BILJANA LABOVIC, selector of the programme New NY Animation

    You identify the concept of the independent film with the concept “self-financing”. Why did you choose exactly these twenty films?

My idea was to present the films that were made mainly in the past few years. My task was to make the programme selection of an hour and a half and at the beginning of my work I realized that I would like to include in that selection a few classical film not just of the New York, but the American animation, as well, the films that have also marked the history. That is how I decided about some a bit older films, and the oldest film is the “Sundae in New York ” by Jimmy Picker from 1983 and I wanted to open the programme both because of my affection for New York and because that film won an Oscar. That was the last film made in New York that received this award, so that we, a little New York community, are still fighting and trying to find which is the next project that can win an Oscar. The film that I left for the end of the programme, Guard dog, by Bill Plympton was nominated for the award this year, and I worked on that films, as well. We did not get the Oscar, but we are trying to get it next year.
We can see from the diverse names of the “authors” of the films from the programme that they are not all born Americans. New York is also the biggest “melting pot” in the world What is it like to work in such a centre?

That is exactly what is beautiful in New York , it is something that means to you a lot not just in the life but in the art, as well. It is something that can be experienced only there and it is difficult to describe it. It is interesting that the authors in this selection are mainly Americans; there are also a lot of us coming from Eastern Europe , from former socialist countries. There is an interesting mix of something that we have, some completely different sensitivity, a different sense of humor in relation to America , and especially in relation to the humor launched by the American television. It is a mixture of the American – direct humor, slapstick, much closer to the comics and ours, from the east of Europe . What the emigrants have brought with them, their own education, experience from their former life, is interesting for New York and there it is considered original, fresh and different. I have brought these films to show them to the Belgrade audience, without a particular ambition, except to bring them closer what is going in New York , but I also hope that this will result, through the contacts that I have made in America , in presenting there what is made here..

In Serbia and the countries of Easter Europe , the situation is such that the animator who makes a film can show it on a national festival, to be a guest at some other manifestations, where he either gets or doesn't get awards. None of the televisions shows it, and the author is watch for an opportunity to make at least a commercial for a television. How does that function in America . How do the animators in America , who don't work for Pixar, Walt Disney Production, or DreamWorks manage to make films?

- In Europe and America the things are different. In Europe , there is still space for the artistic animation, which at some places is even subsidized by the state. It does not exist in America . The people who make author's animation films, finance that from their own pocket. Thereby, you must have a lot of energy, enthusiasm and free time, which is very difficult in New York . The authors from the Festival Special Programme mainly do some other things, and the artistic and author's animation is their “love child”. There are directors of big serials on the commercial televisions, like “Cartoon network”, the people who work on commercials. That is the job that brings earnings and “pays the bills”, and the author's films are their personal expression. Financing of the films itself is a whole story. The moment the film is finished, its festival life begins, there is a chance that is to be seen by a lot of people. What is the final goal of these authors, what do they want? Maybe some personal satisfaction, maybe some jobs, maybe some contracts for commercial serials, it is individual. What does not exist in America , in distinction from Europe , where that happens every now and then, is that such films are never shown on television. In America , the notion of animation is mainly connected to children's cartoons, so that the majority mainly doesn't watch them at all. On the "Cartoon network" there is something that is called "Adults Swim", a programme where the films that are not for children are shown, but it is a rarity in the world of televisions. I am not quite familiar with the scene in Serbia , I have not been here for seven years, but I would tell to the young people to send their films to every festival, as there are possibilities.

You have been working with Bill Plympton for a long time. What is it like to do the animation in his, special way?

- He is a very good example of how you can do this in unconventional ways, to fight against the American system. Bill manages not just to defray the costs of his short films but to gain some income as well, by traveling to numerous festivals, making contacts. There are several channels in Europe that gladly broadcast his films, generating the audience at the same time that values and reacts positively to such things. I was terribly lucky to meet Plympton as early as 1999, when I started doing something underhandedly. Since 2002 I have been working permanently in his Studio, as someone who is in charge of the whole production. Bill is specific in that he does the whole animation and draws himself, nobody can interfere there, and we have a small group of people who work together. So, I try to get the film made at all, after Bill's drawing. It is a fantastic experience, to learn how to make a film, how to finish it, how to believe in film, and the whole concrete process, from the idea further on, it is a unique opportunity. This year we were nominated for an Oscar, which is maybe the crown of all that work.

Your film EYE SPY found its place in this programme, too. The EYE SPY is usually used to check before opening the entrance door who is standing in front of them, as some defense tool. In your film, the eye spy is turned towards a persons interior. Where does that attitude come from?

We had a problem to translate the expression “Eye spy” into the Serbian language, even I did not manage to translate it better or more adequately. For me such questions are the most difficult to answer. That film was made 4 – 5 years ago; I started a completely different work, for which I said, in the moment when I completely defined it, - “Well, this is not the film that I want to do”. I had an urge to throw out of myself something that by then had not even been imagined as a film but it was rather my personal expression of something that bothered me in that moment, that I was thinking about. It is more some visual poetry, that is the way I would describe it best. I imagined that film to be at least twice as long, and the story flow should have been different, but I stopped where I am. I showed the film to a few people, who accepted it well. That is the way it started somehow, i sent it a few festivals and the first one where it was shown, awarded it with a financial award, to my great surprise. From that moment, the film lives its own life. It is a very nice moment when you show the film to the audience, as no matter how much you think that such a film will not find its audience, the reactions were excellent.

What has your filmography been since then, since five years ago?

Unfortunately, since then I am professionally very busy, but I have not made a single author's film of my own. Now, this summer I am starting a small short project. I believe in film, in general i believe in some little things. When you love something i think that you can achieve that.

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