Image: Body Memory, Ulo Pikkov (2011)
Doors Open 9pm
Tickets £7 / £5 concs
The first part of our Estonian animation evening - The Mad, Bad Anthropomorphic world of Chintis Lundgren screens before this one at 7:30pm. You can buy tickets for both screenings for just £12 + booking fee.
Estonia is a small nation of 1.3 million people nestled at the top of the Baltic group of nations, with Russia on one side and Finland just a short boat journey across the Baltic Sea on the other. This paradoxical geographic position on the cusp of East and West is reflected in the unique animation that has flowed from Estonia’s two animation studios: Nukufilm, a studio specialising in puppet animation; and Eesti Joonisfilm, which concentrates predominantly on drawn animation. Other than the children’s films produced to fill government quotas (and to pay the bills), most Estonian animated films plumb extraordinary depths in their exploration of some of mankind’s most elemental issues, fears and desires. At the same time, many are intricately coded political dissertations.
LIAF is very proud to celebrate the centenary of Estonian animation with this very special programme featuring some of the masters of Estonian animation alongside the new generation of youngsters currently making a name for themselves on the international film festival scene.
Films Screening:
Nail
An exceptional display of fluid, graceful, stop-motion animation. Four short comical stories dealing with seduction, betrayal, drunkenness, and death.
Estonia 1972 Dir: Heino Pars 9min
Some Exercises in Preparation of an Independent Life
A sometimes harsh, sometimes goofy look at the routines that give our lives form.
Estonia 1980 Dir: Priit Parn 9min
The Living Room
A young girl is trapped in an ambiguous relationship with an old man. To escape she physically erases her world, replacing it with a new one, a better world.
Estonia 1994 Dir: Rao Heidmets 10min
Mont Blanc
An aging man leaves his wife and sets off on his way to Fujiyama, the mountain of his dreams.
Estonia 2001 Dir: Priit Tender 11min
The Dress
Dedicated to Marie Antoinette and housewives everywhere – a woman looks back at the highlights of her life.
Estonia 2007 Dir: Girlin Bassovskaja 6min
In the Air
A miscommunication between the wolf and the humans leads to a sudden shift in the laws of gravity.
Estonia 2009 Dir: Martinus Klemet 9min
Body Memory
Many memories dangle by the finest of threads, which are being pulled by forces out of sight and out of control.
Estonia 2011 Dir: Ulo Pikkov 9min
On the other side of the Woods
A girl made of clay comes to life. In a wildly overgrown house, she meets a wolf and an even worse monster: time.
Estonia 2014 Dir: Anu-Laura Tuttelberg 10min
Piano
Marta hauls a piano home from a used music shop. She almost succeeds. Albert tries for the thirtieth year to tell Paula that he loves her. He almost succeeds. Paula wants to respond to Albert in the same vein. She almost succeeds.
Estonia 2015 Dir: Kaspar Jancis 10min
The London International Animation Festival (LIAF 2018) returns for it’s 15th edition to the Horse Hospital over 3 nights – Thursday 6/Friday 7/Saturday 8 December – with 6 eclectic and inspiring screenings and talks with some of the most creative minds working in animation today.
Independent animation is very much alive and kicking and continues to thrive and develop with a breathtaking medley of styles, materials, techniques and genres. From hand drawn, paint on glass, collage and sculpture, to cut-outs, puppets, abstract and sand/salt – LIAF 2018 showcases all of this. Join us at the Horse Hospital and see these latest mini-masterpieces.
For full details on the LIAF 2018 programme please go to the LIAF website at www.liaf.org.uk.