The San Francisco Film Society officially rolled out plans for its new year at Mezzanine on Sunday afternoon. Outside of New York and Los Angeles, there isn’t another U.S. city with as much cinematic excitement as San Francisco, and the SFFS is a crucial part of making it happen. Executive Director Graham Leggat introduced his staff (which has more than doubled in the past three years), thanked the membership (which has nearly trebled) and detailed a vast array of new and expanded programs. Of particular interest to readers of the CableCartoon:

The SFFS now offers a full suite of filmmaker services programs and activities designed to foster creativity and further the careers of independent filmmakers. The Film Society has launched these programs after signing an agreement with Film Arts Foundation, effectively assuming the stewardship of activities provided by Film Arts over its 32-year history. Visit here for a list of classes starting in October.

The Film Society’s Youth Education program is partnering with Lucasfilm Ltd. to present The Art and Science of Lucasfilm; a series of five multimedia programs created and presented by Lucasfilm to demonstrate the intersection of art and science in the entertainment industry.

And of course, the San Francisco International Animation Festival will be returning for its third year November 13–16 to spotlight the latest trends and voices in international animation. Films will include Fear(s) of the Dark, a French anthology of shorts by artists including Blutch, Marie Caillou, Pierre di Sciullo, and Charles Burns (who is scheduled to appear in person), as well as Nina Paley’s Sita Sings the Blues, among others. Watch for more details as the show draws near.

One more opportunity to meet the award-winning Australian animator.

Dennis Tupicoff will be showing a retrospective of his films at 7:30 on Saturday night at DeAnza College (in Advanced Technology Center Room 120). His films from the past 25 years include Dance With Death (1983), a humorous commentary on TV violence; The Darra Dogs (1993), his personal recounting of a tragic history with four-legged friends, His Mother’s Voice (1997) a moving "docu-mation" of one woman’s tragic loss, and Chainsaw, a remarkable combination of fact and fiction bridging power tools, bullfighting, infidelity and Frank and Ava.

This is a FREE event and open to the public. De Anza College is at 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd. in Cupertino.

Curator/Collector Paul Etcheverry in Person!
 

Friday, September 26th at 8:30 PM Oddball Films presents curator/collector Paul Etcheverry’s “Wine, Womanizing+Song”, a program of partying-nightclubbing-carousing-hallucinating and philandering mayhem from 1930s and 40s classic Hollywood cartoons, double entendre-packed comedies and musical “jukebox” Soundies. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see the ‘oddest of the odd” as Paul Etcheverry serves up a spectacular and spicy blend of rabble rousing fun!

Films include: “Felix Woos Whoopee” (1930) Directed by Otto Messmer for the Pat Sullivan Studio. Felix sneaks out on the wife to booze it up at The Whoopee Club, makes a silly ass of himself and get a serious case of the DTs.
“My Wife’s Gone To The Country” (1931) Paramount Screen Songs Cartoon. Directed by Dave Fleischer. In this "follow the bouncing ball" sing-along cartoon, the echerous hubby is ogling and chasing Betty Boop-prototypes at his clandestine watering hole.
“Lady Play Your Mandolin” (1931) Merrie Melodies. Directed by Rudolf Ising. The debut film in Warners’ Merrie Melodies series.  A Mickey Mouse ripoff, replete with oily hair and a belly full of beer, stars as  “the gay caballero” stirring up musical hijinx at his favorite cantina.
“The Iceman’s Ball” (1932) Directed by Mark Sandrich for RKO Radio Pictures. Clark & McCullough steal a police car and two uniforms as a means to pick up women and crash parties.
“Good Good Good” (1942) This nightclub’s attraction is the Eastern European "Barkley Sisters", singing about the sexual prowess of their boyfriends while a dancer with fruit on her head flirts with the clientele. 
“Row Row Row” (1940) Joy Hodges sings about guys who get laid in rowboats to an incredulous supper-club crowd!
“Tails Of The Border” (1944) Paramount Pictures "Speaking Of Animals" Cartoon.  “The Fitzcarraldo” of dog conga line films, with various canines whooping it up in a cantina spotlighting a Carmen Miranda pooch.
“Hollywood Knights” (1941) Soundie from the "Featurettes" series pays tribute to top-hatted inebriates who hit every show - and hit on every showgirl  - in the Los Angeles basin.
“Red Hot Riding Hood” (1943) MGM Cartoon. Directed By Tex Avery. This sensual adaptation story liberates its characters from their Disney-style forest: Grandma’s a nymphomaniac swinger, and Little Red has become a red-hot singer-stripper; the Wolf is a model of lupine lechery; and the forest is supplanted by a big-city nightclub as the enchanted place of forbidden sexuality.

