Aug 31, 2010

Mafalda

Plays today to share with you the irreverent history of that girl who stands up to the adult world, the fray to defend the ideals of respect and social equality. In searching the net at times we find little gems, since we enjoy encouraging women in your company. This is his story:

"On 29 September 1964 first appeared a strip of Mafalda.
Its author, Joaquín Salvador Lavado, Quino, no idea then that the thoughts put into the mouth of this character would be translated into 26 languages (from Japanese, Italian and Portuguese to Greek, French and Netherlands), and that his books sold, only in Argentina, 20 million copies. It was 30 years since that initial story Quino 20 years since last drawn. However, it remains as relevant as ever. The ten unique books in the series continue to be reprinted again and again throughout the world.

The first public appearance of Mafalda took place over 35 years ago, on September 29, 1964 in the magazine Primera Plana.
Where appropriate, the midwife did not say male: the flamboyant character who over the years would become a banner of struggle for social equality at a time when women's liberation was still in diapers, "wore their skirts securely.

"Why are women I do not know. At first you do not stop to think about those things?" He says today Joaquín Lavado, Quino, creator of Mafalda.
The artist had not thought about three decades ago, that the ideas of this child as ingenious as irreverent as reflective as rebellious, were to travel the world.

Did not suspect that one day the writer Julio Cortázar would say, "It does not matter what I think of Mafalda. The important thing is what Mafalda thinks of me." Much less that although the USSR is gone, just like the Beatles and the Vietnam War, Mafalda's message would continue the same dose of genius and, above all, today.
Quino never imagined that being tiny and cool, with an intelligence and shrewdness to the arguments immune adults and just surrounded by an appropriate child's world, raise the comic to the category of "moral tales."

With a correct dose of simplicity and depth, Mafalda became a cartoon character more means today to the Argentines.
To Quino-owner of a genuine modesty, it all began by chance and without him propose any greatness: "In reality Mafalda was going to be a cartoon to promote a new line of appliances called Mansfield. Agnes Advertising agency entrusted with the job Miguel Brasco, but as he had other commitments, I passed it to me. This was in 1963. But the campaign never did and I drew the eight strips were stored in a drawer. Until next year Julián Delgado, secretary wording of "Primera Plana", asked me a story. So I rescued those strips and well, there it all began "

This anecdote, which Quino often told, has some little known facts. For example, the name of the employee of the agency that commissioned the strip: the actor Norman Briski. "At that time the name stuck in my mind," recalls today Brasco, "because it was a mix of my surname in the artist Oski. When I called, this match was funny and I went to the agency to see what it was. Wanted a family with father, mother and two children, a typical context for the products appear. What they needed had nothing to do with what I normally do, so I work I derived Quino, who at that time working with me " .

As for the exotic name Mafalda, the name came from the film version of the novel "Giving face" by David Viñas. In a scene from that film you see a baby in a bassinet by that name and adopted the name Quino.


Aug 27, 2010

Lara Croft."most successful human heroine in the history of gaming"


Following the trail opened by Chun-li in the video game world, we met in 1996, with the most successful female character in the video game industry, Lara Croft. Croft, who has starred in multiple installments in the saga Tomb Rider on PC and console, was created by Toby Gard as an English archaeologist intelligent and athletic, in true Indiana Jones. In fact, the character that Toby had designed at first was male, but the great reception they were having the female characters in the interactive entertainment industry in the mid-nineties, he quickly changed the creator of opinion.

Although due to the beauty of which endow the character, quickly received all kinds of transformations by the most degenerate, becoming seen as an exaltation of masculine power, but, their creators were responsible for maintaining its essence, a fact which soon catapulted character to star in comics, novels and some animated series. Lara Croft, in a few years had begun to cause rage in all types of audiences, a fact which was used to throw it to the big screen. The animated character come to life in 2001 from the hand of Angelina Jolie in a film box office happened with more pain than glory, as the second installment starring Jolie in 2006.

In this way, Lara Croft returns to the gaming world, where no rival, a clear reflection of who is the "most successful human heroine in the history of gaming."

