{"id":663487,"date":"2026-11-01T09:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T09:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/663487\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T09:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T09:24:09","slug":"getting-animated-israels-anination-animation-festival-marks-ten-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/663487\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting animated: Israel’s AniNation animation festival marks ten years"},"content":{"rendered":"

If, like me, you are of a certain vintage and you instinctively associate the word \u201canimation\u201d with such industry leaders as Disney or former cartoon trailblazer Hanna-Barbera of Tom and Jerry fame, a visit to this year\u2019s AniNation animation festival, taking place at the Jerusalem Cinematheque<\/a> between November 3-8, should help to flex your thinking on the filmic field in question.<\/p>\n

Artistic director Shlomi Steiner Yosef, now in his fifth stint with the festival, has covered numerous stylistic, genre, cultural, thematic, and philosophical bases in a programmatic roll-out that caters to all kinds of tastes, leanings, and age groups. This year\u2019s edition also closes the festival\u2019s first decade of envelope-pushing entertaining endeavors. Not bad going for any cultural venture here, it must be said.<\/p>\n

Steiner Yosef does not just have an educated overview of the wider global animation scene. He is in the thick of the creative action himself, as an independent artist, director, and animator who tends to dip into an eclectic range of disciplines in his work. His curatorial choices were duly fueled by his own overarching professional experience.<\/p>\n

The six-day program is a very varied affair. There are choice items from all over the geographic and cultural landscape, including an intriguing satirical French work called Jim Queen, with the somewhat absurd yet thought-provoking storyline focusing on the outbreak of a virus in Paris<\/a> that turns gay men into heterosexuals. And there is Peleliu: Guernica of Paradise, which is based on a Japanese manga series.<\/p>\n

It is set in the dying days of World War II<\/a> and raises deep questions about the value of life, morality, and how to physically and emotionally survive extreme violence. That, of course, references our own existential circumstances here and should leave viewers with plenty of food for thought. There is also a nod to the power of art and visual presentation.<\/p>\n

\"FrenchFrench satirical work \u2018Jim Queen\u2019 is based on an unlikely sexual preference shift. (credit: BOBBYPILLS UMEDIA)<\/p>\n

\u201cComics are the art of imagining fictional stories,\u201d observes a Japanese officer in the movie and, one may add, of reflecting real life.<\/p>\n

Animation evolution<\/p>\n

Animated cinematic material has come a long way since the days of Tom and Jerry and Donald Duck. The festival itinerary features several full-length efforts with intriguing, alluring, entertaining content. In addition to the aforementioned, there is something of a psychedelic film by Spanish director Alberto V\u00e1zquez called Decorado.<\/p>\n

Imagine, if you will, a central character in the shape of an unemployed middle-aged mouse who surveys the world around him as an artificial theater set. Things go comically from bad to worse as he tries to make sense of the catastrophes he encounters en route to finding his own truth. Not exactly Snow White and her seven little pals.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, 41-year-old Steiner Yosef\u2019s own pathway into the inner workings of the animation field was sparked by a perennially popular, perfectly delectable classic created long before he was even a twinkle in his parents\u2019 eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first animated film I saw was The Jungle Book, when I was nine,\u201d he says, surprising me, and very pleasantly, I may add. That was a high-class introduction. The Walt Disney Productions creation came out in 1967, the last feature produced by Disney himself, and has proven its staying power over the years, despite being crafted using old-school technological means.<\/p>\n

Notwithstanding the huge advances made in animation technology in the almost six decades since that iconic Disney movie, there are contemporary animators who opt, at least, to start with a manually fashioned substratum before bringing in the big technological guns. One such project is Letter to A Pig by Tal Kantor, which was a nominee for an Oscar in the Short Animated Film category in 2024.<\/p>\n

If you are more than a little dismayed at the way technology is taking over good old human abilities, proffering neat shortcuts to results and nimbly leapfrogging the \u201cbother\u201d of having to actually put some manual and\/or mental effort into the venture, you might find Kantor\u2019s creative process encouraging and heartwarming.<\/p>\n

The 30-something Jerusalem-born animator and filmmaker used basic paintbrushes and paper to create the baseline for the characters and scenes in the film that referenced the Holocaust, and shone an unforgiving light on our ability to express sympathy and empathy, and how we treat the world around us.<\/p>\n

