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Thanksgiving isn't over until our Gatlinburg souvenir says it's over. (What? The bottle's empty?) That's a wrap, everybody! Great job, terrific meal! Naptime! (at St. Clair Shores, Michigan) https://www.instagram.com/p/CWta7pcP5Ml/?utm_medium=tumblr

BLAU from David Jansen on Vimeo.

The ocean. The vastness of the sea. A whale cow and her calf. In BLAU the life and mythology of these giant marine mammals are woven into one fantastical story.

Director: David Jansen Animation: Sophie Biesenbach & David Jansen Sounddesign & Music: Marcus Zilz

Broadcast: ZDF / Arte

Interview: arte.tv/de/videos/085660-000-A/interview-mit-david-jansen/

Festivals 68th Berlin International Film Festival 42nd Hong Kong International Film Festival 25th Festival of Animated Films Stuttgart 2018 (ITFS) 64th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen y 54th Chicago International Film Festival 15th Reykjavik International Film Festival 31st Festival Premiers Plans d'Angers 33rd Mar del Plata International Film Festival-Argentina 16th London Short Film Festival 27th Festival de Cine de Madrid (FCM-PNR) Cinemira - International Children's Film Festival 21st CinemAmbiente – Environmental Film Festival 4th Internatinal Nature Film Festival Gödöll 12th River Film Festival RIFF 6th Animal Film Festival 14th Panorama Internacional Coisa de Cinema 2nd Festival of Animation Berlin 6th The Art All Night – Trenton Film Festival 6th The Procida Film Festival 10th SiciliAmbiente Documentary Film Festival 25th OpenEyes Filmfest 3rd Internacional de Cine Quito 14th AnimArte – International Student Animation Festival Brazil 9th Environmental Film Festival Australia (EFFA) 20th Bucheon International Animation Film Festival (BIAF) 3rd CineMare Internationales Meeresfilmfestival Kiel FIIN – Festival Internacional de Imagem de Natureza 6th Art For Peace International Festival 14th INKAFEST Mountain Film Festival 3rd Festival Cine Animal 11th AnimaSyros International Animation Festival KFFK/Kurzfilmfestival Köln N°12 16th TOFIFEST International Film Festival 6th International Bopshorus Film Festival 10th Lobo Fest - Festival Internacional de Barsil InShort 16th Seoul Eco Film Festival Kloosterkino

Awards Prädikat „besonders wertvoll“ / Deutsche Film- und Medienbewertung FBW Best Animated Film / SiciliAmbiente Documentary Film Festival Best Animation / Art for Peace Festival Teheran

Black Ice from Christopher Dormoy on Vimeo.

Black Ice is a personnal project I worked on during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic and the confinement. Having to stay home does not mean less creation. It is time to observe and experience elements and details of our daily life that we find at home. I wanted to play with ice, flower and ink and see what kind of universe I can created with the macro and motion timelapse technique. I spent many hours to observe and experiment the ice and how it react with liquids like ink but also, oil, paint and soap. Some effects are hypnotic and surprising.

To realise this project, I used a Nikon Z6 with a Atomos Ninja V and the Edelkrone ecosystem. I used 2 lenses: The Nikkor Macro 105mm and the Loawa 24mm.

Music: Spring by Cathedral musicbed.com/songs/spring/36107 Musicbed Licensed

Flowers: Fleuriste Foliole fleuristefoliole.com

Music & Clowns from Alex Widdowson on Vimeo.

My brother, Jamie, has a profound learning disability. Despite being close to nonverbal, he demonstrates charisma, a sharp sense of humour, and emotional sensitivity. I team up with my parents to discuss what it is like caring for someone with Down syndrome. We piece together fragments of insight to gain a sense of his inner life, but our differing perspectives reveal as much about our own subjectivity as they do Jamie’s.

We rarely see portrayals of the diverse, ordinary lives of people who have Down syndrome (unless we are connected to someone who has it). Much of what we hear instead is based off a medical narrative. As prenatal screening tests improve, the birth rate of people with Downs has fallen. I believe people should be able to base life-changing decisions on accurate information. But I also feel that a diagnosis does not reflect my brother’s human worth. This film attempts to complement the medical narrative with first-hand stories of what it is like to have someone with Down syndrome in your family. Jamie has enriched our lives and I believe a society can be measured by its capacity to nurture those who are most vulnerable.

