Self-Portrait in Moscow, Budapest, and Neum
June 30th, 2008
After a screening in Moscow, Russia, in official selection of the Golden Knight (Zolotoy Vitiaz) Film Festival, film Self-Portrait will take part in NAFF, Neum Animated Film Festival (July 28 - August 04), Bosnia and Herzegovina, and BUSHO, Budapest Short Film Festival (September 03-07), Hungary.
Self-Portrait at Red Stick in USA, and More
April 7th, 2008
Self-Portrait entered the Red Stick International Animation Festival in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. Festival stated that they received “entries from 30 countries, and the quality of work was extremely strong”, so only the small number of films were chosen for screening.
“The Red Stick International Animation Festival is an exciting community event that converges the worlds of technology, art, entertainment and exploration. Though artists have always used the tools of their time, at no time since the Renaissance has there been a similar convergence of science and art. Artists draw and paint with computers, and scientists convey their complex theories in color and motion. The 2008 Red Stick International Animation Festival highlights this convergence celebrating art, motion, and exploration in downtown Baton Rouge April 16-19, 2008.”
Also, Self-Portrait will be screened at official selection programmes of Athens Video Art Festival (April 11-13) and Naoussa International Short Film and Video Festival (May 7-11), both in Greece.
(Between us, what is it with me to create things that Greek people like?! This is the 5th Greek festival that accepts one of my films.)
Self-Portrait at Animfest in Athens
March 8th, 2008
Self-Portrait, a short animated film, will be shown at Animfest 08 – European Animation Festival in
The Tale of a Town at HDFEST
March 7th, 2008
The Tale of a Town, a short animated film of mine created four years ago, is now part of the HDFEST, digital cinema festival online. In past years, film won several awards and took part in domestic and international film festivals. You can see it’s HDFEST page here.
– Tom Waits
Menadžment i ja
February 28th, 2008
Mala filmska radionica, dva slobodna dana, jedan fotoaparat, mnogo nagomilanog studentskog gneva i – voila!
„aaahh“ je bio prikazan na decembarskom In Treš Festivalu u Pančevu, gde je dobio nagradu publike. (S’ obzirom da kao deo radionice film nije ni učestovao u konkurenciji, to je bila i jedina nagrada koju je uopšte mogao da dobije.)
Tehnika izrade je stop-motion animacija. Video slepljen od oko hiljadu fotografija. Dakle, drugari, čak vam ni kamera nije potrebna. Čekamo vas!
Animirani Autoportret
February 27th, 2008
Animacija (lat. animatio) oživljavanje, oživljenje, davanje duše; živost, životna svežina; vatrenost, žestina, ljutnja; trenutak od koga se zametak u utrobi smatra živim; kod crtanog filma oživljavanje slika.
– Leksikon stranih reči i izraza, Milan Vujaklija
Kad sam imao četiri godine i prvi put me upitali šta želim da budem kad porastem, rekao sam: Želim da pravim crtane filmove! Kakav astronaut ili superheroj, ma nikako. Sada sam veoma ponosan što pripadam retkim ljudima koji su zaista i postali ono što su želeli da budu u detinjstvu!
Pre nekoliko meseci sam završio novi animirani film, Autoportret, čije podatke možete naći na njegovom web sajtu. To je priča o prirodi stvaranja, stvaraoca, njegovog rada i njihovog zajedničkog odnosa. Priča o umetniku koji, slikajući autoportret, shvata da naslikani delovi lica – Nos, Oko, Uvo, Usta, Jezik i Kosa – imaju svoj nezavisni život, duh i strasti. Ta mala bića počinju da šetaju, skaču, igraju se, svađaju i ulaze u raznorazne međusobne odnose, formirajući i rasturajući veliku sliku. Na jedan način, film je bio za mene suočavanje sa svojom sujetom, slabostima, strahovima, zbunjenošću i krizama identiteta. Možete ga nazvati veselim narcisoidnim šegačenjem sa sopstvenom narcisoidnošću.
To je takođe i priča o jednoj mojoj opsesiji koja se tiče samoreferencirajućih struktura: priča koje pričaju o sebi, slika koje sadrže te iste slike, rekurzivnih funkcija u matematici i sl. „Velika matura“ je, eto, bila tema mog maturskog rada u srednjoj školi. Tako je i ovde – delovi lica koji se kreću čine sliku u filmu animacijom, dok je i film sam animacija. A dok se stvara slikarev autoportret, jasno je da je i film kao celina moj autoportret.
Konačno, ovaj film je i priča o vremenu. Svi smo mi procesi, ne statične figure, te portreti moraju uključivati i vreme. Sama slika nije dovoljna, potrebna je pokretna slika koja se menja – animacija. No, vreme je šašavo i mnogo nam čini, dobra i zla. Na kraju, to vreme – to smo mi, naši portreti jesu stvaranje istih.
Sada bih se zahvalio svim drugarima koji su mi pomogli na ovom projektu: Vladimiru Uspenskom, sjajnom dizajneru zvuka; Janji Lončar, fantastičnoj kompozitorki; Radiši Stanišiću, producentu i pravom prijatelju; Milanu Stojanoviću, koji me je jadan morao trpeti dok sam zlostavljao njegov kompjuter beskrajnim renderingom. Drugari, hvala!
Do sada, Autoportret je učestvovao u zvaničnoj takmičarskoj selekciji Balkanime, Evropskog festivala animiranog filma, gde je dobio nezvaničnu nagradu ASIFA za najbolje mlade autore. Ušao je i u zvaničnu takmičarsku selekciju Kratkog metra, koji će se održati krajem marta u Beogradu. Ako vam se dopala ova priča – ne propustite festival, te javite kako vam se dopao film!
The Animated Self-Portrait
February 26th, 2008
When I was four years old and for the first time in my life asked a question: What would you like to be when you grow up? – I answered: A cartoon maker! Not an astronaut or a superhero. Now I’m very proud to say that I’m one of those rare people that actually became what they wanted to become when they were children.
You can find out more about the new animated film of mine, Self-Portrait, on it’s website. It is a story about an artist, who, while creating a portrait, realizes that the painted parts of the face – Nose, Eye, Ear, Mouth, Tongue, and Hair – have a mind and soul of their own. The film was my personal way of confronting my dear vanities, deviations, weaknesses, fears, shynesses, griefs, confusions, and identity crisis. You can call it a funny narcissistic mockery of your own narcissism.
It is also a story of the obsession of mine about self-referential structures: pictures inside the pictures, stories that speak about itself, recursive functions, and such. Moving parts of the painting makes the picture in the film an animation, yet the animation is a film itself. Moreover, one can see a self-portrait being made in the film, while the film as a whole is my self-portrait. It greatly amuses me to think about that.
Finally, it is a story about time. We are all processes, not static figures, so the real portraits must involve time. Therefore, painting is not enough, we need a moving and changing painting – an animation. But, time is funny, and it does a lot to you, good and bad. And at the end, that time – that is what you are, the portrait of you is the making of one.
Now, I have to thank all the people that helped me in this project. Vladimir Uspenski, brilliant sound designer; Janja Lončar, fantastic composer; Radiša Stanišić, producer and a real friend. I’ll add Milan Stojanović for letting me abuse his computer for redering. Thank you all!
So far, Self-Portrait entered the offical competion selection of the Balkanima, Europian Animated Film Festival in Belgrade, and it won the ASIFA non-official award for best young authors. It also entered the offical competion selection of the Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival, well-known as “Kratki Metar” in Serbian, and it is going to be presented there in about a month. If you found this story interasting, don’t miss it. And inform me how did you like it!