Steiner Yosef is more than happy to trumpet Kantor\u2019s stellar showing, along with the efforts of his compatriot professional counterparts. And that despite the ludicrously petty support they get from the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach year, I am so proud of what we [in the Israeli animation community] manage to do, and what I am able to show in the AniNation program,\u201d he beams. \u201cIt beggars belief that people continue to create such original and meticulous works here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local industry strides<\/p>\n

Things are moving along nicely, despite all the hurdles to be navigated.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot so many years ago there was no animation industry here; there weren\u2019t all those [academic] departments that teach animation. Many members of the [animation] community are dead-set on promoting the field. The industry has to grapple with lots of difficulties,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Naturally, that includes the financial aspect, although Steiner Yosef isn\u2019t taking that personally. \u201cIt\u2019s the same for most areas of culture here,\u201d he observes.<\/p>\n

Regarding his own professional field, he says that is partly down to simple ignorance rather than any ill will, per se. \u201cThey [state powers that apportion aid] just don\u2019t know how to relate to animation, including providing support for the festival. It\u2019s not the same as cinema. Yes, animation is also shown on screens, but it is different, and requires a different approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Things ain\u2019t getting easier, either: \u201cI recently attended a meeting with all the [cultural sector] unions at the Knesset when we learned about the budget cuts.\u201d Cuts? There surely isn\u2019t too much left to cut. \u201cWhatever there was will now be reduced,\u201d he notes with commensurate gravitas. \u201cThat\u2019s part of it. The cultural pie is small in any case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steiner Yosef and his fellow Israeli artists can only look on with envy at the helping hand their counterparts in other OECD countries get for their creative endeavors. \u201cFrance, for example, has the CNC (National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image). The state and, naturally, the public are totally behind it, and the citizens pay a culture tax and are happy to do so. That money is invested in culture, and helps to disseminate French culture around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now there\u2019s a thought. Perhaps making greater efforts to spread the Israeli artistic word abroad might pay dividends and make some difference to the way people elsewhere relate to us. In any case, the politicians don\u2019t seem to be making much headway on that score, so why not give our artists a shot?<\/p>\n

There is also a misconception about the financial outlay required to bring animated works to full fruition. One might have thought that, in the absence of actual human actors and with the largely technologically-assisted production and directorial process involved, putting a cartoon movie together is logistically a lot simpler and financially more user-friendly.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot at all,\u201d Steiner Yosef enlightens me. \u201cThere are so many people involved. You only have to look at the length of the credits at the end of an animated film to see that.\u201d I stand corrected.<\/p>\n

Recognition from abroad<\/p>\n

Happily, the word of Israeli animation is getting out and about beyond our shores and, amazingly in these politically charged times, there are a bunch of professionals flying in to lend some of their knowledge and expertise to the festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a group of 14 coming over \u2013 13 from LA and one from Spain,\u201d Steiner Yosef advises. \u201cThey are coming to learn more about Israeli animation. They will also serve as jurors for the competition.\u201d That references the shorts competition, with the entries screened on the first day of the program.<\/p>\n

Members of the incoming contingent will also present master classes, including one by celebrated Canadian-American voice actress Tara Strong<\/a>. \u201cShe is renowned for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games,\u201d says Steiner Yosef. Strong will enlighten her audience about what went into devising some of her iconic characters from Hello Kitty, The Powerpuff Girls, and My Little Pony.<\/p>\n

That warms the cockles. Indeed, any artists or, let\u2019s face it, anyone at all willing to make the trek over here these days, no doubt defying all manner of anonymous or otherwise online fire and brimstone sent their way via social media, are a welcome occurrence.<\/p>\n

One thing that appears to set animated offerings apart from movies with actual actors is the capacity of the former to accommodate and thereafter present to viewers all manner of topics and storylines which may be considered a little too close to the bone for the regular format. Steiner Yosef has a left-field take on that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout time, animation has provided a means for conveying messages that could be considered subversive,\u201d he laughs. \u201cThat is probably because of its ostensibly innocent image.\u201d If one thinks back to the Disney-like persona conjured by beloved characters such as Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, or Pocahontas, that public profile makes perfect sense.<\/p>\n

