Tux and Fanny, Feature Film 2018, 82 Minutes, Artist; Albert Birney
Tux and Fanny, 2018 By Albert Birney Images taken from stills/ screenshot from online and taken in theatre from the Animation Festival in Ottawa I saw this film for the first time at the Animation Festival in Ottawa. I saw it twice because of how fascinating the story line is. It was presented in a large theatre called the Bytowne Cinema, the film was projected in a square frame rather than a rectangular one. The scenes are basically rendered pixels, like graphics from an Atari console however there are some scenes that are in stop motion and even live action. The soundtrack is a sort of sound or music that is like old digital/ analog futuristic sounds and animal. Characters Tux the pink one and Fanny the purple one both speak in Russian. The text incorporated in the animation such as words on a computer screen and the title sequence is also in Russian, however there are english subtitles. The storyline is wholly serene and nostalgic, yes they encounter kinda gruesome situations but they were always with pure intensions. It may appear aimless however it’s just sort of like slow cinema. You're not totally sure why you are here or why you’re watching it but you are. The characters exude human essence. which is a very interesting in comparison to todays society. They are just friends who live in a desolate place. It is a computer generated animation and yet they exhibits how important companionship means to humans and how impermanent life is. Although the film may seem very silly in breaks through the stupidity to focus on the the ruthlessness of nature. Which is one of many reasons why I find this work to be so awesome. It’s silly and meaningful, or maybe nothing at all. It’s like a documentary of just existing whether it be through life or in their dreams. There is a strange computering type moment in the film which I am still trying to figure out. I didn’t know till after the festival that the whole feature film is out on Vimeo and that they were released as little shorts on instagram. Which I suppose explains why the projected screen was kinda square. Its definitely a different experience from watching it as a feature and watching it as a sort of series. There are title sequences that are not shown in the film. So I am judging the work based on my viewing of it in the theater. LINKS/// Albert Birney Site; https://abirney.com/ to the Feature Film; https://vimeo.com/albertbirney Instagram; https://www.instagram.com/tux_and_fanny/ Ottawa International Animation Festival; https://www.animationfestival.ca/ <3
