Ken Kimmelman

Last updated

Ken Kimmelman
Photo of Ken Kimmelman by Amy Dienes.jpg
Ken Kimmelman in 2012
BornAugust 6, 1940
Occupation(s)Filmmaker, animator, educator
Years activeSince 1958
Known forThe Heart Knows Better & Brushstrokes
Notable workHot Afternoons Have Been in Montana

Ken Kimmelman is an American filmmaker, animator, and Aesthetic Realism consultant. He is the president of Imagery Film, Ltd. and is known for his films opposing racism and prejudice, including The Heart Knows Better, a public service film for which he received a National Emmy Award [1] and Brushstrokes, produced for the United Nations. [2] Both films were inspired by Aesthetic Realism, the philosophy whose founder, Eli Siegel, identified contempt, "the addition to self through the lessening of something else" as the cause of racism and all human injustice. Kimmelman is also noted for his Poetry film, Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana, [3] based on the prize-winning poem by Eli Siegel. [4] Historian Howard Zinn said of this film, "It matches, in its visual beauty, the elegance of Siegel's words, and adds the dimension of stunning imagery to an already profound work of art." [5]

Contents

Kimmelman teaches "If It Moves, It Can Move You: Opposites in the Cinema" at the Aesthetic Realism Foundation where film excerpts are shown and discussed. "We study how such opposites as rest and motion, light and dark, continuity and discontinuity, unity and variety—opposites we are trying to make sense of in our lives—are present in the motion picture, from The Great Train Robbery of 1903 to the latest cinematic achievement." [6]

Early life and career

Ken Kimmelman was born on August 6, 1940, in Crotona Park East Hospital in the Bronx to Bernard Kimmelman and Ida Moskowitz Kimmelman. He grew up in Washington Heights and attended the High School of Industrial Arts (now the High School of Art and Design). In 1958 he began his career in the animation studio of CBS Terrytoons in New Rochelle, NY, working on Mighty Mouse and other cartoons. He soon moved on to TV commercials (including animation for the classic Ajax "White Tornado" ad) and other freelance work.

From 1960 to the present he produced, designed and animated numerous films for the Sesame Workshop television shows Sesame Street, The Electric Company, and 3-2-1 Contact. From 1966-1970, he worked for NBC making promotional films and specials, including Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music and the Jerry Lewis special. He worked on various TV series, including The Danny Thomas Show, I Spy, The Virginian, Hollywood Squares, The Monkees and Run for Your Life. He was the Director of Animation for the NBC special Damn Yankees. He made motion picture trailers for films, including The Dirty Dozen, From Russia with Love, The Godfather, Parts I & II, Serpico, The Great Gatsby, Star Trek, The Sting, Papillon, Conan the Destroyer, Mommie Dearest, Heaven's Gate, Cotton Club, Scarface, Body Heat, and more.

He designed and produced two short films shown as rear-screen projections representing the dreams and nightmares of the title character in the New York City Opera's production of Alberto Ginastera's Beatrix Cenci at Lincoln Center. [7]

Aesthetic Realism

A pivotal point in Kimmelman's life and career was in 1966, when he began to study Aesthetic Realism with its founder, Eli Siegel, the American poet and philosopher who defined beauty and explained the relation between art and life. His statement, "All beauty is a making one of opposites, and the making one of opposites is what we are going after in ourselves" was illustrated in  Kimmelman's first educational film, People Are Trying to Put Opposites Together, a documentary of Siegel teaching an Aesthetic Realism class. It was shown on WNET-TV, Channel 13 in New York City in October, 1968 and again in September, 1969.

