Kecskemét Animation Film Festival (2 fests in paralell)

8TH KECSKEMÉT ANIMATION FILM FESTIVAL – 20 – 24 JUNE, 2007
Kecskémet Animation Film Festival (KAFF) is two festivals in parallel: the festival of Hungarian animation films and the international festival of European animation cinema and television feature films.

ANIMATION FILM FESTIVAL IN KECSKEMÉT

Films have arrived from 24 countries to the 8th Kecskemét Animation Film Festival, which will be organised between 20th and 24th June in the famous city. The Hungarian festival at the same time is an international review, as well, of which Kecskemét will be the home of for the fifth time. The host, the organiser and the director of KAFF (Kecskemét Animation Film Festival) is Kecskemétfilm Ltd. this time again. According to the director of the festival, Ferenc Mikulás, this year’s KAFF will be primarily the festival of young people, as close to 70 percent of the artists are under forty.
- We experienced the signs of a generation change in animation art already in 2002 and 2005. Now this change is even more powerful, and it can be perceived much more. It is also shown by the fact that the majority of applications to the festival were from young artists, and also in that never ever so many young animators indicated: they want to participate at the festival – said Ferenc Mikulás, festival director.
Therefore, we can meet the young talents of European artistic academies, universities, who start their career now, in great numbers in Kecskemét. The sensitivity to the generational change and the promotion of young artists is also indicated by that this year an award will also be handed out in the „Best Diploma Film” category at KAFF. The students of the animation faculty of Moholy-Nagy University of Arts at the same time will showcase their signal films produced for KAFF.

The first animation film festival was organised 22 years ago in Kecskemét. The goal of the event was, and still is, to provide an opportunity for introduction and competition for the country’s animation artists and workshops. From the mid-1990s the Hungarian festival takes place simultaneously with the international competition, and in 2007 the works of European animation artists are expected at the already 5th International Animation Film Festival. The goal of the directors also remains this year to get the local audience acquainted the works of European film producers, including feature films and TV series produced in European workshops.
Today the Kecskemét festival is already among the acknowledged festivals of the world, it enjoys the assistance of the MEDIA programme of the European Community, and with its overall artistic nature it stands out from the local film reviews. (Just to mention at the invitational tender application of the National Cultural Fund two festivals have received assistance in Kecskemét, KAFF and the Kodály Festival.)
The application entries have been closed recently, to the competition of the Hungarian films close to a hundred, to the international festival close to fifty films were entered by the artists. According to the traditions the films are screened by a preliminary jury consisting of film artists of international fame, with the purpose of still ensuring the high level artistic range of the Kecskemét festival. It turns out after the preliminary jury’s judgement how many films enter the competition, however, from the application entries it can already be seen that the so-called 3D technology, which plays an increasingly powerful role in film production, will be one of the leading acts of this year’s KAFF.

The Kecskemét festival strives to be an emphasised intermediary of value, and this is not only revealed by the fact that it for instance creates a forum for introduction for the newest European films vis-a-vis the American ones, but also by that it always shows what kind of films were born between two festivals in the European workshops. Thereby the interested parties can see a selection of French, Slovenian and Australian partner festivals.
Naturally the films of the artists from Kecskemét cannot be omitted from the selection. Therefore in the competition of short films the work of Zoltán Szilágyi Varga titled Court Record - In Memoriam Péter Mansfeld, which so far has been invited to six festivals. It has also been selected to the competition of the Berlin festival.

As a part of KAFF an international conference will also take place, this time the theme of the discussion will be the folktale, and through the folktale the experts will try to find answers to the exciting question, how our national characteristics and folklore treasures can be kept in our increasingly globalising world.
According to the traditions a lecture will also enrich the programme of KAFF. Giannalberto Bendazzi, an Italian film historian and critic, will commemorate Cavandoli, a great figure of Italian animation, the creator of La Linea, in his presentation.

Kecskemét is not only the city of animation, but also of Kodály. In honour of this year’s Kodály commemoration year the animated feature film of film director Zsolt Richly titled Háry János will be screened on the main square of the city. The famous artist otherwise is also a member of the jury, just like Géza M. Tóth, whose animated film titled Maestro won one of the awards of KAFF 2005, and it was also nominated for the Oscars in 2007.
The festival also greets Attila Dargay, who is 80 years old this year: with an exhibition of the graphics and drawings of his constant co-artist, Ferenc Sajdik. The Hungarian cartoon creators will be introduced in a joint exhibition, and the audience can also see the graphics of Líviusz Gyulai, the animator, who turns 70 this year.
In 2005 author Ervin Lázár, who died in the near past, was a guest of the festival. KAFF will pay hommage to him, as well: with the screening of two animated films produced from his novels.

There will be a film production animation workshop with the management of film director Péter Szoboszlay, and according to the traditions the children may decide also in 2007, which film receives the ORTT Grand Prize of 1 million HUF.
Close to 400 films will be screened at the festival at the usual three locations: in the Erdei Ferenc Cultural Center, the Otthon Cinema and on the main square of the city. The visitors can see a compilation from the works of Dutch, Danish and Australian film directors, and the jury members will showcase the following at retrospective screenings: the films of David Ehrlich and Jerzy Kucia, while on the main square the animated feature films participating in the competition will be shown on giant screens.

A separate interesting part of the 2007 festival will be that the guests may visit the Hungarian Animation House, which will be brought to life in of the wings of the studio of Kecskemétfilm Ltd. in Liszt Ferenc Street. The Hungarian Animation House will be such a living, interactive exhibition place, which plays hommage to the memory of the great predecessors, János Halász, Péter Földes, György Pál, Imre Hajdú, Gyula Macskássy, László Moholy-Nagy, and the tools of animation film production that were used earlier will be introduced, and at the same time it will showcase animated film production in practice with the help of the most modern technology.

More information:
www.kaff.hu