Ralph Bakshi is an American animator, filmmaker and painter. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1994, he directed nine theatrically released feature films, predominantly urban dramas and fantasy films, five of which he wrote. He has also been involved in numerous television projects as director, writer, producer and animator.
The term independent animation refers to animated shorts, web series, and feature films produced outside a major national animation industry.
Bill Plympton is an American animator, graphic designer, cartoonist, and filmmaker best known for his 1987 Academy Awards-nominated animated short Your Face and his series of shorts featuring a dog character starting with 2004's Guard Dog.
Mind Game is a 2004 Japanese adult-animated experimental comedy-drama film based on Robin Nishi's manga of the same name. It was planned, produced and primarily animated by Studio 4°C, and adapted and directed by Masaaki Yuasa in his directorial debut, with chief animation direction and model sheets by Yūichirō Sueyoshi, art direction by Tōru Hishiyama and groundwork and further animation direction by Masahiko Kubo.
Last Days of Coney Island is a 2015 American adult animated short film written, produced, directed and animated by Ralph Bakshi. The story concerns a NYPD detective, the sex worker he alternately loves and arrests, and the seedy characters that haunt the streets of New York City's run-down amusement district. It is notable for being the last film that Bakshi directed and animated before he retired from animation.
Cartoon Sushi is an adult-animated showcase program that aired on MTV from 1997 to 1998. It was developed by Eric Calderon and produced by Nick Litwinko, and was the successor to Liquid Television. The title screen opening was illustrated by Ed, Edd n Eddy creator Danny Antonucci. Each episode featured internationally produced cartoons, along with some original material created for the show.
Nina Carolyn Paley is an American cartoonist, animator, and free culture activist. She was the artist and often the writer of the comic strips Nina's Adventures and Fluff, after which she worked primarily in animation. She is perhaps best known for creating the 2008 animated feature film Sita Sings the Blues, based on the Ramayana, with parallels to her personal life. In 2018, she completed her second animated feature, Seder-Masochism, a retelling of the Book of Exodus as patriarchy emerging from goddess worship.
My Dog Tulip is a 2009 American independent animated feature film based on the 1956 memoir of the same name by J. R. Ackerley, BBC editor, novelist and memoirist. The film tells the story of Ackerley's fifteen-year relationship with his Alsatian dog Queenie, who had been renamed Tulip for the book. The film – geared toward an adult audience – was adapted, directed and animated by Paul Fierlinger with backgrounds and characters painted by his wife, Sandra Fierlinger.
The MoCCA Arts Festival, or MoCCA Fest, is an independent comics showcase that typically includes artist booths, slide shows, and educational panels. It was created by the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in 2002 by bringing together over 2,000 artists, publishers, editors and enthusiasts. It was named "Best Small-Press Comics Nexus Anywhere" by The Village Voice.
The 13th Flying Broom International Women's Film Festival was a film festival held in Ankara, Turkey, which ran from May 6 to 13, 2010.
12 Tiny Christmas Tales is an American Christmas animated short film that was broadcast on Cartoon Network on December 7, 2001. This project was animated and directed by Bill Plympton and Inspired by Christmas cards that Plympton began drawing for his parents in 1964.
Rocks in My Pockets is a 2014 Latvian-American animated film written, produced, directed and animated by Signe Baumane. It was originally created in English and a Latvian version was thereafter translated and produced. The film is based on true events about five women of the filmmaker's family, including herself, and their battles with depression and suicide.
Leah Shore is a Brooklyn, NY based artist, animator, and film director best known for her short films: 2010 Sundance Film Festival selection Meatwaffle, 2011 and 2013 SXSW selections BOOBatary and Old Man, and 2014 Slamdance Film Festival selection I Love You So Much.
Kristian Sensini is an Italian film composer flutist and music producer. He works for music related Thriller, Horror, Drama Movie, Fantasy, Documentary, Animation and Cartoon. He has composed music for 10 featured films, including film scores for My Love Affair with Marriage in 2022, Rocks in My Pockets in 2014, Hyde's Secret Nightmare in 2011, Dead Enders in 2010, Monkeyshine in 2008.
Joan Carol Gratz is an American artist, animator, and filmmaker who specializes in clay painting. Gratz is best known for her 1992 Oscar-winning animated short film Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase.
The 49th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place from 4 to 12 July 2014. The Crystal Globe was won by Corn Island, a Georgian drama film directed by Giorgi Ovashvili. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won by Free Fall, a Hungarian comedy film directed by György Pálfi.
My Favorite War is a 2020 Latvian-Norwegian animated documentary, directed and written by Ilze Burkovska-Jacobsen.
My Love Affair with Marriage is a 2022 semi-autobiographical adult animated musical comedy-drama film animated, written and directed by Signe Baumane, her second feature following Rocks in My Pockets (2014). The story follows a young woman, Zelma, on her 23-year quest for Perfect Love and Lasting Marriage set against a backdrop of historic events in Eastern Europe. Pressured by Mythology Sirens to be the ideal woman and unable to free herself from the biology of her own brain, Zelma finds love and loses it multiple times before discovering who she really is. Told from a female point of view, this is a coming-of-age story of love, gender, marriage, abuse, hopes, fantasies, and ultimately, finding a better place for women in society.
Sturgis Warner is an actor and theater director who specializes in new plays and new-play development. He has also produced two animated feature films by Signe Baumane. He lives in New York City.