Awards: British Animation Awards, 2018-2020, UK - Best Post Graduate Animation Royal Television Society Student Television Awards 2019, UK - Jury Prize for Best British Student Film Royal Television Society Student Television Awards 2019, UK - Best Postgraduate Animation Spark Animation 2018, Canada - winner of the Women In Animation's diversity award San Francisco Independent Film Festival 2019, USA - Audience Award for Best Animation British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies Awards, 2020, UK: Runner -Up Essay/Experimental (Best Practice Research Portfolio) NAHEMI Eat Our Shorts Awards, 2019, UK winner ARRI best film NAHEMI Eat Our Shorts Awards, 2019, UK winner Audience Award. Papaya Rocks International Film Festival, 2019, UK - winner best director London International Animation Festival 2018, UK - Jury: Highly Commended Cinanima 2018, Portugal - special mention for Best Student Film Gaston Roch Award

Nominations: NYC Independent Film Festival, USA - Nominated best animation British Independent Film Festival, 2019, UK - Best British Short (long list)

Official Selection: DOC NYC 2018, USA Factual Animation Film Festival 2018, UK L'Alternativa 2018, Spain Flatpack Film Festival 2019, UK Edinburgh International Film Festival 2019, UK Human Rights Arts & Film Festival 2019, Australia Stuttgart international Animation festival 2019, Germany Cardiff Animation Nights 2018, UK Encounters 2019, UK Aesthetica Short Film Festival, 2019, UK. PÖFF 2019, Estonia British Shorts in Berlin 2020, Germany Underexposed Film Festival 2020, US

Directed and produced: Alex Widdowson

Featuring: Jamie Widdowson, Anna Widdowson, David Widdowson and Alex Widdowson

Animation: Alex Widdowson and Emily Downe

Animation Assistance: Ali Aschman, Emily Downe, Claudia Ortega Arus, Tanaka Tiriboyi, Silvia de Tommaso, Daniele Piscitello, Anna Smirnova and Frederikke Frydenlund

Sound: Vicky Freund and Adam Jones Original music: Vicky Freund Sound mix: Adam Jones

Score: 'Not On The Bus' U.S.Army Blues Band (cc) 2010

Licensed by The New York Times Op-Docs Senior Series Producer: Lindsay Crouse Supervising Editors: Andrew Blackwell and Regina Sobel Associate Producer: Yvonne Ashley Kouadjo Executive Producer: Adam Ellick

Production Support: The New York Times Op-Docs, The Elf Factory and Royal College of Art

Thank you: Daniel Saul, Sylvie Bringas, Ed Foster, Tony Fish, Birgitta Hosea and Teal Triggs

DABDA - Journey MV from swim on Vimeo.

다브다 (DABDA) - Journey / Official Music Video

Director : swim (Opsent, Hanee O) Artwork : Hanee O Animation : Opsent

More info : behance.net/gallery/99372255/Journey-MV

Father's day 2020 presents from my wife. Awesome shirt, and a #lensball! First quick shot of the back yard on the phone's camera, just to try it out. Dang! Can't wait to get really creative with this! #lensballpro #fathersday #samsunggalaxys10 (at St. Clair Shores, Michigan) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBszP5MHc06/?igshid=rbefsqf4ab16

#lensball #lensballpro #fathersday #samsunggalaxys10

Few things touch my heart like fresh-from-the-oven oatmeal raisin cookies and a glass of cold milk. Especially when they're made with love. #betterthancake #nofilter https://www.instagram.com/p/B_tAdUDn2L1/?igshid=1uonhpeqktrcd

#betterthancake #nofilter

mostlysignssomeportents

Molly Ringwald's brilliant essay about John Hughes is a superb exploration of what it means to love "problematic" art

If you’ve been paying attention, you might already know that Molly Ringwald is a brilliant writer with smart things to say about the movies that made her famous.

But her essay on John Hughes movies, the Breakfast Club, #metoo, and the useful and versatile concept of “problematic” art and artists is a whole new level of excellence.

Ringwald has an insider’s view into the attitudes that prevailed among the decision-makers who shaped the beloved movies of her era, and how those decisions came to be. What’s more, Ringwald commands enough respect that when she has a blank spot in her understanding, she can just email the people who can fill it in and get together with them for lunch or chat on the phone and interrogate them in uncompromising – but empathic – ways, to assemble a full picture of what was going on.

What emerges from her recollections and investigations is a thoroughly mixed bag: from John Hughes on down, the people involved were thoroughly flawed vessels who, at times, did, thought and said things that are unforgivably monstrous, and who also were, at times, noble, selfless, thoughtful, compassionate and altogether good. They made art that helped people struggle with oppression and alienation – and they made art that abetted oppression and alienation.