Paul Etcheverry has been producing and providing films for classic cinema events in the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 25 years. He currently co-produces the KFJC Psychotronix Film Festival as well as Lobo-Tronic Film Shows for the Cinema Insomnia TV show. Paul has also produced four programs of classic silent animation, comedy and surrealism with live music and sound effects by Bay Area musical legends Beth Custer and Ralph Carney.

Oddball Films is located at 275 Capp St in San Francisco. Admission is $10.00 Limited seating RSVP required to: info@oddballfilm.com or 415-558-8117.

President Karl Cohen with Marci Page (left) his wife Denise, and Deanna Morse (right)

ASIFA-SF’s President Karl Cohen has been awarded the 30th Annual ASIFA Prize at the Ottawa Animation Festival for his continuing contributions to the Animation Association and his tireless efforts to preserve the history of the art form. He is, of course the principle author/editor of our chapter’s cherished monthly newsletter, which has subscribers the world over and enjoys amazing pass-a-long readership. He is also a Professor of Animation History at San Francisco State University and author of Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Black Listed Animators in America. He has written hundreds of articles for international publications on aspects of animation industry, history, education. He is currently writing a book on Animated Propaganda, which is also the subject of two screenings at Ottawa.

Animator Nina Paley said "In everything he writes he has only the progress, survival, and preservation of our art as his goal. I love that man." President Cohen himself was taken aback, "The opening night of the festival was a little surprise for me—the drawing by Nick Park is now on my kitchen wall over the table. It was a wonderful surprise and i’m quite honored the ASIFA International board felt i was worthy of the award."

Of course, even the award was not enough to slow Karl down at the festival "I was touched by the crowds that confirmed that my Brainwashed cartoon project is an important subject. The screening played to 2 full houses and the Q&A was full of intelligent questions." Now back in S.F., Karl promises that his book, some 10 years in the research and writing, may be completed in the next year or two. You supply the prose, Karl, and we’ll be thrilled to read it!

 If you don'’t already get the ASIFA-SF newsletter, maybe you should subscribe—it’s part of our annual membership!

ASIFA-SF Co-Presents Dennis Tupicoff
8:00 pm, Thursday, Sept. 25, San Francisco State University
and 7:30pm Saturday at De Anza College

ASIFA-SF and SF States animation program present Australian animator Dennis Tupicoff in person. Chain Saw, his latest animated tour-de-force, recently won the grand prize at the Oberhausen Film Festival in Germany. It is a remarkable coalescence of the mysteries of love, history and power tool safety, that will leave you gasping.

Dennis Tupicoff, a graduate of Queensland University, worked as an archivist and teacher before making his first animated film in Toowoomba. He moved to Melbourne and the Swinburne Film and TV School animation course in 1977. While sometimes making a living with TV ads and other commercial and sponsored work, and later teaching at the VCA School of Television (1992-4), he has made both animated and live-action independent films as writer, director, producer, and animator. One of Dennis’ strengths is his unique writing ability. He has a unique abilty to weave complicated ideas together with a remarkable voice. Don’t miss meeting him on a rare visit from Down Under.

8:10 PM, Coppola Theater, Fine Art Bldg. room 101, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave., S.F.

In the south bay? Catch Dennis on Saturday, September 27 at 7:30pm at De Anza College, in the Advanced Technology Center Room 120

FREE and Open to the public!

"Fundamentals" by Mark Fiore, Sept. 17 2008

ASIFA-SF member Mark Fiore is like a lot of Bay Area denizens—thoughtful, politically minded to be sure, but what makes him stand out in our crowd is that he doesn’t just talk about politics, he draws cartoons about them. Weekly. And they’re pretty funny too, especially if you live in the SF Bay Area (where admitting you vote Republican is tantamount to being registered under Megan’s Law.) But we digress…

This week’s cartoon on MarkFiore.com is a typically sharp commentary on the financial crisis, and other entries have covered the presidential campaign, and all the candidates, cultural elitism, oil politics, the "pretty good generation" and lots more. But be sure to prowl around for Mark’s selection of links, including ways to get active, news bulletins—-and merchandise, to help the cause. This site ain’t just for laughs.

