Dispatches #10
LIAF, Eyeworks, Confetti, Punto y Raya, Painting Nerds, Amy Sillman, Selina Trepp
Welcome to another round up of recent experimental animation news, recommended viewing and links…
Firstly I should remind readers that London International Animation Festival 2025 is fast approaching! This year I have programmed two Edge of Frame screenings for the festival under the title ‘Portals’, which will be an intense and mind expanding journey of windows, gateways and cosmic thresholds. I am really quite excited by these programmes, which include some incredible new works alongside older gems. My programmes are Sat 29th and Sun 30th November - more info and links to book tickets can be found here.
The rest of the LIAF programme is jam packed with good stuff as usual, so do head here for the full line up. The festival runs from 28th Nov to 7th Dec, and for those of you who can’t get to the in-person cinema screenings and events, much of the programme will also be available online, worldwide. All tickets and info here.
Eyeworks 2025 has been making its way across the USA, and following recent screenings in LA and Chicago it will make its final stop in New York on Dec 6th at the Museum of the Moving Image (full programme details here). Impeccably curated by artist / animators Alexander Stewart and Lilli Carré, Eyeworks is a screening series specifically focused on experimental animation, which is a rare and wonderful thing. It was the principal inspiration for Edge of Frame (and remains so) and has also been a shining beacon of hope for me as an experimental animator1. The first interview I ever did for the Edge of Frame blog back in 2013 was with Alexander and Lilli, and I was able to feature a guest curated programme by them in the 2016 Edge of Frame Weekend, as well as showing a programme of their own animations. If you get the chance to go to Eyeworks you wont regret it - their programme is always fantastic, and their 2025 line up is no exception.
I interviewed animator Amanda Bonaiuto back in December of last year (here) and we spoke a good bit about her latest film Confetti which was then in the midst of showing at festivals around the world. The film is now online (with an accompanying new interview on Directors Notes). Its such a powerful, mysterious work that really rewards rewatching, check it out!
The Punto y Raya Festival for Abstract Art in Motion has just announced the line up for its ninth edition, this year taking place in Sofia, Bulgaria for the first time. I think its the only festival which focuses entirely on abstract animation, which is quite amazing, and this year’s Official Competition presents 99 films from 37 countries. The festival also includes Guest Panoramas from Hungary and the Balkans, Masterclasses, and Live AV performances by Myriam Boucher, Max Hattler + Sune Petersen, and Mario Radev. Also my film Night Music is in it this year too, so that is very nice!
Punto y Raya also have an impressive back catalogue of masterclass videos on their youtube channel, which I highly recommend digging through. Particularly great is Amy Kravitz’s talk from last year’s PyR Academy in Barcelona, in which Amy discusses the process of ‘creating, embracing, fragmenting, abandoning, shattering, and obscuring narratives to find what feels genuine and truthful’. Amy is one of the greatest experimental animators around and I also highly recommend checking out her inspiring Edge of Frame interview from 2013. There’s also a masterclass by Jon Gillie who I interviewed in January, and another great one by Ukranian animator Mykyta Lyskov… loads of others too! It’s a really amazing resource for all animators.
I loved this new video essay on the painter (and animator) Amy Sillman2, from Painting Nerds (aka Jamie Limond and Samuel O’Donnell). Coincidentally touching quite a few of the issues I wrote about in my last post, the video looks at the way Sillman’s work embraces awkwardness and embarrassment, and incorporates the body and the bodily into abstraction. The video also has a little bit about Robert Breer and connections between Sillman’s and Breer’s work, which was really interesting, and also talks more broadly about animation in relation to painting. I love Sillman’s animations, many of which you can find here.
Painting Nerds is a great channel and I think their video essays are excellent. Their film about David Byrd is beautiful, there are really good ones on Richard Wright and Carol Rhodes; the Frans Hals one made me want revisit the work of a painter I’d not previously been that interested in, and I’d not heard of Sylvia Plimack Mangold but their film about her work was really fascinating. In-depth but accessible art criticism is not always easy to find, and their videos are so well researched and crafted, I really recommend exploring their growing back catalogue.
Tortoise have a new record out, and Chicago-based artist and animator Selina Trepp has made a new video for them. Extraordinary stuff, as always. Set to full screen and volume up, please!
Eyeworks has included a number of my own films over the years and I was able to go over to New York in 2023 when they showed my film Help Desk - a really memorable and fun occasion!
There’s another great Sillman video - her lecture on ‘Drawing in the Continuous Present’ as recommended by Amanda Bonaiuto in her own Dispatches post for this Substack back in December last year.
loved the portals trailer, i just prebooked tickets to watch online