Kimmelman continues his study with Ellen Reiss, Aesthetic Realism Chair of Education, and he has written in professional journals and spoken at film festivals about the profound impact this study has had on his life and work in films. [8] "I learned how to distinguish between true humor and contempt," he wrote. [9] "When animation is successful, it gives form to contempt as a means of opposing it." He explained that art exposes pretense, hypocrisy and cruelty for the purpose of honoring beauty, good sense, respect for reality. [10]

In his own films, Kimmelman uses humor and the beauty of art to tackle social and economic injustice. In 1989, he produced Asimbonanga, a film against apartheid funded by the United Nations. [11] The following year, the UN commissioned Brushstrokes, an animated film against prejudice for people of all ages. The proviso was that it use no language because the film would be shown worldwide, and contain no color that might imply a particular ethnicity. Through an animated green brushstroke acting superior and disdainful of other colors and shapes, the film shows that racism is not only dishonest but ridiculous. Original jazz music and vocals by Major Holley and tap dance rhythms by Jimmy Slyde, bring life and personality to the animated brushstrokes on the screen. Audiences see contempt literally walking the floor, and also see it defeated, as the film concludes, by art, and by reality itself, as sameness and difference together, as one, make for the beauty of this world. [2] Kimmelman uses this film to engage audiences of all ages in examining contempt, bullying, and racism in ourselves. "I think every film, no matter how difficult the subject," he said, "should make for more respect for the world." [1]

Educator and activist

As an educator and activist, Kimmelman speaks about hunger and homelessness in America, the subject of his 1999 film, What Does a Person Deserve? and encourages audiences of all ages to examine where bullying and racism begin in the self. He has produced award-winning educational films for children, including Thomas Comma, the adventure of a lonely comma looking for the right sentence. [12] He received an Emmy for his contributions to Sesame Street, was nominated twice as a director of the animated TV series Doug. He has directed various animated TV series, including Clifford’s Puppy Days, Daria and The Wild Thornberrys [3] and he co-wrote, with Mick Carlon, the screenplay Riding on Duke's Train, an animated feature film about the great Duke Ellington, as seen through the eyes of a nine-year-old boy he befriends. It has won numerous screenplay awards in film festivals. [13]

Kimmelman has taught film and animation at New York University and the School of Visual Arts. He is a consultant on the faculty of the Aesthetic Realism Foundation, where he teaches the film course "If It Moves, It Can Move You: Opposites in the Cinema." He is one of the instructors of "The Critical Inquiry: A Workshop in the Visual Arts" and presents public seminars on subjects including "The Mix-Up in Everyone about Coldness and Warmth" and "Is a Man's Cynicism Weakness or Strength?" [14]

On the subject of ethics and aesthetics, Kimmelman has presented his Poetry film, Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana at the Modern Language Association's 2011 annual conference in Los Angeles, and at the Manhattan School of Music as part of his lecture, "Aesthetic Realism and the Literary Cinema of Ken Kimmelman." [15]

As an activist, Kimmelman has addressed audiences of all ages about the need to confront bullying and racism. [16] He is a founding member of Housing: A Basic Human Right, [17] and his film, What Does a Person Deserve? deals with homelessness and hunger in America. [18] On this subject he was the keynote speaker for the Community Service Outreach Program at Boston University [19] and spoke at various institutions including Harvard, Vassar, NYU, Pace, and Dickinson College. [15] He spoke on Film—and 'The Art of Enjoying Justice'! at Stanford University, Baruch College, as part of the Human Rights Film Festival at Syracuse University, and also in Israel. [20]