Aug 24, 2010

Animated characters: Chun-Li, the first great heroine


When in 1987 the Japanese video game company Capcom, launched from the arcades of the first edition of the video game Street Fighter, nor did they know that they were starting revolution. The sequel released in 1991, not only sat impact in the gaming world, but served to break with the male stereotype of video games to fight.
Responsible for this was the inclusion of a character, whose name in Chinese would come to mean beauty of spring. This character was Chun-Li.

The figure of Chun-Li, managed to become, along with Ryu, the label identifying the CAPCOM video game series and opened the way for female characters in the world of interactive entertainment. Thus, companies that wanted to emulate post successes achieved by Street Fighter, did not hesitate to include in their offers interactive on a girl, ever putting it in a prominent place.

For the moment, and after 20 years, the success of the character is still booming. In their extrapolation to the animated and film adaptations of the saga were made video game, took a prominent role, becoming the main protagonist of a large cast of male figures.

Thus, from women animating, make a fitting tribute to those who paved the way for a female character kick hit the helicopter in the video game world: Chun-Li's first major interactive heroin.

Aug 23, 2010

Women Animating: Erica Rusell



Born in New Zealand in 1951, Erica Russell's parents emigrated to South Africa in 1953, and she spent her childhood there, finding inspiration in the local folk traditions and especially African music and dance.

Moving to London in the early 1970s, she joined Richard Williams' animation studio as a paint-and-tracer, and gained valuable experience assisting the veteran Disney animator Art Babbitt. Throughout the 1970s and 80s she worked for a number of animators and animation companies (including Gerald Scarfe, Paul Vester and Rocky Morton) before establishing her own studio, Eyeworks, and making her solo directing/animation debut with Feet of Song (1988).

Her subsequent solo projects have continued in a similar vein, including the Oscar-nominated Triangle (1992) and SOMA (2001). The first of these depicted the travails of a love triangle (one man and two women) through pure movement, while the latter was inspired by graffiti art, street dance and the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat. She regards these three films (all funded byChannel 4) as forming a 'dance trilogy'.

Like most animators, Russell spends much of her time doing bread-and-butter commissions from commercials companies (such as the award-winning 'Sensual', made for Levi's Jeans for Women series), music video producers (Miles Davis, Elton John, Madonna, Tom Jones) and title designs for television series. Since 1992, she has run her own London-based production company, Gingco, with her partner and producer Adam Parker-Rhodes.

Aug 20, 2010

2nd Women Animating Special Week ending

2nd Women Animating Special Week is ending. After presenting ten animation at the Festival, closing this special week, and encouranging this initiative that came to mark the third anniversary of the festival, which began its journey on June 23.

We are grateful to everyone for your participation, collaboration and monitoring and appreciate your attention and trust, to help us try to provide quality multimedia animation content. Thank you very much!

Aug 19, 2010

Animated caracthers: Mulan

Mulan is an animated film from 1998, directed by Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft, based on the traditional Chinese legend of Hua Mulan. Also part of the Disney Princesses.

Mulan is a young woman of marriageable age, but is also a free spirit and that is why many consider it a disgrace to her family and culture. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese empire goes to war with the Huns, and her elderly father is called to the front. As her father could no longer fight, she decides not to allow it, and is disguised as a man to replace him without anyone knowing.

One of the most popular Disney films in the late 90s, based on a popular Chinese legend, Mulan has become one of the carachters of the factory with more charisma and more familiar to children.

Aug 18, 2010

New animation releases in the II Women Animating Special Week

We continue to celebrate this Second Special Week Women Animating in Animacam with five new animation releases by women animators from around the world. Traditional animation done on acetate, 3D animation, flash and stop-motion mixing in these five new films in the festival to commemorate the increasingly important work of women in the animation world: neither more and no less than ten works animation.

