FIFA and I can never quite seem to meet-in-the-middle, OR: First official Frozen Mammoth RANT!
Kim Kielhofner, still from Art of the Amplifier, 2009
As always this time of year (i.e. when the buds are destroying my capacity to think of things other than the bursting of spring) FIFA is well underway and I have yet to see a single film! Oh dear. Living amidst so much possibility often equals not getting out to much - know what I mean?
Tonight, as part of one of the Festival’s short programs, is a series of videos entitled Infiltrations (1 and 2), and it’s chock full of local artists’ work. Indeed, Diane Obomsawin, Kim Kielhofner and Victoria Stanton are just three of my favourites that have short pieces in the mix.
While I look forward to these films, I am not shocked that I often overlook this festival. I was brought up, like many folks I know, on Western European art and studied it on my own-some out of an avid love for the visual world. Yet I chalk my narrowness of scope up to where I come from, (a small town in Ontario) where wanting to know about art history at all was considered very, very suspect. The idea that this history could contain a richness-beyond-description from all corners of the world wasn’t something I encountered until as a grown up I became stubborn about expanding my aesthetic knowledge and sensibilities.
So while I do appreciate much of the subject matter of the FIFA program, I find it very limiting. It seems to be far too Western European focused to be called an International festival. Perhaps it should be re-named FIFAWE - International Festival of Films on Western European Art.
I am realizing now as I write how important it seems to open the scope of the festival. Very little is about contemporary work, the work of women, the work of anyone but old, dead white dudes (for the most part)…
And like I said, I am excited for some of it - I can’t wait to go see 2 films on Rembrandt and Caravaggio, respectively. There’s a short on Vermeer that I am eager about. Yet I suppose I am a wee surprised/disappointed that only 2 short film programs seem to be answering a need to diffuse film and video by and about a diverse pool of contemporary artists.
Or how cool would it be to every year have a focus on a specific area, or country? Art of the Middle East from the 19th century, for example. I refuse to believe that there aren’t films/interests out there that would allow this type of festival to become what it says it is, which is International.
Ok. Rant over. Tonight at 9pm at the Cinematheque Quebecoise promises to be one of the events with more contemporary programming. I shall be there, sitting shame-faced due to that it’s the first event I’ll be going to. Or perhaps shame-faced that it took me so long to realize why I’ve never invested in FIFA deeply. Thankfully, like the rest of the salle, I will be absorbed in darkness, so no one else will see the burning of my cheeks.
Filed under events, festival, local | Tags: Diane Obomsawin, FIFA, Kim Kielhofner, rant, Victoria Stanton | Comment (0)Diane Obomsawin Wins
I was introduced to Obom’s work for the first time during the 2006 edition of the Ottawa International Animation Festival. Her NFB-produced short film, Here and There, was in competition. I (literally) saw everything the festival had to offer, it was awesome, and Obom’s film was the awesome-est. That is, not only according to me (which should already be enough), but also according to the jury of the festival who gave it the Best Narrative Short Animation (under 35 minutes) prize.
The film’s a honest yet stylized re-telling of “the bewildering events of her rootless early years” where “she fleshes out an uncertain identity and takes control of her life.” On top of having a style (black naive outlines and flat color fillings) and a story (a child torn between continents) that definitely resonate with me from the get-go, the film showcases Obom’s brilliant control over subtle details of expression, gesture and language. As cheese-tastic as it sounds, I’d never seen such a deliciously seamless blend of humour, bitterness, resignation and hope. I still remember how inspiring it was that the characters were both involved yet a bit detached from everything. Plus, they were all bird-like but instead of using their wings to fly, they were bouncing all over the place with a very satisfying ‘boing’ sound, which is obviously really great. You should get the DVD.
Diane’s genius graphic novel, Kaspar, has just been released in English by Drawn & Quarterly (both Kaspar and her other graphic novel, Plus Tard, have been previously published in French by L’Oie de Cravan). It is a moving (but not melodramatic) adaptation of the real life story of Kaspar Hauser, a teenager found in the streets of Nuremberg in 1828 after having spent the first 16 years of his life confined in a dark room. This beautifully printed book demonstrates how Obom’s talent translates just as well in graphic novel format: the story is somewhat harsher, but her touch of ambiguous and bitter sweetness still transpires.
The book will be launched at the Drawn & Quarterly Bookstore (211 Bernard West) on Tuesday, February 3rd at 7pm. Original pages of the book will be exhibited there as well. I’ll leave you with 4 shots of Diane’s pug, Mimi, who will hopefully show up at the book launch as well.
