Very Animated: Life in Clay, Ink & CGI
Join Adam Elliot (Memoir of a Snail), Emma Kelly (Magic Beach), Kathy Sarpi (Magic Beach) & Gints Zilbalodis (Flow) as they discuss their approaches to animation. Hosted by Michael Lim.
Three of the most astonishing films in the MIFF program this year are animated features, all using very different styles including clay, digital wireframes and traditional hand-drawn cells to bring about “a bestowing of life” – the Latin derivation of the term. This panel features four extraordinary artists behind them: Oscar winner Adam Elliot, whose latest opus, the MIFF Premiere Fund–supported Memoir of a Snail was chosen to open this year’s festival; animator and illustrator Emma Kelly and multidisciplinary artist and animator Kathy Sarpi, whose work both featured as standalone segments of our Family Gala film, Magic Beach, also supported by the Premiere Fund; and Latvian animator and director Gints Zilbalodis, whose feature Flow premiered at Cannes and was selected for this year’s Bright Horizons competition.
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Adam Elliot is an Australian stop-motion animation filmmaker, noted for his use of traditional ‘in-camera’ techniques, which means every prop, set and character is a ‘real’ miniature handcrafted object. His films have collectively participated in over 700 film festivals and have received over 100 awards, including an Academy Award for Harvie Krumpet (MIFF 2003) and five Annecy Cristals. His latest is Memoir of a Snail, featuring the voices of Sarah Snook, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Jacki Weaver.
Emma Kelly is an animator and illustrator. Over more than 20 years in the animation industry, she has covered many aspects of the artform from 3D and computer games, TV series and works for iOS applications, feature films and traditional hand-drawn short films. Emma’s work has appeared in many films including Sarah Watt’s award-winning film Look Both Ways (MIFF 2005) and It’s Like That, which she co–directed. Illustration is also an integral part of Emma’s art practice, focusing on scientific and detailed natural history subjects.
Kathy Sarpi is a multidisciplinary visual artist, animator and educator based in Naarm. Since graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts, Kathy has worked on cartoon shows for Disney Europe and Netflix while also expanding her visual-art practice in painting, comics and collage. Approaching art in a vivid, playful style, Kathy is passionate about celebrating life’s abundance and the beauty in our icky, embarrassing and visceral human experiences.
Gints Zilbalodis is a Latvian filmmaker and animator best known for Away, which won the Contrechamp Award at Annecy in 2019. He focuses on 3D animation with comprehensive camera movements and sprawling environments. His latest animated feature Flow was selected for the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes and the main competition at Annecy.
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