The Estonian animators Mari-Liss Bassovskaja & Jelena Girlin, produced by the prestigious study Nuku Film, share with us a work that represents a satire of today's consumer society and what are the side effects that can cause a citizen very special love a soap opera about a heroine in Oranus. The Taiwanese animator Meower Wu, presents a multimedia clip created to represent the everyday life of an actor who gets the press, and the classic answered questions about their desire for money and fame. At the same time, the animator Ángela Barreiro presents a music video in the Multimedia category: My own gravity, a song created by Metropol Group about the own search of self-space.

Maria Lorenzo Hernández, after she starred in an article about her particular way of carrying out more traditional animation, she presents an animation of reference: Retrato de D. Through her work, makes a clear statement and an offering to her inspiration, the Swiss animator Georges Schwizgebel, who paints with acrylic, gouache and other pigments on thousands of acetate-a process inherited from the classical animation. Finally, the Colombian animator Cecilia Traslaviña, a professor of animation at the Faculty of Arts at the Javeiana University, participates in Animacam with Almas santas, Almas Pacientes: a reflection about a family drama that remains in people after the loss of important people for them.

Aug 17, 2010

Women in Animacam: Caroline Attia

Caroline Attia tells the short life of a little girl, who found an armed gun in the bedroom of her parents. A short film that purports to show the danger of guns in private households, which can lead to dire consequences.

From New York to Paris, from illustration to animation, Caroline Attia mixes Character design, fashion, dance and movement to create her work and put life into it.

After studying at the ENSAD in Paris and SVA in New York, she directed her first short film Tango sur Scie that was selected in several animation festivals. She then started working as a freelance illustrator and animation director for commercial, corporate, web, broadcast and magazines.

Caroline has directed commercials for Colorado, Lielans & Partner, Martin & Williams, Publicis and TF1 agencies, idents for MTV Asia, Fille TV, and part directed a promo for Over The Rhine's beautiful track 'Desperate For Love'.

Among her work she has directed a Public Service Announcement to end gun violence, a commercial for Zespri, Broadcast design for MTV, and is currently working on her own short film project.

Caroline's illustration work has been featured in magazines such as ELLE, the New York Times, Atmosphère, Epok, SVM Mac.

END GUN VIOLENCE from Caroline Attia on Vimeo.

Aug 16, 2010

II Special Week: Women Animating in Animacam

After completing a week of tribute to the women animators in Women Animating, because of the huge amount of contribution made by women who present their films to the festival, we dedicated a new delivery of animations made and developed by women animators. Stories bring us intelligent, social protest against war and against weapons, visual poems, poetic and sweet and local stories as a fable in which we can learn very interesting lessons.

Two French animators presented in Animacam, two films with a very good quality. Joanna Lurie is one of them, who participates with her work Le silence sous l'ecorce, a fable that uses the mix of 2D and 3D, in which the animals have to find and confront the dangers that threaten them in environment. Caroline Attia recounts the short life of a little girl, who found an armed gun in the bedroom of her parents. A short film that purports to show the danger of guns in private households, which can lead to dire consequences.

The Venezuelan Julie Hermoso, participating in the two previous editions Animacam, again combines visual beauty with the lyric, this time, combining both disciplines to create a poem Mute. Azadeh Moezzi, a very young animator from Iran, shows us a tender story about parental love that a child feels for his father, the king. Can the love of a child to change the fate of the throne? The artist tries to answer this question with this work. Finally, the Austrian animator Pascale Osterwalder, narrated in a rhythmic and versed song the events happened in Vienna after 1848, when the war minister Count de Latour, with a hard government repression makes a full revolution revolt in Hungary.

Aug 13, 2010

Women Animating: Joana Toste

Joana Toste is a Portuguese animator, was born in May 1970, graduated in Industrial Design, after attending a postgraduate course organized by the Glasgow School of Art and the Portuguese Centre of Design.

Since then, never stopped working in animation, collaborating with various studies and pursue their own projects, dedicated to working in illustration, set design, orientation workshops for children and the creation of Internet sites.

Among her films, there are works like: Serao, Guisado de galinha, Piu-Toc-Nham, Menu o A dama da lapa, working with production companies such as Gomtch-gomtch, Zeppelin Filmes y Filmógrafo.

