AFTERTHOUGHTS (73)
ANNECY 2008

Nina Paley’s Sita Sings the Blues and Bill Plympton’s Idiots & Angels (both mentioned in Afterthoughts past) took home the Cristal award for Best Feature and an award for Special Distinction respectively, at the recently concluded 32nd Annecy Intl. Animated Film Festival.
Congratulations to Paley and Plympton and all the other winners and nominees this year. (Check the official Annecy website for more information.)

In the wake of the global animation boom in recent years, Annecy increased the number of possible feature films in competition from five to a maximum of ten, in 2006.
This year, nine feature films were chosen for competition from a field of nearly 50. Among the nine were Shinji Aramaki’s Ekusu makina (Appleseed Saga: Ex Machina, Adria Garcia and Victor Maldonado’s Nocturna, and Masayuki Kojima’s Piano no mori (Piano Forest).

(Sita Sings the Blues OS courtesy of ninapaley.com; image courtesy of sitasingstheblues.com [art for both by Nina Paley]; Idiots & Angels images courtesy of idiotsandangels.com [art by Bill Plympton].)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (58)

58.1 REVVING THE POST-STRIKE ENGINE (2)
THE MAN OF STEEL
In an interview with Empire, Bryan Singer has confirmed that he’s currently “in the development phase” of the sequel to Superman Returns, which he describes as “an opportunity to up the threat levels.” Action, kiddies! Action!!
Sadly, Superman Returns screenwriters Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty won’t be returning, and though there was a rumour that floated that Transformers’ Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman would be penning the sequel’s script, that bit has since (thankfully) been quashed.

58.2 CRUISING TRIBECA 2008
The line-ups for the World Narrative and World Documentary Feature Film Competitions for this year’s Tribeca Film Festival—taking place April 23 – May 4—have been announced, and the World Narrative entries that quickly snagged my attention…

Låt den rätte komma in (Let The Right One In), directed by Tomas Alfredson, written by John Ajvide Lindqvist. (Sweden)
Based on Lindqvist's best-selling novel, this beautifully touching tale tells of the first romance for bullied 12-year-old Oskar and the girl next door, Eli. . . who also happens to be a vampire.
Swedish with English subtitles. A Magnet Release.

Amor, dolor y viceversa (Love, Pain and Vice Versa), directed by Alfonso Pineda-Ulloa, written by Alex Marino. (Mexico)
This stirring and moody psychological thriller finds two strangers subconsciously linked when their recurring dreams begin to topple their reality. Featuring strong performances by the sizzling Bárbara Mori (La mujer de mi hermano) and Leonardo Sbaraglia (Intacto).
Spanish with English subtitles. A Panamax Films Release.

And in the “Encounters” section of the festival…

Idiots and Angels, directed and written by Bill Plympton. (USA)
Oscar®-nominated animator Bill Plympton sketches a Lynchian dark comedy about a morally bankrupt man scrabbling to hide the good in himself—which manifests itself in a pair of angel wings that just won't go away.

The Objective, directed by Daniel Myrick, written by Mark Patton, Wes Clark Jr., and Myrick. (USA)
The [co-]director of The Blair Witch Project brings his singular brand of suspense to an exhilarating integration of war and mystery, revolving around a precarious CIA mission in Afghanistan.
English, Berber with English subtitles.

Terra, directed by Aristomenis Tsirbas, written by Evan Spiliotopoulos and Tsirbas. (USA)
A dazzling sci-fi animation about an alien girl on the idyllic planet Terra. When the last remaining humans exhaust Earth's resources, she must fight against the Earthlings who want to inhabit her planet!
Featuring an all-star cast of voices, including Evan Rachel Wood, Brian Cox, James Garner, Danny Glover, Amanda Peet, David Cross, and Luke Wilson.

Also part of the World Narrative Competition, Shane Meadows’ follow-up to This Is England, Somers Town.
And, returning to The Objective for just a bit, I’ve probably made mention ‘round these parts before that I wasn’t particularly enamoured of The Blair Witch Project. I’ve always wanted to see what Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez could do with an actual script and no vertigo-inducing shaky cam.
Since I haven’t had the opportunity to see any of Myrick’s post-Project work, I figure The Objective is as good an opportunity as any…

For a look at the complete press release, go here.

(Superman Returns IMAX OS courtesy of brandonrouth.com; Let The Right One In OS courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com; Idiots and Angels image courtesy of animationresourcecentre.blogspot.com.)