Filmography & screenplays

Films (Partial list)
YearTitleRoleNotesAwards
2012Riding on Duke's TrainCo-author with
Mick Carlon
Screenplay for animated feature film about Duke Ellington.Screenplay awards:
Harlem International Film Festival
Socially Relevant International Film Festival
Williamsburg International Film Festival
American Filmmatic Arts Awards
Kids First Film Festival
International Monthly Film Festival
Courage Film Festival
International New York Film Festival
American Film Awards
Only the Best Film Awards
Sweet Democracy Film Awards
8 & Half Film Awards
Luis Bunuel Memorial Awards
2010Thomas CommaDirector & AnimatorThe adventures of a lonely comma looking for the right sentence. Story by Martha Baird; Music composed by Edward Green.Grand Festival Animation Award—Berkeley Film Festival
Platinum Remi Award—Worldfest Houston
2005Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana  DirectorEli Siegel's 1925 award-winning poem, as read by the author, accompanied by archival stills, live-action, special effects; Music composed by Edward Green.
"Ken Kimmelman's reproduction, on film, of Eli Siegel's magisterial poem, is an extraordinary achievement. It matches, in its visual beauty, the elegance of Siegel's words, and adds the dimension of stunning imagery to an already profound work of art."--Howard Zinn [15]
15+12 min.
"Best US Short"-Avignon Film Festival
Grand Festival Award in the Arts-Berkeley Film & Video Festival
Premio Informazione-Tam Tam Digifest, Naples, Italy
Platinum Best-in-Show-Aurora Film Festival
Gold Remi-Worldfest, Houston 39th International Film & Video Festival
Best Experimental Short Film-Big Apple Festival, NY
Best Experimental Short Film, 2005- Long Island Film Festival
Achievement Award for Mixed Form-Putnam Valley Arts Film Festival
Best Editing-Chicago Short Film Festival, IL
Frida International Festival, Nepal, India: "Outstanding Film" award & "Best Independent Short Film"
Golden Fern Film Awards: "Outstanding Film" award
Gangtok International Film Festival: "Outstanding Film" award
Sierra International Film Festival, Bolivia: "Best Art Video"
8-1/2 Film Awards, Rome: "Best Inspirational Short Film"
Seoul International Short Film Festival: "Best Experimental Film"
Florence Film Awards: "Best Inspirational Short Film"
Sweet Democracy Film Awards, Cannes: "Best Short Inspirational Film"
Stanley Kubrick Film Awards, London: "Best Experimental Short Film"
Milan Gold Awards: "Best Inspirational Short Film" [21]
1999What Does a Person Deserve?DirectorA public service film against homelessness and hunger; Music composed by Edward Green; B&W and Color photo montage; 109 sec.
Silver Cindy Award(1999)
Best PSA for the year 2000-Santa Clarita International Film Festival
United Nations Association Film Festival, Stanford University, CA.
1994The Heart Knows BetterDirector & AnimatorAnimated anti-prejudice film based on a statement by Eli Siegel. Shown worldwide on TV, movie theatres, professional sports arenas. 35 mm color, 60 sec.
Emmy Award for Outstanding National Public Service Announcement
Cindy Award
Bronze Award-Charleston International Film Festival
UN High Commission on Human Rights selected for Human Rights Day in Geneva (2001)
1990BrushstrokesDirector & AnimatorAnimated anti-prejudice film produced for the United Nations; Original jazz & vocals by Major Holley; tap dance rhythms by Jimmy Slyde. 35 mm, color, 6-1/2 minutes.
Coe Award for Best Children's Film, ASIFA East Film Festival
Cultural Relations Prize-Pyong Yang Film Festival
1989AsimbonangaDirectorAnti-apartheid film funded by the United Nations; photo montage, cell animation & optical effects choreographed to Asimbonanga written by Johnny Clegg, performed by Joan Baez. 35 mm, Color, 6-1/2 minutes
Director's Choice Award-Atlanta Film Festival

Paul Robeson Award-Newark Black Film Festival
Gold Star Award-Sacramento Film Festival
Real Choice Award-Humboldt Film Festival
2nd Prize-Concept-ASIFA East Film Festival

1984ReaganocchioDirector & AnimatorAnti-war film combining animation & photosHBO's Politically Incorrect

Cartoongate

1968People Are Trying to Put Opposites TogetherDirectorDocumentary of Eli Siegel teaching an Aesthetic Realism class.

16mm, B&W, 21 min.

Televised on WNET-TV, Channel 13, October 14, 1968
Television (Partial list)
YearTitleRoleNotesAwards
2000Twinkle TwinkleDirector & AnimatorAnimated short included in HBO special, Kids Say the Punniest Things,

hosted by Rosie O'Donnell

Emmy Award for animated short
1992-94 Doug Director/designer/animatorJumbo PicturesNominated twice for an Emmy as Director
Nominated for an ACE Cable Award
1971-present The Wild Thornberrys
Daria

Clifford's Puppy Days

Director/designer/animatorHanna-Barbera's Joke Bookvarious awards
1969-presentContributions to Sesame Workshop Director/designer/animatorAnimated children's films for "Sesame Street" and "Elmo's World"Emmy Award for contributions to Sesame Street.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eli Siegel</span> Latvian-American poet, philosopher (1902-1978)

Eli Siegel was a poet, critic, and educator. He founded Aesthetic Realism, a philosophical movement based in New York City. An idea central to Aesthetic Realism—that every person, place or thing in reality has something in common with all other things—was expressed in the title poem of his first volume, Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana: Poems. His second volume was Hail, American Development.

