factual metafiction to visual ideas. The narratives are multilayered and multifaceted, and have explored the essence of animation. Films that have won awards at many film festivals, including the Oscar-nominated "Mt. Head," will be screened in chronological order.

Along the Way: Fourteen selected animated short films without dialogue by Georges Schwizgebel

Born in 1944, in Reconvilier, Switzerland, animation director and producer Georges Schwizgebel has created a remarkably original body of work. His films whose technical execution is always masterful are marked by a playful approach to narrative, spectacular formalism and the intermingling of visuals and music. Schwizgebel studied fine arts, and in 1971 co-founded the GDS Studio in Geneva, along with filmakers Daniel Suter and Claude Luyet. In 1974, he released his first film, The Flyght of Icarus. It launched a career that currently numbers 20 films, which have gone to win numerous awards at prestigious international festivals such as Cannes, Annecy, Zagreb, Hiroshima, Stuttgart, Ottawa and Espinho.

FAMU – Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Department

Established in 1947 and built by most influential Czech filmmakers of that time, FAMU is one of the oldest film schools in Europe. At the dawn of the 1960s, FAMU was the birthplace of the young artists movement which later became known as Czech New Wave, er, constituted Czech film’s hitherto most significant contribution to world cinematography and brought to Czechoslovakia- among other- two Oscars for best foreign films. Today, FAMU ranks among TOP 15 International Film Schools list as published annually by The Hollywood Reporter and its students, pedagogues, and graduates enjoy many successes at home and abroad.

FAMU’s Department of Animation (KAT) will turn 30 next year. We would like to proudly present to you a selection of the latest students’ works, which means the best animated movies and exercises created over the course of the past five years. KAT’s graduates often quite successfully continue working in the field of animation and it will present their current views and experiences of applying what they learned at school in praxis. The selection will also show the energy and attitude of the youngest students, i.e. the current ones.

Alexandra Hroncová, curator of the exhibition

Iranian Progressives: Gonbad Caboud Studio

Man’s dreams, fantasies, and myths are rooted in heaven, and that is why we traditionally begin our stories like:

Once upon a time, under the livid sky…

And our dream came true on the last day of autumn 2007 which happens to be the longest night of the year to watch the livid sky. On the last day of autumn 2007, the Gonbad Caboud (literally livid sky) Studio was founded by Babak and Behnood Nekooei. Gonbad Caboud Studio aimed to produce quality, impressive animations and promote the status of Iranian animation. A number of works produced in Gonbad Caboud have managed to take part in prominent Iranian and foreign festivals and to win awards. The short animation Stripy, the first Iranian animation to compete in the Oscars and the animation series Rooby and Chickens, are among major productions of the studio.

Land of Rising Sun: Independent animation in Japan

Independent animation in Japan has a long history dating back to 1917. The new turning point after the war was in the 60’s, reaching its peak in the 80’s. This year’s selection includes the works of Kihachiro Kawamoto and Taku Furukawa from 1979, a generation ago, and mainly focuses on the works of contemporary Japanese independent animation artists from the 2010s.