Best of Animation: Struggle called Life

How did I shape the Best of Animation only two decades in to the new century? A slightly frustrating journey through the programmes of my predecessors urged me to skip some heartfelt choices, because I wanted to avoid repeats; partly in vain I tried to stay away from films that had travelled the festivals successfully recently and left these for future colleagues. Still I tried to find a balance between old and new, must-sees and must-haves, gender and issues, usual suspects and debuts, the art and the accessible, the joy and the urgent, the touching, the poignant and the funny. I also allowed some personal choices and guilty pleasures. The long list of already screened powerful titles; a limitating burden at the beginning became liberating in the end. It offered me an opportunity to search the caverns of my memory and retrieve less obvious gems. I curated thirty-five titles loosely based on the themes: Love, Friendship & Family, The Joy of Animation, Shaping Life and I Plead Guilty. Some of the leading themes will be clear while watching, some might need explanation. In The Joy of Animation technique made the impossible possible in crazy, poetic or beautiful structures, graphic styles, storytelling or appearance. I Plead Guilty presents an uncensored potpourri of some of my favourite films. In my eyes they have all deserved a place in this programme and I cannot wait to see them again. I hope you will enjoy them again or discover films both old and new. All of them I guarantee are worth seeing. This is only a glimpse of the artistic shorts animation from the first part of the 21st century, thank goodness future curators will follow to fill the blanks! So many more to see. Drop me a line for more suggestions!

JUNKYARD (Junkyard)

Regie Director: Hisko Hulsing / Niederlande / 06.2012 / 00:17:58 min. / Verleih Distribution:

Ein Mann wird von einem Junkie ausgeraubt und niedergestochen. Kurz bevor er stirbt, flackert das Bild eines Jugendfreundes vor seinen Augen auf. In ihre einst enge Beziehung schlug der Drogenmissbrauch seines Freundes einen Graben. Das Tor zum Abwärtsstrudel aus Sucht und Beschaffungskriminalität öffnete ein zwielichtiger Dealer aus der Nachbarschaft, der mit seinem Vater auf dem Schrottplatz wohnte.