A cel, short for celluloid, is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn animation. Actual celluloid was used during the first half of the 20th century, but since it was flammable and dimensionally unstable it was largely replaced by cellulose acetate. With the advent of computer-assisted animation production, the use of cels has been all but abandoned in major productions. Disney studios stopped using cels in 1990 when Computer Animation Production System (CAPS) replaced this element in their animation process, and in the next decade and a half, the other major animation studios phased cels out as well.

John Cannizzaro Jr., better known as John Canemaker, is an American independent animator, animation historian, author, teacher and lecturer. In 1980, he began teaching and developing the animation program at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts', Kanbar Institute of Film and Television Department. Since 1988 he has directed the program and is currently a tenured full professor. From 2001-2002 he was Acting Chair of the NYU Undergraduate Film and Television Department. In 2006, his film The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation, a 28-minute animated piece about Canemaker's relationship with his father, won the Academy Award for best animated short. In 2007 the same piece picked up an Emmy award for its graphic and artistic design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hubley</span> American film director, producer, and screenwriter (1914–1977)

John Kirkham Hubley was an American animated film director, art director, producer, and writer known for his work with the United Productions of America (UPA) and his own independent studio, Storyboard, Inc.. A pioneer and innovator in the American animation industry, Hubley pushed for more visually and emotionally complex films than those being produced by contemporaries like the Walt Disney Company and Warner Brothers Animation. He and his second wife, Faith Hubley, who he worked alongside from 1953 onward, were nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning three.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aesthetic Realism</span> School of philosophy

Aesthetic Realism is a philosophy founded in 1941 by the American poet and critic Eli Siegel (1902–1978). He defined it as a three-part study: "[T]hese three divisions can be described as: One, Liking the world; Two, The opposites; Three, The meaning of contempt."

<i>Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana: Poems</i>

Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana: Poems is a book of poems written by Eli Siegel, founder of the philosophy of Aesthetic Realism. It was one of 13 finalists in the poetry category of the National Book Award in 1958, the year its author was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sand animation</span> Manipulation of sand to create animation

Sand animation is the manipulation of sand to create animation. In performance art an artist creates a series of images using sand, a process which is achieved by applying sand to a surface and then rendering images by drawing lines and figures in the sand with one's hands. A sand animation performer will often use the aid of an overhead projector or lightbox. To make an animated film, sand is moved on a backlit or frontlit piece of glass to create each frame.

This is an alphabetical index of articles about aesthetics.

<i>Sleeping Beauty</i> (1959 film) Animated Disney film

Sleeping Beauty is a 1959 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution. Based on Charles Perrault's 1697 fairy tale, the production was supervised by Clyde Geronimi, and was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, Eric Larson, and Les Clark. With the voices of Mary Costa, Bill Shirley, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton, Barbara Luddy, Barbara Jo Allen, Taylor Holmes, and Bill Thompson, the film follows Princess Aurora, who was cursed by the evil fairy Maleficent to die from a prick from the spindle of a spinning wheel. She is saved by three good fairies, who alter the curse so that the princess falls into a deep sleep and is awakened by true love's kiss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floyd Norman</span> American cartoonist

Floyd E. Norman is an American animator, writer, and cartoonist. Over the course of his career, Norman has worked for various animation companies, among them Walt Disney Animation Studios, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Ruby-Spears, Film Roman and Pixar.

William Everett "Bud" Luckey was an American artist, cartoonist, illustrator, musician, singer and voice actor. He worked at the animation studio Pixar, where he worked as a character designer on a number of films, including Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Cars and Ratatouille. Luckey was also the voice of Rick Dicker in The Incredibles, Chuckles the Clown in Toy Story 3 and as Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh (2011).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Allers</span> American filmmaker

Roger Allers is an American film director, screenwriter, animator, storyboard artist, and playwright. He is best known for co-directing Disney's The Lion King (1994), the highest-grossing traditionally animated film of all time, and for writing the Broadway adaptation of the same name. He also directed Sony Pictures Animation's first feature-length animated film, Open Season (2006) and the animated adaptation of The Prophet.

