PARK CITY, UT — On Thursday, April 1, Sundance Institute Film Series will present an Animation Spotlight, free screenings of 18 short films that create imaginary worlds and tell rich stories using pen, clay, photography, and 3D-imaging. Spanning the range of animation, the screenings will feature the pioneering stop-animation work of Corky Quakenbush, Yi Zhou‘s ethereal multi-media work, and the literary animation of Carson Mell. Sundance Film Festival programmers Todd Luoto and Kim Yutani will join all three directors for a discussion following the screenings. Animation Spotlight is part of the Sundance Institute monthly Film Series and will be held at the Tower Theatre, 876 East 900 South, Salt Lake City.
Animation Spotlight is made possible by support from Principal Sponsor Zions Bank, Major Sponsors Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts and Parks and Summit County Recreation, Arts, and Parks Program, with in-kind support from City Weekly, KRCL 90.9 FM Community Radio, Park City Film Series and Park City Marriott.
Images of the films and filmmakers can be found on http://press.sundance.org/press
All three filmmakers have attended the Festival more than once, and each one has been recognized for their innovation in the ever-growing world of animation. Filmmakers who will be screening their films and taking part in the screenings and Q&A are:
Carson Mell
Arizona-native Carson Mell has lived in Hollywood, CA for the last six years where he writes and makes short films. Previous work has screened at Sundance Film Festival, CineVegas, the San Francisco International Film Festival and have been featured on McSweeney’s Wholphin DVD. In 2006 he self-published his first novel, “Saguaro” which is available through his web site www.carsonmell.com
Chonto(2008 Sundance Film Festival)
In 1977 Bobby Bird attempted to literally buy a friend when he adopted a chimpanzee from a South American zoo. Things did not work out as planned.
Field Notes from Dimension X: Oasis(2009 Sundance Film Festival)
The first piece of the story of Captain Fred T. Rogard–a one-eyed Native American astronaut challenged by inter-dimensional travel and one short-haired woman.
Corky Quakenbush
Corky Quakenbush specializes in comedy and stop-motion animation. His work has appeared on numerous broadcast and cable networks, in theatrically-released features, and at film festivals worldwide. He has a record number of films screened from a single director at the Sundance Film Festival (nine), one of which was awarded Honorable Mention. Corky began his career in cinematography, and earned an Emmy award on the documentary A River in Disguise. Quakenbush is also accomplished in the art of Aikido, and is chief instructor at Kakushi Toride Aikido, a dojo he founded. http://www.spacebassfilms.com
CLOPS
The first “reality” animation – Clay animated cops bust your favorite toys.
Harry Potter and the Office of Unemployment
The boy wizard and his friends find themselves out of Hogwarts and into the dismal job market.
Halloween 7.5 – The Rehabilitation of Michael Myers
Dr. Loomis helps his criminally insane patient get into a work release program.
Best Beef There Is
Despite the popularity of Angus beef, people persist in pronouncing it incorrectly.
A Pack of Gifts Now (1999 Sundance Film Festival)
Rudolph’s mission is to travel up glacier, retrieve Santa’s bag of toys and terminate his command.
Yompi the Crotch-Biting Sloop
Yompi, doing what he does best.
BMZ
Cartoon Celebrity paparazzi get the goods on their subjects.
Under The Floor
Austrian Dungeon Dad Josef Fritzl explains to his captive daughter and their children why holding them underground their entire lives is in their best interest.
Yi Zhou
Zhou is a young Chinese artist, who has lived in Rome from the age of ten and studied between London and Paris. Blending ancient expressive methods, such as sculpture in marble and 35mm film, with extremely technologically advanced ones, such as 3D animation, Chinese artist Yi Zhou presents a vision of life, transcending both time and space, inflected with irony and wit. http://www.yi-yo.ne
Oneofthesedays
A reconstruction of the filmmakers dream of civil war in an unknown city of the future.
Hear, Earth, Heart(2009 Sundance Film Festival)
A white box unfolds to reveal a surreal and shifting landscape of fragmented clouds, suns, mountains, stardust, darkness, and flames that eventually freeze in time and space.
Paradise (2008 Sundance Film Festival)
Based on Dante’s The Divine Comedy, this lyrical look at an imaginary paradise is based on black-and-white nature, insects, and no human souls in the landscape.
My heart Laid bare
The story, with roots in Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron, features a woman experiencing the loss of a lover, eventually releasing his heart into the sea.
The Ear
A mysterious fictional tale about our future” and was inspired by Gogol’s story “The Nose.” Ennio Morricone provided the sound track.
Sundance Institute invites you to step inside the world of independent filmmaking each month with the Sundance Institute Film Series. Part screening, part discussion, we’ll showcase work supported by Sundance Institute and give you an opportunity to meet the filmmakers and discuss the films. Next month’s Film Series screening will be:
Samson & Delilah (Director and screenwriter: Warwick Thornton)
Native American and Indigenous Showcase
Thursday, May 6
Park City Library, 7:00 p.m.
To showcase the Sundance Institute’s Native American and Indigenous Program, the Film Series will screen Samson & Delilah by Sundance Film Festival alumnus Warwick Thornton. Winner of the Camera D’Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, Samson & Delilah is a coming-of-age tale full of hope and survival rooted in a small community in the Central Australian desert. One of the most lyrical and gripping love stories in recent years, this film takes a rare look into an isolated world rarely depicted on the big screen.
About Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a not-for-profit organization that fosters the development of original storytelling in film and theatre, and presents the annual Sundance Film Festival. Internationally recognized for its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Angels in America, Spring Awakening, HOWL, Trouble the Water, Boys Don’t Cry and Sin Nombre. www.sundance.org.