Aug 12, 2010

Animated caracthers: Catwoman

Catwoman, also known as "gatubela" in some Latin American countries, was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane for DC Comics, and made its first appearance in Batman # 1. Her real name, Selina Kyle, is derived from the lunar deity Selene and makes a clear reference to the word "felina".

Originally, Catwoman was a jewel thief white collar, cat suit dressed and enemy of Batman. The complexity of the character was increasing as the years passed. As an antagonist of the series of comics, stand out among her skills: Agility own a cat, capacity and athletic figure and the strange sensuality apparent cause reaching between her and Batman there is an obvious physical and sexual attraction also linked to romanticism.

Later, we will investigate more about the characteristics, origins, nuances and personality of this curious character, one of the most acclaimed and well known female characters in comics and animation.

Aug 11, 2010

Tricky Women Festival

Tricky Women Festival is a iniciative held in Wien, Austria, and its running in the 7th edition. This Festival congregate lots of women animators and leaders of the main animation production companies from Europe, America and Asia. It was celebrated the last March 2010.

Out of 38 great competition films the jury selected the Tricky Women 2010 winners. This year's jury was Julie Roy( CA, producer for the Animation and Youth studio of the National Film Board of Canada), Jayne Pilling (GB, director of the British Animation Awards, curator and author) and Barbara Musil (AT, artist and lecturer).

The Tricky Women Award of the City of Vienna, worth 4.000 Euro goes to Signe Baumane and her film "Birth" (US/IT 2009). Tricky Women 2010 also dedicated a Best-of-Program to Signe Baumane.

Aug 10, 2010

Today in Animacam: Always Beside by Justina Svambaryte

5 oclock its time for a cup of tea with your beloved ones. Some of our relatives are still living close to us and some of them have passed away.But none of them would miss a chance to spend some time together and with a cup of tea.

After participating with other animation work in Animacam under the title The lost glove, the very young animator from Lithuania, presents new 2D animation work about tenderness and nostalgy for the family who are no longer with us.

Justina Švambarytė was born in Vilnius -Lithuania- on September 30th in 1987. Since that day, Justina wanted to become an artist. After 22 years, she finished Vilnius College of Design and Construction and officially became a designer.

Aug 9, 2010

Women Animating: Maite Ruiz de Austri

Maite Ruiz de Austri is a Spanish writer, screenwriter and film director, specializing in programs for children and youth. She is the only woman director of animation films of Spanish cinema. So far it has directed five movies and one TV series.

She is part of CIMA (Association of Women Filmmakers) and she is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences of Spain. Among the many important awards received during her long career include: two Goya Awards for best animated films Return of the North Wind (1995) and That neighbors such animals! (1999), two gold medals in the Houston International Film Festival and a silver medal and bronze medal at The New York TV Festival. Among his latest productions, highlights Animal Channel, for which she was nominated in 2008 for best animated film in Goya awards of the Academy of Spanish Cinema.

Aug 6, 2010

Today in Animacam: 2-Act I by Borislava Zahova

This project mixes music and visual elements seamlessly, creating a new multimedia world inspired by the abstract sounds of 2 pianos. It is essentially the transcendent search for unity that drives this project. What is 2? Is it the sum of 1 + 1 and when do the 2 halves become One? This film does not give answers. It simply visualizes the process of 2 separate identities struggling with their own weaknesses, strengths, similarities, and differences on the way to becoming ONE.

Borislava Zahova presents a new work of this edition of Animacam. After participating with two other experimental films - Open and Meaning- the Bulgarian author shows 2 Act I: in search of the creation of a new multimedia universe that mixes the sounds with visual effects.

Aug 5, 2010

Women looking forward the audiovisual world

Today marks the official opening of the Film and Video Days of Galicia (Xociviga) at 9.00 p.m. with a cellebration at the Auditorium of O Carballiño featured by the actress Camila Bossa.
Before the cellebration is held at night, throughout the day, there are several events. Amongst them is the official welcome of the Councillor for Education and Culture Maria Asuncion Rivero Hermida, who greeted and encouraged participants in the course of university extension "A muller na encrucillada do audiovisual (The woman looking forward the audiovisual world)."

