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September 1997, Week 1

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Subject:
From:
"Richard J. Leskosky" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 4 Sep 1997 14:53:07 -0500
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This is the second of three postings relating to the ninth annual Society
for Animation Studies conference, to be held in the Netherlands on October
8-12, 1997.  This posting gives some background on the sponsoring
instittutions; the first lists the papers to be presented;  and the third
includes a registration form.
 
1997 Conference in Utrecht, the Netherlands
 
Here is  information about the 9th Conference of the Society for Animation
Studies to be held in the Netherlands from 8 through to 12 October 1997.
 
A large number of abstracts were submitted in June and a selection have
been compiled into an interesting programme. The fact that the conference
is being organized in the Netherlands has clearly led to many contributions
from Europe. We have received many enthusiastic responses from scientists
and animation film makers who are looking forward to the conference. The
opportunity of taking stock of the current state of affairs concerning
scientific study into all facets of animation film, as well as making
contacts, is considered highly important. The interaction between art and
science is considered a stimulus for both disciplines. The European
animation film industry is flourishing. Animators and scientists play an
important role in this growth, which the SAS conference can nourish.
 
The Society for Animation Studies held the first conference nine years ago
in the United States. This is only the second time since then that the
conference has been held in Europe. We have already received so much
positive support with the organization of this conference that we think it
would be possible to hold more conferences in Europe in the coming years.
 
Abstracts for the conference have been selected from Belgium, Canada,
Germany, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, the Ukraine, the
United Kingdom, the United States of America, Sweden and Switzerland.
 
The conference is being organized by the Netherlands Institute for
Animation Film (Ton Crone), Utrecht University (Dr William Uricchio) and
the Free University Amsterdam (Dr Ed Tan).
The organization is supported by The Foundation Raoul Servais, study center
for animation in Belgium, Pilot Moscow Animation Studio in Russia, the
Surrey Institute for Art and Design in the United Kingdom, Association
Internationale du Film d'Animation ASIFA and CARTOON.
 
The conference has been made possible by financing from the Ministry for
Education, Culture and Science, the European Commission, the Royal Dutch
Academy of Art and Sciences and contributions from the participants
themselves. 
Animation Film in the Netherlands
 
The ninth conference of the SAS is being held in the Netherlands: a country
with not only a rich cultural history (Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Mondrian) but
also a lively present-day cultural life. It will be evident at the
conference that Dutch animation film makers have also achieved world fame.
Below is a brief sketch of the history of animation film in the Netherlands
and an introduction to the most important institutions.
 
Animation films have been produced in the Netherlands since the twenties.
These were originally commercials. Just like many American cartoons, they
were generally shown as shorts before the feature film. The quality of
these early animation films often left much to be desired and it was not
until the thirties that animation film was elevated to a higher level,
thanks in part to George Pal, who worked in the Netherlands for a few years.
 
Up to the mid-sixties, with occasional exception, the majority of Dutch
animation films were commissioned films. For a long time the studios of
Marten Toonder and Joop Geesink in particular put their stamp on the look
of the production and also, for example, the advertising breaks, which were
permitted on Dutch television from 196- onwards. There were still no degree
programmes in animation film and many people enjoyed on-the-job training at
one of these studios. Today there are no longer any large studios in the
Netherlands. That does not mean that commissioned animation films are no
longer made, on the contrary, there are a considerable number of
small-scale enterprises which work with a small core of full-time staff and
a varying number of freelancers.
 
The worldwide revival of independent film-makers in the seventies did not
pass the Netherlands by. The numbers of independent film-makers swelled and
state subsidies were forthcoming. At international film festivals animators
such as Paul Driessen who, over the years, often worked abroad, stood a
good chance. Foreigners also came to the Netherlands and made a
considerable contribution to animation film, people such as Børge Ring and
Monique Renault. The nineties have produced a new generation of
film-makers.
 
The Holland Animation Association (VHA) was established in 1973 to promote
the interests of film makers in the Netherlands. In recent years this
association has concentrated on professionalism by joining forces with the
biggest organization for Dutch film-makers. VHA is an important mouthpiece
for animation in the Netherlands when it comes to negotiating with
government organizations, trade and industry and television, for example.
 
Since 1985 the Holland Animation Film Festival has become the meeting place
for animation film enthusiasts and it is the only event in the Netherlands
where animation films are screened on a large scale. Special attention is
paid to the relation between applied and independent animation film. The
biennial festival is by now firmly established on the world map of
international animation film festivals.
 
In 1993 the Netherlands Institute for Animation Film (NIAf) opened in
Tilburg. The institute got off to a good start thanks to years of
preparatory work by producer and filmmaker Cilia and Gerrit van Dijk. The
aim of this national institute is to reinforce and broaden the
infrastructure of animation film. The institute has a wide range of
objectives, varying from the maintaining of archives, collecting,
education, distribution, research and  promotion. The institute has a
studio, the Werkplaats, where young animation film-makers with a grant can
work on a project under supervision for a specified period of time: in
September 1997 the first three animation films will be premiered.
 
In recent years it has been possible to obtain a degree in animation at an
art academy. In the Netherlands the practical degree programme for the
subject "animation film" is kept quite separate from the theoretical degree
programmes. And within the theoretical degree programmes in higher
professional education and at the universities there is increasing interest
in animation film as is demonstrated by the steady growth in the number of
practical training places, theses and final projects.
 
As far as the organization of the SAS conference is concerned the NIAf
works in conjunction with two universities. At the Free University
Amsterdam study at the Word and Image Studies (a department of the Faculty
of Arts) has an interdisciplinary orientation and special attention is
given to the interaction of verbal and pictorial modes of expression in
film, television and interactive computer applications, both in products of
art and in functional applications.
 
Most of the conference sessions will be held at Utrecht University.
Theatre, film and television studies (department of the Faculty of Arts)
have a strong cultural historical orientation with research and teaching
clusters in media, history, new media, media education, and a project
entitled "mapping modernity".
 
This conference is intended to give a positive impulse to the climate for
scientific study into animation film in the Netherlands and other countries
in Europe.
 
 
Richard J. Leskosky                        office phone: (217) 244-2704
President                                                FAX: (217) 244-2223
Society for Animation Studies         2117 Foreign Languages Building
                                707 S. Mathews Avenue
                                                         Urbana, Illinois
61801 
 
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