They were problematic.

I love the idea of “problematic.” Problematic art isn’t bad art, it’s art that has problems. “Problematic” is an idea that lets us lower the cost of acknowledging and fixing bad and wicked things in our world. Without “problematic,” all you have is “bad” and “good,” and that means that any stain on a piece of art that moved you, improved you, opened your horizons and lifted you up is a disqualifier – being virtuous means that you have to reject the art because of its irredeemable sins.

This is, I think, a major source of denial, and a major impediment to talking about – and thus fixing – the problems with our culture. Without “problematic,” then imperfect art is “bad” and you have to choose between cherishing the ways in which it improved your life and jettisoning the art and its effects on you. That all-or-nothing framework makes acknowledging imperfections needlessly expensive and thus unpopular.

But with “problematic,” we can have it both ways: “This art, whose flaws I acknowledge and wish to see improved upon, made me happy and improved my life and my understanding of the world.” That statement doesn’t give a pass to the flaws in art, it doesn’t make a virtue out of the work’s hurtful or ugly imperfections – rather, it opens a space to talk about (and thus address) the flaws without having to deny your pleasures, influences and loves.

The same goes for artists (or people in general, really): people who do bad things can make good art. We don’t have to enrich them and reward them once we learn about their wicked deeds, but we can denounce and repudiate the artist without denouncing and repudiating their works. You can admire the beauty of the Crown Jewels without endorsing colonialism or monarchism, or denying the blood and suffering that is inseparable from the jewels. They can be problematic: that is to say, having good qualities and bad qualities that do not balance each other nor cancel each other out, but simply co-exist, there to be seen and admired or decried depending on the way they’re affecting you right now.

So: Ringwald describes a baffling conversation with Emil Wilbekin, founder of Native Son, which advocates for gay black men, who told her that he was “saved” by John Hughes’s movies, which had no black people and no gay people in them to speak of, and, moreover, made liberal use of homophobic slurs and racial stereotypes. She tracked down Wilbekin later and asked him what John Hughes movies had to say to someone like him: “‘The Breakfast Club,’ he explained, saved his life by showing him, a kid growing up in Cincinnati in the eighties, ‘that there were other people like me who were struggling with their identities, feeling out of place in the social constructs of high school, and dealing with the challenges of family ideals and pressures.’ These kids were also 'finding themselves and being ‘other’ in a very traditional, white, heteronormative environment.’ The lack of diversity didn’t bother him, he added, 'because the characters and storylines were so beautifully human, perfectly imperfect and flawed.’ He watched the films in high school, and while he was not yet out, he had a pretty good idea that he was gay.”

Wilbekin’s life was improved by Hughes’s movies, his hurts succored by them. Not despite Hughes’s homophobia and racism, nor because of it, but alongside of it. Hughes’s movies are problematic, and their racism and homophobia (and their misogyny) are a force for evil in the world, while their compassion and their wittiness and their beauty are a force for good. We don’t have to balance or cancel these forces, we can just acknowledge them and move on – by which I mean, “use our critical analysis to make art that is less problematic, learning from Hughes, not letting him off the hook, and neither denying his virtues.”

Like many people of my generation, I grew up admiring Ringwald by way of her screen presentations, which offered little insight into her as a person; now that we’re both adults, I’m delighted to learn how un-problematic she turns out to be, and revel in her wit, insight and compassion.

https://boingboing.net/2018/04/07/the-worlds-an-imperfect-place.html

csimmons22

This. This is good. Very good. This is a bit of joy, at a time when joy is hard to come by. Thank you, Wil & Molly.

uppityfemale

csimmons22

Perfect.

This is my new credo for 2018. (Well, maybe except for the "wake up early" part...)

Sometimes, the quiche just turns out perfect. Great way to start the new year!

Amazing cheese curds from Fox & Son. Thanks, @zencookbook! (at Reading Terminal Market)

First Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season. And so it begins... #PSL #FTW (at Starbucks)

#ftw #psl

A latte at the airport, headed to Chicago to see my woman. Oh, and Billy Joel, too. #LifeIsGood (at Detroit Metro Airport (DTW))

#lifeisgood

Our first real boat, a 27-foot sloop. Eventually, she'll bear her new name, the sailing vessel Barcelona. (at Michigan Harbor Marina)

First latte at the newest coffee shop in town. Good luck to barista Carly and the whole gang. (at St. Clair Shores, Michigan)

Street tacos on the avenue. #Cabo (at Tacos Guss)

#cabo

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Chuck Simmons