Kangmin Kim impressed in 2010 with his student short Visit. He has continued to evolve his labor-intensive mixed-media approach with his thesis film, 38-39°C, and confirmed that he is a major talent to watch.

The father-son relationship that is at the center of the film doesn’t lend itself to easy explanations, but the idea is conveyed eloquently through layered imagery and sound that achieves a fever-dream intensity. There is fantastic attention to detail throughout, and seamless compositing of visual elements. The quirky animation of the hinged paper cut-out figures provides the welcome human touch that is absent from many slickly produced stop motion shorts nowadays. Watch the making of video for a literal behind-the-scenes look at Kim’s process.

I just caught up with this simple but highly effective little “action film”. French director Lilian Hardouineau keeps the focus on camera moves and action rather than modeling, texturing or lighting – and it works just fine for me.

(Thanks, Alae Hatoum)

Who’s afraid of Arithmetic? A beautiful graduation film by Giovanni Munari and Dalila Rovazzani for Italy’s Experimental Film Center (Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia), based on Ravel’s Opera The Child and the Spells. More art and info at their production blog.

Watching Kontraste by Sieglinde Hamacher makes me realize I’ve never seen any East German animation. From what I’ve read, their state-run animation studio DEFA was not as visually experimental as the state-operated studios in other Iron Curtain countries like Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland. But Kontraste, created in 1982, has no shortage of creative expression. An online search reveals that a DVD of East German animation was released a couple years back called Red Cartoons: Animated Films From East Germany.

Thirty-five students from 20 U.S. colleges and universities have been selected as finalists in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 39th Annual Student Academy Awards competition. The complete list of nominees is posted here. Below are links or embeded trailers for the nine Animation category nominees and two from the Alternative category. The awards ceremony will be held on Saturday, June 9th, at 6 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Congratulations to all the nominees!

Chocolate Milk by Eliza Kinkz, University of California, Los Angeles

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Eyrie by David Wolter, California Institute of the Arts

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The Jockstrap Raiders by Mark Nelson, University of California, Los Angeles

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La Lune et le Coq by Raymond McCarthy Bergeron, Rochester Institute of Technology

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The Reality Clock by Amanda Tasse, University of Southern California (nominated as Alternative Film)

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Terra Cotta Warrior by Bin Li, Rochester Institute of Technology (nominated as Alternative Film)

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The rest of the nominees are:

Cowboy, Clone, Dust by Matthew Christensen, New York University

Lizard and the Ladder by Aaron Bristow, Utah Valley University

My Little Friend by Eric Prah, Ringling College of Art and Design

Reviving Redwood by Matt Sullivan, Ringling College of Art and Design

Shinobi Blues by Yue Liu, School of Visual Arts

Tonight, ASIFA-East handed out prizes for its 43nd annual Animation Festival. The Rauch Brothers took home the Best in Show for their 9/11-themed short John and Joe. Two children’s films that I particularly enjoyed at the screening were Michael Sporn’s inspiring I Can Be President (which was shown in excerpted form) and an adaptation of Mo Willems’ book Don’t Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late directed by Pete List. The latter showed that preschool animation can engage audience participation without talking down to kids.

The most surprising film of the evening was Leah Shore’s Old Man. The “old man” in question is Charles Manson, and Shore uses a breathless array of techniques and styles to illustrate recordings of his schizophrenic ramblings. Though we’ve posted Shore’s films here before—see BOOBatary and Meatwaffle—I’d suggest that Old Man is a breakout work for the young filmmaker. She is a talent to watch.

A full list of winners follows the jump.
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