Futuroscope

We live in a globalizing world, with technical possibilities expanding every day and animation making it possible to create increasingly realistic artificial worlds that blur the boundaries between reality and imaginary worlds. The categories of contemporary animation that this programme brings to audiences can be viewed from a number of aspects – it could be a narrative-free experiment with the eclectic spirit of the era, it could be a conceptual message hidden on a symbolic level, or it could be a technically polished vision of the future. In all cases, they are the subjective illusions and fictions of the film-maker. Boris Labbe's "Danse Macabre" is a visual journey through a hi-tech 3D model of the world that plays with different perspectives and measurement scales, with the motifs being medieval religious symbols and icons that function as a modern understanding of timeless dance of death. The acclaimed video artist Max Hattler is represented in the programme with a number of works. Stop motion animations like "Model Starship", "Aanaatt" create an abstract sense of space and search for connections between the audio and video. "X" is a symphony of images based on geometric shapes, like a Morse code message from aboard a spaceship, transmitted from the furthest edge of the Milky Way. Philipp Artus's film "Snail Trail" is a mathematical game of lines, inspired by the law of exponential growth and which analyzes the evolution of humankind from the Stone Age to today's Internet culture. The computer animation "Hinode" with its crystal-clear image quality offers an aesthetically captivating spectacle. The Japanese film-maker Tetsuka Niiyama has created a visual poem that creates connection between light and water – the viewers see an image of a fictional landscape - underwater architecture created of pearls and gemstone models. All of the films are characterized and united by innovation and iconoclasm. Futuroscope is a programme that is perfect for bold cinema-goers who are interested in modern philosophies, and who are looking for extreme visual experiences that speak to people more through games of form and sound than through classical storytelling.

DANSE MACABRE - France 2013, 16', dir: Boris Labbe, prod: Luise Omar

Enclosed in a spherical world we travel simultaneously in three different points both models, but miniature and gigantic at the same time. The scenes represented by the model are ghostly and immobile vestiges of the medieval iconography which are deformed, transformed and destroyed to finally reborn. The meeting of three disproportionates human skulls, vanities, triggers perturbation up to chaos. Skeletons dance to announce this change. A cycle of continual construction and deconstruction takes place.

MODEL STARSHIP - UK 2013, 1', dir/prod: Max Hattler

A very brief encounter with the world of the stars.

WALKING GRAINY - France 2012, 2'21'', dir/prod: Francois Vogel

A whimsical illustration of the poem "Walking Grainy" by Henri Michaux. While reciting the poem, Francois Vogel "walks grainy" on the stairs of Montmartre, in Paris.

SNAIL TRAIL - Germany 2012, 3'30'' - dir/prod: Philipp Artus

A snail invents the wheel and goes through a cultural evolution to finally get back to its origin.

GATES OF LIFE - Finland 2013, 6', dir/prod: Hannes Vartiainen, Pekka Veikkolainen

Brief moments of life stolen from passing-by strangers form a sequence of events hidden in plain sight.

PARASIT - Austria 2013, 8', dir/prod: Nikki Schuster

Fast forward. A camera rushes across Argentina´s stone desert toward a cactus and crashes headfirst through an opening into the plant´s interior. There, a view opens up of an eerie universe. Vibrating insect wings beat, swishing against one another, glistening with a toxic beauty, and wind themselves out from a plastic bottle top. Then they transform into little Sputniks with tender antennas, which rush around clanking in the heart of the cactus until we dive into one of their hollow bodies, and a tin can disappears into the spatial depths of the image.

X - Germany 2013, 6', dir/prod: Max Hattler

A futuristic, kinetic, energetic new commission from moving image artist Max Hattler.

ELECTRIC SOUL - Finland / South-Korea 2013, 5', dir/prod: Joni Männistö

An electrifying view to a buzzing micropolis.

HINODE - Japan 2012, 3', dir/prod: Tetsuka Niiyama

Hinode by Tetsuka Niiyama is a CG movie that depicts saltation and growth of life in the sea using jewellery as the motif for illustrating the theme "Jewels of Sea." It creates mystifying and attractive scenery by the ores resembling creatures of sea and its transforming refraction and reflection of light that are affected by the organic moves.

TRIP - Germany 2013, 4'10'', dir: Ygor Marotta, Ceci Soloaga, prod: Juliana Borges

A spiritual journey in search of self-knowledge, conscience and love.

PARKING LOT - Spain 2013, 3'08'', dir/prod: Joshua Catalano

one surreal car trip you will want to take.

AANAATT - Germany 2012, 4'45'', dir/prod: Max Hattler

A music video for Japanese artist Jemapur, AANAATT is an abstract stop motion journey that disorients the viewer through novel placement of mirrors and windows.