The International Jury for Short Animations “Becoming an astronaut”

In this jury are Lucie Sunkova (Czech Republic, director of shorts animations and TV series), Rasmus Sivertsen (Norway, director of successful feature animations, including the LUCA AND LUIS trilogy and this year’s festival film THREE ROBBERS AND A LION) and Cristina Lima (Portugal, working for the Cinanima Festival in Espinho for 35 years).

    

Let’s see how good you got to know each other after spending a week together. Which one of you has been drinking the most?

Cristina Lima: I don't drink.

Lucie Sunkova: That would certainly be me.

   

Which one of you has been talking the most?

Sivertsen: Cristina; she is a very social person.

Lima: I don’t believe it.

Sivertsen: Nobody said that you talked too much. Being a skilled communicator is a good thing.

   

Which one of you fell asleep during screenings?

Lima: On the first day, I was so tired from travelling that I fell asleep in a film - not in our competition! - and it was only for a few seconds.

   

If you as a festival organiser could steal something from this festival and take it home with you, then what would you steal?

Sivertsen: This bracelet with the chip to pay for our meals. I would continue using it in Norwegian restaurants.

Lima: Many things in Zlin I had never seen before in any other festival. It is an overwhelming experience. The people taking care of us are awesome, especially our jury delegate Niki.

   

Are there any other impressions on the festival or the city that you want to share?

Sivertsen: In other festivals you might feel a bit lost and lonely from time to time. Here, you don’t get that chance. Everyone feels included in this big community.

Lima: You can sense that the citizens of Zlin feel involved too, they are proud about their festival. It’s not only about the professionals; it’s also about the local people.

   

Can you say something about shoes?

Sivertsen: I simply had to buy Bata shoes! There was no way of returning to Norway without a pair of exclusive Czech shoes. They look huge but that’s my size - they’re perfect!

Lima: I’m planning to go back to the shop tomorrow to buy myself a pair.

Sunkova: I have known Bata shoes ever since my childhood. I love shoes!

   

Which was your favourite animated animal in this week’s selection?

Sivertsen: We all liked one specific animal that is difficult to describe. With plenty of wool and long legs, it was hard to recognize exactly what species the main character of SCRUBBY (Germany) was.

Sunkova: I thought it was human! I liked the crocodile in TUU TUU TIL (Germany).

   

Which animal species would you like to see more often in animated films?

Sunkova: I made a TV series about an owl. There aren’t many owls in animation.

Lima: Dogs are very important in my life. Squirrels are nice too, they are fast and funny.

Sunkova: Actually my TV series had a squirrel too!

Sivertsen: Ugly deep sea fishes, living in the dark, about which we don’t know much.

   

Which mature character from a film in your selection would you like to get to know better and maybe even ask out on a date?

Sunkova: The girl from THE GIRL WITH THE RED BERET (Canada) was so liberating.

Lima: I would go for the refugee child and her adoptive mother from CAFUNE (Spain). 

   

You deliberately refuse to understand my question, don’t you? I simply want to know which characters you found the most sexy.

Sunkova: Most films were about children or animals!

Sivertsen: Among the 47 short films we had to watch, I found YUCK! (France) rather inspiring. It was about discovering love, and there was some kissing going on, with lips turning red.

   

The festival used to have a geographical focus on one country. Which country would you suggest to put in the spotlight?

Lima: The importance of Portuguese animation is growing; we’re finally getting somewhere.

Sivertsen: I was sad that Norway was nowhere represented in our section; we’ll have to do better. And what happened to the UK? They were always brilliant at storytelling but they didn’t have a single film here.

   

Can you introduce your fellow jury members in one sentence?

Sivertsen: I’ve been invited to juries many times before, but I never had the time. So I was curious what it would be like. Now I’m so happy that we’ve met!

Sunkova: Like most animators, I’m a bit introverted and spending seven days with other people sounds challenging, but I had a wonderful time with my jury colleagues. Our taste for films was somehow similar so little discussion was needed.

   

The city of Zlin is proud about their role in the history of animation. What is your personal connection with Czech animation?

Sivertsen: In the 70s and 80s Norwegian television didn’t want to buy American kids’ entertainment; we leaned a bit more towards the East. I grew up with THE LITTLE MOLE, my favourite TV series as a child. Later, in the studio in Prague, I got an original film cell from THE MOLE as a gift.

Lima: Also In Portugal kids were raised on Eastern European animation from Poland, the Soviet Union,... Czechoslovakia had so many talented directors and a wonderful tradition in puppet animation. Even nowadays, they are still considered a reference.

Sunkova: In my childhood Czech animation wasn’t only to be watched on TV but also in the cinemas. Every village had one. And there was a nice animation museum in the Kratochvile Castle, where you could see scenes from films by Jiří Trnka and Brejtislav Poyar. I loved to take my family there every year.

   

Which film recently made you laugh out loud or cry out loud?

Sivertsen: I both laughed and almost cried when I saw YUCK!.

Lima: LARS IS LOL (Norway) combined moments of happiness with truly emotional scenes. It touched me deeply.

Sunkova: I felt the same about LARS IS LOL and about the opening film THE GRAND FINALE (Czech Republic). I found it very touching.

   

Could you imagine yourself having a parallel career that has nothing to do with cinema?

Lima: I’ve been doing festival work for 35 years, getting to know so many interesting people. I would suffer if I had to give it up.

Sivertsen: Making animation films is the best job in the world. The only thing that might even be better is becoming an astronaut.

Sunkova: I have considered physiotherapy with children who really need help.

   

Were there moments when you realised that the young audience was smarter than you expected?

Sivertsen: In Q&As all over Europe, I was always surprised when children asked questions about details I had long forgotten. They watch very attentively and simply notice everything.

Lima: We had a meeting with the children’s jury; they had chosen some films and we had chosen some others, and we had to find a compromise. Which wasn’t easy. We had long discussions, they had strong opinions and were very precise in their arguing.

  

This is your last chance to address the organisers…

Sunkova: I can’t understand how they do it, it’s all so well organised.

Lima: They should take a month's vacation. Especially our delegate Nikola deserves a big ‘thank you’.