But there are also decidedly non-lily white figures in the art form\u2019s timeline, such as Fritz the Cat, the eponymous feline from the 1972 film who is into drugs, radical politics, and hedonism. That\u2019s about as far away as you can get from the socially acceptable creatures that are more readily identified with cartoon output. That\u2019s not just an American thing. Animation has also made use of its seemingly non-threatening front elsewhere to bypass political or etiquette strictures.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder Soviet Union regimes, there were wonderful works that managed to introduce a degree of criticism of repression,\u201d says Steiner Yosef. \u201cThey got away with that because the authorities related to the films as being tailored to children. They didn\u2019t take that on board.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, the festival honcho posits, all filmic output has some kind of subtext to it. \u201cIn Hollywood, for example, there is always some kind of message in there, some kind of [societal-moralistic] Christian American value they want to get across. It\u2019s the same with animation, of course, together with the entertainment element.\u201d<\/p>\n

Natalie Rissin\u2019s Ve\u2019az Me At (And So, Who Are You?) contribution to AniNation is a case in point. It is an apolitical venture, though it could be construed as political with a small p, which tells the moving documentary-like story of Rissin\u2019s own mother who of Rissin\u2019s own mother who, at the relatively advanced age of 56, dispensed with her traditional homemaker role and became a flight attendant. It is basically a coming-of-age picture, albeit way past the normal game-changing stage of adolescence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s interesting that as a service provider she finds freedom. She has to wear a uniform, and stick to a routine, but still finds new meaning in her life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Offering a different view of the regional conflict<\/p>\n

Boh Niftor Et Zeh Echat Uletamid (Let\u2019s Settle This Once and For All), by Shalev Ben Elya and Michael Jacob Buchstav, is another homegrown effort worthy of note. It features in the Short Animation Films competition and runs all of eight minutes. Modest length notwithstanding, Ben Elya and Buchstav make the most of the format and raise the continually burning issue of finding a solution to our regional conflict.<\/p>\n

The filmmakers deftly shed light on the eternal quandary by asking young Arabs and Jews how they would resolve the matter. Their replies are presented as moves in a chess game, each of which sparks a countermove as the \u201cplayers\u201d search for the decisive advantage.<\/p>\n

AniNation not only covers an eclectic range of topics, but it also culls works from different cultures around the globe. In addition to films by some of our own promising talents, there are items from Britain, the US, China, France, Japan, and Germany.<\/p>\n

The latter includes a 100-year-old film called The Adventures of Prince Achmed, made by Lotte Reiniger. It is a true historical gem and is the oldest surviving feature-length animated film. The screening will be accompanied by a live score performed by DJ-producer Itamar Shlomo Cohen.<\/p>\n

The British contribution includes a mouth-watering selection from Aardman Animations, marking the renowned market leaders\u2019 50th anniversary with a medley of movies made by Oscar-winning Wallace & Gromit creator Nick Park. Anyone over the age of, say, 40 may recall the seminal The Wrong Trousers caper, from 1993, which introduced audiences all over the world to the lovable adventurous pair. It also landed director Nick Park an Oscar for his troubles.<\/p>\n

That features in a three-parter of the first Park works released, which also includes A Grand Day Out and A Close Shave. The Aardman medley slot goes by the name of Cinema Stitch and takes place on November 6 in cooperation with the Jerusalem-based The Crafts Club.<\/p>\n

The screenings will be preceded by craft workshops and a knitting circle lasting an hour, with patrons encouraged to watch the movies with their knitting, felting, sketchbook, embroidery, or any quiet creative practice, \u201cand settle into the shared rhythm of making while watching the films.\u201d<\/p>\n

That hands-on accompaniment to the silver-screen entertainment sounds simply delightful and imbues the berth with an oxymoronic experiential ambiance. In truth, there is an AI\/technologically-spawned virtual domain vs tangible reality ebb-and-flow dynamic to the entire festival program, which is packed with fun, compelling and thought-provoking works from right across the stylistic and thematic board.<\/p>\n

Ten years after its birth, it would be fair to say that the AniNation festival truly offers something for everyone.\uf06e<\/p>\n

For tickets and more information: jer-cin.org.il\/en<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If, like me, you are of a certain vintage and you instinctively associate the word \u201canimation\u201d with such…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9031,878,76189,74204,85,46,84158,740,43],"class_list":["post-663487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-animation","tag-film","tag-film-festival","tag-film-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-jerusalem-cinematheque","tag-movie","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}