This workshop course will run until tomorrow night and will offer conferences and round tables which analyzed the presence of women in the audiovisual world, from the interpretative point of view and in the faces of writers, directors, technics and producers. The course has been presented at noon by the director of the Institute for Women, Laura Seara, in an integrated course in a special section devoted to film festival, aimed to women. There will be feature films, documentaries and short films made by women and also a tribute to the Uruguayan filmmaker Manane Rodriguez.

Aug 4, 2010

Jessica Rabbit: the cartoon femme fatale

Jessica Rabbit is without doubt the most lush and the femme fatale of the cartoons female characters. The wife of Roger Rabbit noted for her wide hips, his gait and his voluptuous white heat. Born on November 14th of the 1922 in Los Angeles (based on the recreation of the atmosphere of the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, created by the artists of Touchstone Pictures and Amblint Entertainment), is considered the sexiest female character in the history of animation, ahead of Betty Boop.

Her figure is based on previous femmes fatales of cinema: Veronica Late, Rita Hayworth and Lauren Bacall. The character uses the voice of Kathleen Turner and the songs of Amy Irving. Considered a landmark in the world of animation and an erotic myth for many, Jessica simply says: "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way"

Aug 3, 2010

Women Make Movies (WMM)

The executive director of Women Make Movies, Debra Zimmerman, says that WMM has a lot to celebrate. Projects that come out of WMM have won Oscars, Emmys and Peabodies. They represent 30 countries and over 400 artists. But most importantly, they represent the female presence in the film world. Along with three theatrical releases, nearly 10 U.S.A. broadcast films this year and one Oscar hopeful, “we are assisting more women filmmakers and returning more money in royalties to filmmakers than we ever have,” boasts Zimmerman.

The organization credits its success to bringing to the forefront that perspective that is, according to Zimmerman, “missing from mainstream media ”a woman’s perspective.” In particular, female moviemakers are looking to WMM for help in distribution ”a key component of the group which, according to its Website, is the “leading distributor of women’s films and videotapes in North America.” With a collection of more than 500 titles, WMM exhibits the work of women moviemakers all over the country, in a variety of non-traditional venues from museums and colleges to prisons and hospitals.



When people ask me... What about ‘Men Make Movies? I say it exists ”it’s called Hollywood!” Zimmerman laughs. “WMM is one small organization among many that puts women first. If you look at the percentage of films by women in major festivals, on television or in the cinemas, it seems clear that there is still a tremendous need for WMM.”

Aug 2, 2010

Women in Animacam: Marija Milanovic

Marija Milanovic was born 1972 in Kraljevo. Graduated in animation from the "Dunav Film" Film School, in the class taught by professor Rastko Ciric - he also participates in Animacam with his animation FANTASMAGORIE- . The film "Shadow and its man" was her final exam (she has featured it in Animacam.tv, like the other two animation following below.)

Marija Milanovic is an experienced animator from Serbia. She was working for several years for different animations and her animations were representing the Serbian animation in lots of countries and festivals. She has given an incredible aportation in Animacam with three art works:

HOW DID THE LILY ARISE tells the story of a tragic love told in reflection of nature. Inspired by the song Ophelia by Arthur Rimbaud. Nature, plants, flowers... are starrings in this art. Taking a difficult point of view to see, but easy to feel, is one of the most well-known animations of the artist.

SENKA I NJEN COVEK (A SHADOW AND HIS MAN, English title)
talks about a man walking, followed by his shadow, but not for long... Strange fears and precautions are the matter of this work, that tries to show us the different ways to understand the same feeling.

NAIVNA PRICA (NAIVE STORY)
is the last work present in Animacam.tv. A young country dweller finds herself in the big city for the first time. With a more comedy side, the author bring to us a classic matter turned around to a different sense and understanding...