Animated Exeter Film Festival

Animated lions, bears and pigs are set to visit the largest animation festival in the South West! Now in its 8th record breaking year. Animated Exeter organised by Exeter City Council takes place from 12th - 24th February and will be home to ‘Paddington Bear’, ‘Huxley Pig’, Susie Templeton’s ‘Peter & the Wolf’ and Aardman creation ‘Angry Kid’.

Staged over 14 days, at 12 venues with over 160 films and 80 events, this year’s festival is the largest ever. One of the highlights for 2007 is a series of guest talks by renowned animators and accompanying free exhibitions of their work.

During Animated Exeter, the ‘Lions, Bears and Animated Pigs’ exhibition is a rare chance to take a nostalgic look at childhood favourites; the ‘Peter & the Wolf – Exhibition’ accompanies the new adaptation of Prokofiev’s classic tale directed by Suzie Templeton and a collection of puppets and drawings created by Aardman animator Darren Walsh will also be on display.

On the more serious side a hard-hitting exhibition ‘Big Small People’, an international collaboration between seven animation schools, focuses on children’s rights across the world.

‘Lions, Bears and Animated Pigs’ is a unique opportunity to revisit classic favourites including Paddington Bear, The Herbs, Huxley Pig and The Wombles. A memorable collection of original drawings, models, puppets and sets from famous British animation of the 1960s, 70s and 80s will be on display at Thelma Hulbert Gallery in Honiton.

On Saturday 17th February Rodney Peppe will talk about his creations Huxley Pig and Angelmouse, two successful British children’s TV series. Meanwhile Martin Pullen, animator of Huxley Pig and Moschops and Animation Director of The Wombles will be giving a lively account of his experiences as an animator at FilmFair on Saturday 24th February.

The ‘Peter & the Wolf – Exhibition’ at the Exeter Phoenix Gallery features original set, puppets, working drawings and documentary footage of ‘Peter & the Wolf – The Film’, showcasing the amazing but painstaking processes involved in stop-frame model animation. This exciting new adaptation took over five years to realise and was shot at the Oscar-winning Se-ma-for Studios in Poland.

BAFTA and South West Screen present a talk by award winning animator and director Susie Templeton. She discusses and demonstrates both her new film and craft with Professor Joan Ashworth, Head of Animation at the Royal College of Art on Thursday 22nd February at the Exeter Phoenix. Tickets for the screening of ‘Peter & the Wolf – The Film’, with live music from Devon Concert Orchestra, have already sold out.

An exhibition of the UNESCO-supported project ‘Big Small People’, specially created for the festival by filmmaker Will Bishop-Stevens, Royal College of Art will take place at the Exeter Phoenix Bridge Gallery. ‘Big Small People’ is an international collaboration between seven animation schools, focusing on children’s rights. The exhibition and short films shows different animation techniques employed by the students with contrasting cultural approaches.

‘Meet the Makers’ on Tuesday 20th February is a talk by the project leaders, tutors and filmmakers from India, Israel and London who participated in the project. They will explain their original ideas and how the films were made. The second talk on the same day, ‘Creativity and Social Change,’ is a debate on the possible impact of animation as an instrument of social change in improving children’s rights.

Speakers include Professor Joan Ashworth, Head of Animation, Royal College of Art, London; Yael Eylat, Camera Obscura School of Art, Israel and Nina Sabnani, National Institute of Design, India.

Professor Joan Ashworth, Head of Animation, Royal College of Art, London said, “As many different animation styles and techniques feature in this exhibition as there are participants, and each film takes one of the articles and makes it personal and particular. This brings home the reasons and importance of children’s rights, and the responsibilities that adults have to bring to bear to make those rights a reality.”

Visitors to the Exeter Picturehouse Café/Bar will see a stimulating collection of puppets and drawings created by the gifted Aardman animator Darren Walsh. Works on display include his original Angry Kid series as well as later commercial work for Passion Pictures. Darren Walsh pioneered the combination of ‘pixillation’ technique with mask animation. He also created the Happiness Bear and directed the animation segments for Paul Whitehouse’s BBC2 sitcom Happiness.

Darren will be talking about his work on Saturday 24th February at the Exeter Phoenix and providing a fascinating insight into his groundbreaking work.

WHEN?

Animated Exeter will take place from 12th - 24th February 2007. School’s Week will run from 12th - 16th February

WHERE?

At several venues through out Exeter including Exeter Phoenix and Exeter Picturehouse see website exeter.gov.uk/animatedexeter.