Faith Hubley was an American animator, known for her experimental work both in collaboration with her husband John Hubley, and on her own following her husband's death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Anderson (animator)</span> American art director, story artist and layout artist (1909–1993)

Kenneth B. "Ken" Anderson was an American animator, art director, layout artist, and storyboard artist at Walt Disney Animation Studios for 44 years. He had been named by Walt Disney as his "jack of all trades".

Lisa Crafts is an American animator and moving image artist whose interdisciplinary work has addressed issues of environmental uncertainty, sexuality, creativity and chaos.

Michael Victor Sporn was an American animator who founded his New York City-based company, Michael Sporn Animation in 1980, and produced and directed numerous animated TV specials and short spots.

<i>The Adventures of Pinocchio</i> (1972 film) 1972 Italian film

The Adventures of Pinocchio is a 1972 Italian animated fantasy film produced by Cartoons Cinematografica Italiana. An adaptation of Carlo Collodi's 1883 book The Adventures of Pinocchio, it is written, produced, directed and edited by Giuliano Cenci. The English dub was released in the United States by G.G. Communications in 1978.

The Terrain Gallery, or the Terrain, is an art gallery and educational center at 141 Greene Street in SoHo, Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1955 with a philosophic basis: the ideas of Aesthetic Realism and the Siegel Theory of Opposites, developed by American poet and educator Eli Siegel. Its motto is a statement by Siegel: "In reality opposites are one; art shows this."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaim Koppelman</span> American painter

Chaim Koppelman was an American artist, art educator, and Aesthetic Realism consultant. Best known as a printmaker, he also produced sculpture, paintings, and drawings. A member of the National Academy of Design since 1978, he was president of the Society of American Graphic Artists (SAGA), which presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. He established the Printmaking Department of the School of Visual Arts in 1959, and taught there until 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nat Herz</span> American photographer, poet, and writer

Nat Herz (1920–1964) was an American photographer, poet, and writer.

References

  1. 1 2 "Non-Print Indie Film Series: Ken Kimmelman". The New York Public Library.
  2. 1 2 "Brushstrokes Film Description". www.unaff.org.
  3. 1 2 "Ken Kimmelman". IMDb.
  4. "Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana - Educational Media Reviews Online (EMRO)". emro.lib.buffalo.edu.
  5. "Big Sky Film Festival".
  6. "If It Moves, It Can Move You".
  7. Henahan, Donal (March 16, 1973). "In City Opera 'Cenci,' Production Is Star of the Show". The New York Times via NYTimes.com.
  8. Kimmelman, Ken (December, 1968)"Kimmelman, Filmmaker, Finds New Esthetic in Film Art--Making ONE of Opposites" (Making Films in New York, p.24-25.
  9. The National Cartoonists Society Album, (1980 edition) compiled by Charles Green and Mort Walker, p. 79.
  10. Kimmelman, Ken (November, 1985) "Can Contempt Be Animated?" Animatrix: A Journal of the UCLA Animation Workshop pp. 53-58.
  11. "Asimbonanga Film Description". www.unaff.org.
  12. "Films by Ken Kimmelman, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker". Aesthetic Realism Foundation.
  13. "Ken Kimmelman Film Project Riding on Duke's Train". June 10, 2013.
  14. "Ken Kimmelman, Aesthetic Realism Foundation Faculty. Aesthetic Realism was founded by Eli Siegel". Aesthetic Realism Foundation.
  15. 1 2 3 "Aesthetic Realism and the Literary Cinema of Ken Kimmelman". apps.mla.org.
  16. "Young and Old Learn Answer to Racism".
  17. "Ken Kimmelman". www.housingaright.org.
  18. "UNAFF 99: What Does a Person Deserve?". www.unaff.org.
  19. "Keynote Speaker Ken Kimmelman at Boston University on Aesthetic Realism and Eli Siegel". www.housingaright.org.
  20. "Syracuse University: Kimmelman Film--and "The Art of Enjoying Justice - Google Search". www.google.com.
  21. "Sierra International Film Weekend". May 18, 2023.