Chris Robinson | |
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Born | 1967 (age 56–57) Ottawa, Canada |
Alma mater | Carleton University |
Chris Robinson is an animation, film, literature and sports writer, author of numerous books on independent animation and artistic director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF). [1] He also wrote the screenplay for the Jutra Award and Genie Award-winning animated documentary Lipsett Diaries , directed by Theodore Ushev. In 2020, Robinson was awarded for his Outstanding Contribution to Animation Studies by Animafest Zagreb. In 2022, he received Le Prix René-Jodoin (for contributions to Canadian animation).
Robinson began his association with the OIAF in the early 1990s, while still a film student at Carleton University, coordinating festival submissions and selection committees. [2]
From 2000 to 2016, Robinson wrote the "Animation Pimp" column for Animation World Magazine. Partially influenced by Nick Tosches, Richard Meltzer, gonzo journalism and Beat Generation writers, Pimp columns often fused philosophy, history, comedy, and memoir in discussing various facets of animation. A selection of columns were later compiled into a book illustrated by German artist and animator, Andreas Hykade. In 2016, Robinson renamed the column, Cheer and Loathing in Animation.
In 2014, Animation World Magazine debuted Robinson's Animation Pimpcast. In this monthly podcast, Robinson sits down with a variety of animation types to fondle their minds through informal chats about animation, life and whatever else they feel like discussing.
Robinson's book Stole This From a Hockey Card: A Philosophy of Hockey, Doug Harvey, Identity & Booze (2005), which was a critical success and was shortlisted for the Ottawa Book Award. In 2013, TV hockey personality Ron Maclean listed Stole This From a Hockey Card as one of his choices of books that could change the nation stating that: [3]
Robinson draws parallels between his own troubled past and that of epic defenceman Doug Harvey... The result is a biography cum memoir that should find resonance with many Canadians... Robinson reaches a high level of sports biography... creating an exquisite patchwork of sports, personal narrative and manic alcoholism that is tragic in its normalcy.
— Janine Armin, The Globe and Mail
William Norman McLaren, LL. D. was a Scottish Canadian animator, director and producer known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). He was a pioneer in a number of areas of animation and filmmaking, including hand-drawn animation, drawn-on-film animation, visual music, abstract film, pixilation and graphical sound. McLaren was also an artist and printmaker, and explored his interest in dance in his films.
The History of Canadian animation involves a considerable element of the realities of a country neighbouring the United States and both competitiveness and co-operation across the border.
Ryan is a 2004 short animated documentary film created and directed by Chris Landreth about Canadian animator Ryan Larkin, who had lived on skid row in Montreal as a result of drug and alcohol abuse. Landreth's chance meeting with Larkin in 2000 inspired him to develop the film, which took 18 months to complete. It was co-produced by Copper Heart Entertainment and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and its creation and development is the subject of the NFB documentary Alter Egos. The film incorporated material from archive sources, particularly Larkin's works at the NFB.
Phil Mulloy is an Irish-English animator. He was born in Wallasey, Merseyside and studied both painting and filmmaking. Mulloy worked as a screenwriter and director of live-action films until the late 1980s before becoming an animator. His animations have been described as "satirical grotesque" and often portray the dark side of human nature and contemporary social, political, and religious values in a humorous and at times, shocking way. His visual style is distinctive in its use of primitive, often skeletal figures and minimalist backgrounds. Mulloy has made over 30 animated films many of which are in themed groupings based on Hollywood genres. Mulloy has won many international awards for his work and has conducted several workshops for young animators.
Arthur Lipsett was a Canadian filmmaker with the National Film Board of Canada. His short, avant-garde collage films, which he described as "neither underground nor conventional”, contain elements of narrative, documentary, experimental collage, and visual essay. His first film, Very Nice, Very Nice, was nominated for an Academy Award.
Joanna Lisa Quinn is an English independent film director and animator.
The Ottawa International Animation Festival is an annual animated film and media festival that takes place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The OIAF was founded in 1975, with the first festival held from August 10 to 15 in 1976. Initially organized by the Canadian Film Institute on a biennial basis and with the co-operation of the International Animated Film Association, the Festival organization now remains in the hands of the CFI. It moved from a biennial to an annual festival in 2005. Today the festival is recognized as the largest and oldest animation festival in North America, and regularly attracts upwards of 25,000 attendees when it is held each September.
René Jodoin was an animation director and producer who founded the French-language animation studio of the National Film Board of Canada. Born in Hull, Quebec on December 30, 1920, Jodoin died in Montreal on January 22, 2015 at the age of 94.
The Canadian Screen Award for Best Animated Short is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian animated short film. Formerly part of the Genie Awards, since 2012 it has been presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.
World Festival of Animated Film Zagreb, best known as Animafest Zagreb, is a film festival entirely dedicated to animated film held annually in Zagreb, Croatia. Initiated by the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA), the event was established in 1972. Animafest is the second oldest animation festival in the World, after the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
Steven Woloshen is a Canadian film animator and a pioneer of drawn-on-film animation.
Theodore Asenov Ushev is a Bulgarian animator, film director and screenwriter based in Montreal. He is best known for his work at the National Film Board of Canada, including the 2016 animated short Blind Vaysha, which was nominated for an Academy Award. He is a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France.
Drux Flux is a 2008 animated short by Theodore Ushev, inspired by Herbert Marcuse’s treatise One-Dimensional Man.
Tower Bawher is a 2005 constructivist-style abstract animated short by Theodore Ushev, set to the musical composition "Time, Forward!" by Russian composer Georgy Sviridov.
Lipsett Diaries is a 2010 short animated documentary film about the life and art of collage filmmaker Arthur Lipsett, animated and directed by Theodore Ushev and written by Chris Robinson. The 14-minute film was produced by the National Film Board of Canada in Montreal, where Lipsett had worked from 1958 to 1972, before committing suicide in 1986. The film is narrated by Xavier Dolan.
Amy Kravitz is an independent filmmaker and teacher specializing in abstract animation. She is currently a Professor in the Film Department at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Blind Vaysha is a 2016 animated short by Theodore Ushev, produced by Marc Bertrand for the National Film Board of Canada, with the participation of ARTE France. Based on a story by Georgi Gospodinov, the film tells the story of a girl who sees the past out of her left eye and the future from her right—and so is unable to live in the present. Montreal actress Caroline Dhavernas performed the narration for the film, in both its French and English language versions. The film incorporates music from Bulgarian musician and composer Kottarashky and is his and Ushev's fourth collaboration.
The Trenches is a Canadian animated short film, written, directed and animated by Claude Cloutier for the National Film Board of Canada. The film is a portrait of soldiers fighting in the trenches during World War I.
Flux is a Canadian animated short film, directed by Christopher Hinton and released in 2002. The film presents a fast-paced, humorous summary of life, from birth to death, in eight minutes.
Letter to a Pig is a 2022 Israeli-French animated short film written and directed by Tal Kantor. The 17-minute animated film about generational trauma has been awarded in various international film festivals, including the Jerusalem Film Festival, the Ottawa International Animation Festival, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and the Chicago International Children's Film Festival. The film was nominated for the 2024 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.