Meeting Michaël Dudok de Wit
May blog
MICHAËL DUDOK DE WIT
Animation director Michaël Dudok de Wit visited FAMU University this month and I was lucky to attend his lectures and have long conversations with him and his lovely wife Arielle Basset.
On Sunday Michaela Pavlátová, legend of Czech animation and head of animation department in FAMU, invited all participants of the lecture to spent the whole day in her house by the lake. She cooked for us delicious food, let us swim in her big (but extremely cold) lake and enjoy the good company of FAMU students and teachers, and of course Michaël Dudok de Wit. This day was unforgettable day, thank you dear Michaela!
Meeting Michaël Dudok de Wit was magic for me, because I remember when I left the hospital after my heart surgery, one of the first movie experiences in cinema theatre that really moved me was Michaël Dudok’s The Red Turtle (2016). Back then I was impressed by the scale of production, vivid colors and beautiful, yet simple story. To meet the author of this film was a very special experience for me.
When I first watched Michal’s films around 10 years ago and couldn’t understand their meaning, but this time I had a chance to rewatch them and discovered many common themes. The most important one, in my opinion, is a theme of search of something bigger, transcendent. The most obvious example is probably The Monk and the Fish (1994) where we see that a monk is trying to catch a fish. When he finally succeeds, he finds himself and the fish levitating in some kind of heaven of absolute happiness. In the Oscar winning film Father and Daughter (2000) the hope of the daughter that she will see her father again is so strong that they finally meet. Time and space don’t matter anymore. In the The Aroma of Tea (2006) - Michaël Dudok’s point is even more straightforward – it’s about spiritual journey of a person with reunion with universe in the end (interestingly, the working title of this film was VOYAGE).
ANIFILM FESTIVAL
We visited ANIFILM Festival - the biggest animation festival in Europe, just recently received Oscar qualification. All winners can be found here. I was especially happy for Love, Dad by Diana Cam Van Nguyen, which won BEST STUDENT FILM award. Quite interesting for me was Once There Was a Sea… by Polish director Joanna Kożuch – anidoc which depicts the search for the lost Aral Sea in Uzbekistan (this country became so interesting for me since my visit last month).
Fantastic organisation, gorgeous people! Thanks for your kind invitation, ANIFILM Festival!
NAZRIN STARTED HER FIRST FILM!
My wife Nazrin Aghamaliyeva is finishing her studies in FAMU International (animation department) and making her graduation film. So far, we cannot tell you the details about the film, but we promise to tell you more next month.
SUPPORT LINOLEUM FESTIVAL
Dear friends, let’s support Linoleum Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival - the biggest animation festival in Ukraine! Click here for more info how you can support. I was lucky to become friends with Anastasiya Verlinska – director of the festival, a woman with big heart, hardworking and with sincere dedication and love to her country. I wish that she soon returns to Kyiv to organize her next festival. I wish this war is over as soon as possible… Let’s support Linoleum Festival, let’s support Ukrainian animation industry - they really need our help. Even little amount matters. Take action now!