Like voting in Chicago, the CableCartoon recommends you bookmark Fiore’s site early…and often.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 7:30 p.m.    

As part of an ongoing series entitled Alternative Visions, the Pacific Film Archive is presenting Collage animations by Janie Geiser, Lewis Klahr, and Eric Saks.  As Kathy Geritz writes: "Collage offers the opportunity to mix up our shared culture, to create improbable and magical combinations. The results may look forward to new ways of speaking or hark back, perhaps nostalgically, to childhood memories and half-forgotten stories. The artists in tonight’s program are masters of the form. They share a low-tech, handmade aesthetic, yet their approaches range from elusive, ambiguous tales to haunting dreamscapes and subversive pranks. Working on an intimate scale, they construct cryptic messages and fragmented narratives using antique dolls and toys or cut-outs from magazines, comic strips, and picture books. Lewis Klahr’s films share a history with the cut-out animations of Harry Smith and Joseph Cornell; Janie Geiser also creates puppet theater. Eric Saks’s work draws on outmoded and futuristic technologies. In animating inanimate objects, these artists bring new life to life’s puzzle."

It’s another opportunity to see hard-to-find but worthy animation art in the Bay Area. Shut off the DVD player and go have an alternative experience in Berkeley (where else?!) Films include: Daylight Moon (Lewis Klahr, 2002, 13 mins, 16mm). Pony Glass (Lewis Klahr, 1997, 14.5 mins, 16mm). Gun Talk (Eric Saks, 1991, 14 mins, Beta SP). You Talk/I Buy (Eric Saks, 1990, 10 mins, Beta SP). Lost Motion (Janie Geiser, 2000, 11 mins, 16mm). Secret Story (Janie Geiser, 1996, 8.5 mins, 16mm) (Total running time: 71 mins, Color, From the artists, Canyon Cinema)

For directions and other info, visit the PFA website.

Rarely-seen stop-motion films in S.F. this Saturday

Oddball Films presents an evening of Czech Visionary Cinema featuring several of the greatest animators in Czech cinema. The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (1958) is an awe-inspiring and surreal vision of Verne’s story Face au drapeau (“Facing the Flag”) directed by Czech cinema master Karel Zeman. Also featured is Jiri Trnka’s allegorical puppet film The Hand (1965), plus selected animated shorts. Seating is limited so RSVP’s are essential. RSVP to: Info@oddballfilm.com or 415-558-8117.
 
The Fabulous World of Jules Verne is Karel Zeman’s ground-breaking work in the genre of stop motion animation. It’s an awe-inspiring, meticulous cinematic rendering of the aesthetic and conceptual inventions of proto-science fiction genius Jules Verne. The film’s intricate art direction successfully renders the visual style of nineteenth century woodcuts and engravings into motion pictures and creates a stylized and surreal graphic world within which Verne’s fanciful tale unfolds. Zeman captivates us with his countless charming visions of strange, impossible aircraft flying through the skies, bizarre animated machines, a gargantuan cannon, articulated drawings of fish, and even British soldiers riding roller skating camels.
 
Zeman’s eclectic cinematic style influenced many contemporary quirky directors such as Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton. Mixing slapstick comedy, slightly satirical, larger-than-life performances of the cast, action pacing and Melies-style film magic, this little known Czechoslovakian gem transcends the literature at its source to create a bizarre and futuristic visionary novel come to life.

Jiri Trnka’s The Hand (1965) is his last, and many say his best work. The Hand is an allegorical take on the Stalinist Czech dictatorial regime. Trnka directed some of the most acclaimed animated films ever made. In 1966, four years before his death, Newsday lauded him as "second to Chaplin as a film artist because his work inaugurated a new stage in a medium long dominated by Disney." Trnka, was a 1936 graduate of Prague’s School of Arts and Crafts. In 1945 he set up an animation unit with several collaborators at the Prague film studio; they called the unit "Trick Brothers." Trnka specialized in puppet animation, a traditional Czech art form, of which he became the undisputed master. His films are brilliant, bizarre and meticulously rendered. The show includes additional Eastern European animated shorts.

