Budapest, a beautiful city any time of the year, takes on a special magic during the Christmas season
A Festival Surrounded By Beauty
Budapest, a beautiful city any time of the year, takes on a special magic during the Christmas season.From its numerous Christmas markets throughout the city to a Christmas tram with 140,000 energy-efficient lights all over the outside, to buses wearing charming lights and other holiday decorations, it is impossible not to be in the holiday spirit.To all of this, add the world class Anilogue animation festival in a magnificent theatre, and you are in an animation lover’s heaven.
I watch so many films that seeing something I have not seen before is always a treat.The Japanese film by directors Yoko Kuno and Nobu-Hiro Yamashita takes the audience on a journey from a small, quiet village to the teeming streets of Tokyo.Following her mother’s death, eleven-year-old Karin is left by her father with her grandfather, a monk in a small village.
There, her grandfather entrusts her care to Anzu, a bakeneko, or supernatural cat from Japanese mythology.What ensues is a tenuous relationship between the jovial, rotund giant cat and the girl as the pair end up in Tokyo searching for Karin's father, who is trying to hide from gangsters to whom he owes money.Being a cat lover, I thoroughly enjoyed the capricious Anzu.
This story of a young girl and her feelings of loss and abandonment is one that the entire family can enjoy.I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from and delightfully, it turned out to be quite a nice film.Director Naoko Yamada takes us into the world of Totsuko, a high school student who can see other people’s emotions as colors but is sadly unable to see her own color. One day, she encounters the most beautiful color she has ever seen when she meets Kim Sakunaga playing music on the street.
The third member of the trio of friends is Rui Kagehira, a Theremin player.With Kim on guitar and Rui playing the synthesizer and Theremin, Torsuko decides to learn to play the electric piano, and the three misfits form a band.The culmination of this coming-of-age story is when the trio performs on stage at Kim and Totsuko’s all-girl Catholic school.
Of course, they steal the show, and Totsuko finally gets to see her own color.Despite the group’s success, Rui decides to leave the village to follow in his parents’ footsteps and study medicine at college rather than embark on a musical career.As the film ends, the two girls are left behind, waving goodbye to him as he sails away on the ferry.
I enjoyed the music in the film.The idea of the three young misfits finding themselves through their love of music is not original, but it makes for a nice film.As far as anima goes, it is not a great film, but it is definitely watchable and many younger teenagers and pre-teens will be able to relate to the emotions and fears that these three young people feel.
I did notice that as the film progressed, Totsuko’s size grew and then went back to her normal size, which was a little distracting.My favorite feature film this year is Adam Elliot’s beautifully crafted claymation film makes me laugh and cry at the same time; it is so touching.The story of the lonely misfit Grace Pudel and the elderly eccentric Pinky who takes Grace in can’t help but touch your heart.
I have written extensively about the film in my article about Annecy 2024, where Adam was awarded the Feature Film Crystal, so I won’t go into detail about it here.At Anilogue, festival director Tamás Liszka was thrilled to discover that Adam modeled the character Pinky after both his mother and me.Adam and I have been friends for many years, and I am very touched by this lovely honor.
At the screening, after a warm recorded greeting to the audience from Adam, Tamas invited me up on stage to introduce the film and answer questions,, and yes… I really DID play ping pong with Fidel.The extremely talented French animator Jérémy Clapin was on hand to give a masterclass.He began his career as a graphic designer and illustrator before directing his first short animated film in 2004, .
I still enjoy watching his 2008 film, about a man struck by a 150-ton meteorite, who has adapted to living precisely 91 centimeters from himself.It won the Audience Award at Annecy as well as the Cannes Film Festival Discovery Award and numerous other festival wins.Jérémy’s first feature film, (2019), is about a severed hand that escapes from a dissection lab and is determined to find the rest of its body.
The film won multiple awards at Annecy and the Annies, as well as at Cannes.It was also nominated for the Best Animated Film at the Oscars.In 2024, he moved into live-action with .
The film centers around Elsa, who used to be close to her brother until his space mission went awry.She has been having trouble moving on with her life in the three years since his disappearance.One day, an unidentified life form contacts her offering to bring her brother back to earth, but there is a price to pay .
..Both of Jérémy’s feature films were screened at Anilogue.
During his masterclass, Jérémy talked about the creative process of the making of and working with Netflix.He spoke about what it was like to move from animation to live-action.There was also a screening of a selection of his short films.
Another masterclass was given by Hisko Hulsing, who has become a bi-continental animator.His two short animations, and won numerous awards and brought the Dutch animator to the attention of Hollywood.He has directed the animation for such internationally acclaimed films as (HBO), the documentary chronicling the life and death of Kurt Cobain.
He went on to direct a psychological comedy-drama television series for Amazon, and the episode of at Netflix.During his Masterclass, he talked about his training as a classical painter.He also told the audience about his technique of combining rotoscoping with oil painting, which adds such depth and beauty to his dark stories.
