Well, today is a special day, friends. Our first great victory in film making =) Yes, our animation film "Elixir of Life" won the award of the 4th Dimension Film Festival in "Best Animation Film" category. The film will be screened in Paradiso, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia on 29-31 October. We're so happy!
The news came from Festival Director of4th Dimension Independent Film Festival saying that our animation film "Elixir of Life" became a Finalist! That's just amazing! Our second work got into the final stage of the festival. The festival itself will be held in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, from 29th to 31st October 2021, from 1pm - 3pm and can be watched online: https://fb.me/e/ZH77EemC?ti=wa .
Yup, you may say what's going on with us having two achievements one after another, but you simply didn't see us this summer, when we were silently working on these animation projects. That's just fruits of our hard work. That's just time of harvest.
Yesterday I received email from Anna, Coordinator of EdiPlay Film Festival, with the remarkable news that our animation film "A Wooden Cat's Secret" has been awarded in category "The Best Animation Film". The certificate and the Laurel were enclosed. OMG! I'm so happy, friends. Since the very time when we finished our work on this film we started receiving kind words from those who have seen the cartoon, but this award means professional recognition and warms our hearts.
Yes, we received the news yesterday. This event has its own story. The point is that I've submitted our animation film "Elixir of Life" for the festival right on my birthday. It was a kind of my birthday present with such an unexpected and thrilling continuation.
The festival will be held in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, what is also a special place for me and my wife Ira. We've had a great time once staying in this town of artists for two months. Bali had a special international atmosphere at that time. I understand that many things changed since then, but anyway just a thought that our film will be watched there warms my heart.
Yesterday we received a piece of exciting news from EdiPlay International Film Festival about selecting our animation short film “A Wooden Cat’s Secret”. We hope it’s the first serious step towards our audience. And I’m so glad that all dialogues in this film were conveyed through visual images – not a word is said there, the only language is Love…
In spite of the fact that this animation film was created
recently, this summer, this story began almost 12 years ago. The screenplay was
rewritten 3-4 times. Some producers expressed their interest to this work, but
something stopped them from taking it into production. Only now when we get
full control over the whole creative process, I can say how grateful I am for
preventing those producers from buying rights for this screenplay =) Yup, whatever
God does, He does for our good – I believe in this simple truth.
There are such words in the Bible: “In the beginning the Word already existed…” (John 1:1) and further in the same passage we see: “But although the world was made through him (the Word), the world didn’t recognize him when he came…” (John 1:10).
I always thought that language and words, as its natural
parts, are means for communication. I often repeated to my students that if
they want to learn a foreign language, they should communicate, using this
language. But… the mentioned above passage from the Bible made me think in
other direction… How was that possible to have the Word before creation of the
world? For what kind of communication could it be used?
Surely, someone may say that it’s too theosophical question
with no relation to the real world. But I feel that some great truth lies in
the answer to this question. And it’s very practical.
Ok, let’s say it in other way. Could you imagine a word that
could create something new? Sure, you could. And it might be any situation from
a word of a command addressed to a team of workers to a key word in some
important negotiation. But all these known situations are related to some communication,
anyway.
To create a world through a word, it should be a part of a communication.
Of course, I understand that there are lots of thing I just can’t imagine at
all, due to my limited senses. I do understand that the Bible was rewritten,
revised, and translated many times. But… my mind has been just caught by this
image, this idea of the world creation with one word. Isn’t that just beautiful
and powerful?
Try to read the New Testament with this idea in mind that
Jesus Christ was God’s Word. This might give us an idea about what features
should have such a word with ability to create the world, the life. And the
first features of this kind we see in the same chapter: “So the Word became
human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and
faithfulness…” (John 1:14). The Word was full of Love and Faith – that’s what I
feel a creative person needs in words to follow God’s ways creating and keeping
life.
Yesterday I finished drawing the last location for our animation pilot “Sunny and the meowing tree”. It will be our third short film where the story will be told without words. I’d wish to find a way how to fill every tiny part of an expressed idea with power to touch the audience's souls. Ideally, it might be just a single glance or a gesture giving some interesting experience.
Surely, I’m aware of me standing somewhere in the beginning of
this way and being so distant from those masters who have inspired me – Charlie Chaplin, Slava
Polunin, Rowan Atkinson…. But I believe it’s worth trying =)
Speaking of new project, it actually started almost 12 years
ago as a short story, a comedy – “Miss Beam – the great artist”. Certainly, it
was written after watching series about Mr. Bean. I was so impressed how
skillfully Rowan Atkinson creates funny situations with minimum tools. But at
the same time, being a positive person, I’d wish to have someone… sunnier 😊 Yup, that’s how miss Beam was born, but later I’ve found that miss Beam is
taken by someone else.
First stories about miss Beam were welcomed by readers what
gave me inspiration to write a sitcom series, but producers didn’t like the
idea. Now I’m happy to have all necessary tools to produce my own films with my
characters. Well, let’s see how the audience meet them…