Date: Saturday, September 13, 2008 Time: 8:00PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or info@oddballfilm.com 

ASIFA-SF character sheet: David Chong 

Dave Chong has belonged to ASIFA-SF for over two years, and he represents an important segment of our membership: he’s a student on the way to becoming a professional animator. Not that he’s only a student, however; he already has a full-time job as a consultant/model maker for a design firm (yes, he’s contemplating an encore career).

Models play a seminal role in Dave’s animation history. In 1995, he worked as a model builder on Henry Selick & Tim Burton’s A Nightmare Before Christmas. "That was the most inspiring animation event in my life—getting to work in the Character Fabrication department at Skellington Productions. I got to meet some of the most interesting and skilled people in the stop motion film industry. But it wasn’t until I started taking classes at De Anza College that I really considered animation as a profession."

Right now, David is drawing pictures the traditional way, working on his second short. His first, CCCP-TV (pictured above), was a single-gag cartoon about an Eastern Bloc weightlifter who takes things a little too far. His new project, The Acorn Explorer, is a more ambitious tale about Sammy the squirrel, on a quest to find the squirrel’s holy grail, the Gold Acorn. The film is animated in Toon Boom Studio and will be about 3 minutes long.

Chong says, "I would like to direct my own feature film one day. In the meantime, I’d like to get a job using the animation skills that I’ve picked up at De Anza. I’m ready to turn this expensive hobby into a real job—and I’m ready to start at the bottom if necessary."

"Character Sheet" is a regular feature of the CableCartoon, introducing the membership of ASIFA-SF. If you have a blog, a class or especially a new film that you’d like to promote and would like to have your profile published, contact CaliforniaKid on the CableCartoon.

Legendary animator Bill Melendez passed away on Tuesday, September 2, 2008, at the age of 91.  I only met Bill once, when he received the Cartoon Art Museum’s Sparky Award in 2002 (more on that award and Mr. Melendez’s accomplishments after this paragraph).  After I worked up enough courage to approach him and ask him to sign my copy of A Charlie Brown Christmas:  The Making of a Tradition, he chuckled and told some great stories about working on the special as he doodled a dancing Snoopy in my book.  

At least, I think he told some great stories.  I was aware of his beaming smile, trademark mustache, and that he was laughing at something that he was explaining, but all that I could think about was the fact that I was standing next to the man who’d animated one of my all-time favorite television programs, something that so many of us had grown up with, something that a surprising number of Americans can probably quote at length…

Anyway, that’s my Bill Melendez story.  He was an incredibly happy guy, very down to earth, and a great animator.  I’m glad I got the chance to thank him for all of the great childhood memories that I have of watching his cartoons, and I’ll be sure to think of him every Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s, Arbor Day, Valentine’s Day…man, he was a prolific guy, wasn’t he?

Bill Melendez received the Cartoon Art Museum’s Sparky Award in 2002. The award celebrates the significant contributions of cartoon artists who reside in the western United States and who embody the talent, innovation and humanity of Charles M. Schulz, for whom the award is named.

Mr. Melendez began his career in animation at the Disney studio in 1938. He worked as an animator on such classics as Fantasia, Pinocchio, Bambi, and Dumbo. After leaving Disney, he animated Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig for Leon Schlesinger Cartoons, which later became Warner Brothers Cartoons. Next, Mr. Melendez worked for the UPA studio on its groundbreaking and highly stylized shorts including Madeline and Gerald McBoing-Boing.

After a 10-year stint directing industrial films and award-winning television commercials, Mr. Melendez founded his own production company, Bill Melendez Productions, in 1964. That same year, he produced his first television special—A Charlie Brown Christmas. The show was an instant critical and popular success, winning both an Emmy Award and the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for Outstanding Children/Young People’s program..

Mr. Melendez went on to produce more than 75 Charlie Brown specials and four feature-length movies as well as animating specials featuring Jim Davis’ Garfield, Babar the Elephant, and Cathy Guisewite’s Cathy. The eight Emmys and numerous other awards he has received attest to the significant contribution Melendez has made to the field of animation.