He regaled us with stories about working in Los Angeles, where the rotoscoping was carried out, and commuting back and forth to Amsterdam, where a group of painters, under Hisko’s supervision, created the hand-painted images for His latest project, is due to be released in 2025.He describes the film as “an animated dance macabre descending into an apocalyptic nightmare of war and destruction”.Using animation, rotoscoping, and massive oil-painted backgrounds, the film is set to the allegro from Dmitri Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony.
This year, the festival spotlighted the Netherlands, and Dutch director/producer Tunde Vollenbroek curated several programs.Her selections included some of my favorite films from the Netherlands.Jan-Dirk Boum’s 2013 animated documentary still has a strong impact on me even though I have seen it numerous times.
The story is told by a staunch football fan who lives in a small town in the Netherlands and is gay.He must conceal his homosexuality from his hooligan friends whom he has known all of his life.He knows that if they ever find out, they will kill him.
The last line of the film, “I know that I will never know love”, is truly gut-wrenching.The film is a reminder of how powerful animated documentaries are as a medium to tell stories that could not be told in live action.At the other end of the spectrum is by Jorn Leeuwerink (2022).
A group of animals hook up a power grid to the socket-shaped snout of a very big sleeping pig.At first, the animals use the pig’s energy for simple things, but soon, they become dependent on the pig, using it for everything.When the pig is finally exhausted, the town has to think of something else.
But what? They can no longer live without their electronic luxuries, like big screen televisions and security cameras.The 8-minute fable comments on people’s dependence on electricity in a humorous way but is also a cautionary message about how this dependence upon fancy electronic gadgets contributes to climate change.is a 3-minute film about overcoming sexual fears by Dario van Vree, co-founder of Studio Pupil in Amsterdam.
It tells the story of 19-year-old Gwen, who is browsing in a bookstore when she is unexpectedly drawn to a book of kinky erotica.As other customers give her disapproving glances, Gwen fights her inner dilemma of whether to follow her deepest desires or give in to her embarrassment.Nik composed the music for this 2016 film.
Tunde and Dutch animator Aisha Madu gave a Masterclass on and shared their experiences about what makes a pitch stand out.I was at the festival to watch films, but for the past several years, I also had the pleasure of conducting chats with the directors and authors at the festival.This year, Bill Kinder was a member of the short film jury.
Bill, who set up the editing department at Pixar, is also the author of His book is a must-read for animators.Not only does it make you understand why filmmakers need an editor rather than editing their own films, but it also gives you insights into how to work with your editor.At Anilogue, I had the pleasure of interviewing Bill at the beginning of the director’s chats.
He also gave a Master Class where he talked about how editors impact a story, characters, staging, composition, and sound.He illustrated his points with examples from well-known films.My book, , was not published until 20 December, but I had one sample copy in Anilogue.
It was my pleasure to be interviewed about it by Festival Director Tamás Liszka.The Animated Night Pajama Party is a four-hour marathon of films.Divided into three blocks of film, there is a break in-between the blocks.
Beginning with the hottest new films, the next program featured synthetically stunning AI animation.The night ended with the best new horror films.There were also gifts for audience members who came in their pajamas.
The beautiful Urania National Film Palace is Anilogue’s home and it is indeed a palace.Built in the mid-1890s, it incorporates Venetian Gothic and Eastern Moorish articular styles.It was originally built to be a cabaret music and dance hall.
Projection equipment was installed in 1899. Two years later, the theater’s rooftop terrace was the setting for the film which is thought to be the first Hungarian motion picture.The film was directed by Béla Zsitkorszky, the projectionist at the Urania.It featured twenty-four episodes from the history of dance, performed by famous actors.
Unfortunately, no prints of the film have survived, but photographs from the film have been used to recreate a twelve-minute film about You can learn more about the film and watch the recreation in Hungarian with English subtitles at filmarchiv.hu/thebirthofhungarianfilm The grand hall of the theatre holds 460 people.Along with regular seating, there is a balcony and boxes.In 2006, the Urania was awarded the European Union Monument Protection Prize.
A big thank you goes out to Artistic Director Kreet Paljus and Festival Director Tamas Liszka for their wonderful hospitality.I am delighted to be part of this wonderful festival.The organizers are taking a hiatus in 2025, and the next festival will be 25 - 29 March in 2026.
You can learn more about the festival at www.analogue.com The Winning Films Grand Prize Feature Film: by Gints Zilbalodis.A stunning post-apocalyptic tale with unique storytelling and breathtaking visuals, featuring a black cat navigating chaos.Best Short Film: by Martinus Klemet.
A witty, psychedelic take on love and life, with bold visual storytelling.Special Jury Mentions: by Liisi Grünberg – Explosively energetic design and humor.by Alexey Evstigneev – A poignant portrayal of imagination under authoritarianism.
by Matúš Vizár – A sharp satire on veganism and animal exploitation.Audience Favorites:
Short Film: Ultra Short Film: Kids 6+: Teens:
