It’s hard to quantify a legacy as monumental as his. Ray’s contribution to animation, cinema and special effects as both a creator and technical innovator are vast.

Depending on when you first encountered Ray, you might remember him most for his Mother Goose Stories, his many prehistoric creatures, the metaphorical flesh he gave to the bones of his skeletal armies, and let’s not forget the mythical Medusa (Ray’s favourite, as he once said, “But don’t tell the others.”

John Landis & Ray Harryhausen in conversation at Bradford Animation Festival 2010

It’s the extent of the effect of these movie-magics that’s difficult to fathom… whether you’re a seasoned eater-upper of film, or in the business yourself, Ray and his creations have a really special effect.

Immeasurable his impact may be, but we can certainly go some way to tilt our hats to his genius. The many screens of social media have been strewn with tributes since his wife Diana, daughter Vanessa and Tony Dalton of The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation shared their sad news with the rest of the world on their facebook and twitter pages.

So with the most humble of nods to the generosity of his family in warmly sharing these tributes with us all, what better way to quantify a legacy than to soak up the words of those who have watched, absorbed, learned from and been inspired by Ray…

“Ray has been a great inspiration to us all in special visual industry. The art of his earlier films, which most of us grew up on, inspired us so much.” “Without Ray Harryhausen, there would likely have been no STAR WARS”
George Lucas.

“THE LORD OF THE RINGS is my ‘Ray Harryhausen movie’. Without his life-long love of his wondrous images and storytelling it would never have been made – not by me at least”
Peter Jackson

“In my mind he will always be the king of stop-motion animation”
Nick Park

“His legacy of course is in good hands
Because it’s carried in the DNA of so many film fans.”
Randy Cook

“You know I’m always saying to the guys that I work with now on computer graphics “do it like Ray Harryhausen”
Phil Tippett

“What we do now digitally with computers, Ray did digitally long before but without computers. Only with his digits.”
Terry Gilliam.

“His patience, his endurance have inspired so many of us.”
Peter Jackson

“Ray, your inspiration goes with us forever.”
Steven Spielberg

“I think all of us who are practioners in the arts of science fiction and fantasy movies now all feel that we’re standing on the shoulders of a giant.
If not for Ray’s contribution to the collective dreamscape, we wouldn’t be who we are.”
James Cameron

Ray Harryhausen: A natural born stop-motion Master, with a healthy overdose of pioneering whizz-geekery, changed what we’ll see forever.

The official Ray Harryhausen website
The official Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation facebook page
The official Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation twitter page

Digest our Director’s musings, enjoy extended Progamme introductions, pics and synopses for each and every film, read interviews with some of LIAF 2012′s contributors, Q&As with British animators, articles on this year’s three feature length animations and much more… all for free.

What you waiting for?!

We’re very proud to be bringing you festival favourite Don Hertzfeldt’s debut feature film ‘It’s Such a Beautiful Day’ on Friday 14^th December at the Horse Hospital. Plus a special support programme of short films by five maverick American animators and a Canadian scratch master.

You can take a look at the full programme and book your tickets here.

‘Everything will be OK’ (2006)

‘I Am So Proud of You’ (2008)

Cult animator and Academy Award nominee Don Hertzfeldt has combined his three short films about a troubled man named Bill ‘Everything will be OK’ (2006), ‘I Am So Proud of You’ (2008) and ‘It’s Such a Beautiful Day’  (2011) – into one seamless, beautiful, darkly comedic new feature film.

Upon its original release ‘Everything will be OK’ won the Sundance Film Festival’s Jury Award for Short Filmmaking and was named by many critics as one of the “Best films of 2007.” ‘I Am So Proud of You’ received 27 awards and was described by the San Francisco International Film Festival as “[his] best yet… even the Hertzfeldt faithful may be too stunned to laugh.”

Nearly two years in the making, the newly released ‘It’s Such a Beautiful Day’ is Don’s longest and most ambitious short film to date: blending traditional animation, experimental optical effects, trick photography, and new digital hybrids printed out one frame at a time. All three films were captured entirely in-camera on an antique 35mm animation stand. Built in the 1940s, it is one of the last surviving cameras of its kind still operating in America, and was indispensable in the creation of the story’s unique visual effects and experimental images. Here’s a flavour of the first minute of ‘I’m So Proud of You’ (Don narrates throughout).

‘It’s Such a Beautiful Day’ (2011)

Since 1995 Don’s films have collectively received over 200 awards. Some notable honours include a Short Film Palm D’or nomination at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival for ‘Billy’s Balloon’, a 2001 Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short ‘Rejected’, the Lawrence Kasdan Award for Best Narrative Film for ‘Everything will be OK‘, and Best Picture and Best Screenplay from the Fargo Film Festival for ‘I Am So Proud of You‘. In 2010 Don received the San Francisco International Film Festival’s ‘Persistence of Vision’ Lifetime Achievement Award at the age of 33.

Steven Pate of the Chicagoist has this to say about Don’s latest offering:

“There is a moment in each installment of Don Hertzfeldt’s masterful trilogy of animated shorts where you feel something in your chest. It’s an unmistakably cardiac event, the kind that great art can elicit when something profound and undeniably true is conveyed about the human condition. That’s when you say to yourself: are stick figures supposed to make me feel this way?  In the hands of a master, yes. And Hertzfeldt is to stick figures what Franz Liszt was to planks of ebony and ivory and what Ted Williams was to a stick of white ash: someone so transcendentally expert that to describe what they do in literal terms is borderline demeaning.”

Quite an act to follow…

Find out the films we’ll be screening in the supporting programme by five maverick American animators and a Canadian scratch master here!

‘The Making of Longbird‘ – Will Anderson

Best British Film

‘Moxie’ – Stephen Irwin

Special Award for Original Technique

‘Many Go Round’ – Yoshihisa Nakanishi

Special Award for Abstract Animation

‘And And’ – Mirai Mizuie

Special Award for Stop-Frame Animation

‘Oh Willy’ – Emma de Swaaf & Marc James Roels

Special Award for Hand-Drawn Animation:

‘The Women’s Day Gift’ – Mihail Dvorjankin

Voting for International Programme 1

Judges vote ‘Luminaris’ – Juan Pablo Zaramella

Audience vote  ‘Luminaris’ – Juan Pablo Zaramella

Voting for International Programme 2 Votes

Judges vote ‘Villa Antropoff’ – Vladimir Leschiov & Kasper Jancis

__________________________

Audience vote ‘My Face is in Space’ – Tom Jobbins

Voting for International Programme 3

Judges vote ‘Rew Day’ – Svilen Dimitrov

__________________________

Audience vote ‘The Pub‘ – Joseph Pierce

Voting for International Programme 4: Recent Japanese Shorts

Judges vote ‘The Mechanism of Spring’ – Atsushi Wada

__________________________

Audience vote ‘The People Who Never Stop’ – Florian Piento

Voting for International Programme 5

Judges vote ‘Moxie‘ – Stephen Irwin

__________________________

Audience vote ‘A Different Perspective’ – Chris O’Hara

Voting for International Programme 6

Judges vote ‘The Women’s Day Gift’ – Mihail Dvorjankin

__________________________

Audience vote ‘Seven Minutes in the Warsaw Ghetto’ – Johan Oettinger

Voting for International Programme 7: Into the Dark

Judges vote ‘Bydlo’- Patrick Bouchard

__________________________

Audience vote ‘Blanche Fraise’ – Frederick Tremblay

Voting for International Programme 8: Long Shorts

Judges vote ‘The Making of Longbird’ – Will Anderson

Audience vote ‘The Making of Longbird’ – Will Anderson

One of LIAF 2011′s Animation Industry Event panels (left to right) Martin Parsons, Saint John Walker, Rob Bradbrook, Martyn Pick, Andy Blazdell, Louise Hussey & Matt Lawrence

This year, well frankly it would be rude not to dive straight back in and so we’ve teamed up once again with Saint John Walker of Creative Skillset to bring you another Animation Industry Event. A new selection of Speakers (and some familiar faces from last year too) will impart their wisdom on three new topics: the future of animation in the UK; animated documentaries; and animated film titles. The fourth area, dear to the heart of team LIAF is (drum-roll) ‘sound’ – we covered it last year, it was so good, we’re going in again as there’s just so much ground to be covered.

So without further ado, below you’ll find the full run down to-date of what will be under the LIAF microscope this year, lots of details on our fantastic panel of speakers and links to get your tickets!

LIAF Animation Industry Event: To finity and beyond: The future of animation in the UK

Friday 2 October, 10:00

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Government Tax breaks are heralded making the UK a different place to do animation business. Aardman themselves proclaimed the tax credit would be “transformational” for the industry. So what are the implications for animation companies, freelancers and educators alike. Are we prepared? Will there be a trickle down effect, or will big business be the only ones to gain? Are we just talking  about well known brands returning to these shores (Thomas the Tank Engine from Canada, Bob the builder from the US, Noddy from Ireland) or are we looking at a new renaissance of animation innovation, exploiting new technologies and intellectual property to create the next peppa pig or harry potter.

We assemble together a group of campaigners, studio heads and educators to paint a picture of the industry in five years time.

Chaired by Saint John Walker, Creative Skillset

Speakers

Miles Bullough, Independent Media Consultant, ex Head of Broadcast, Aardman Animations

Miles Bullough has been an executive producer in the kids and entertainment industries for 20 years. Until recently he was Head of Broadcast at Aardman Animations where he executive produced ‘Wallace and Gromit’, ‘Shaun The Sheep’, ‘Creature Comforts’, ‘Timmy Time’ and many other multi-award winning shows. Prior to Aardman, Miles was MD of Absolutely Productions where he executive produced ‘Trigger Happy Television’, C4’s ‘Armstrong & Miller’, ‘The Jack Docherty Show’, ‘Stressed Eric’ and many other highly regarded comedy shows. Before that Miles worked for management company IPH Westhall Ltd for whom he line-produced, most notably, series one of ‘The Word’ for Charlie Parsons, ‘As Time Goes By’ for DL Taffner and several other entertainment, kids and factual series. Miles is married and has a 16 year old daughter, lives in Bristol with his family and is currently acting as an Independent Media Consultant while fundraising for a new, Bristol-based venture in comedy and new media. When not at his laptop Miles might be found stalking the jazz clubs of Bristol or cycling round North Somerset.

Marion Edwards, VP Production at HIT Entertainment

Marion Edwards is a veteran of the UK animation industry with over 15 years experience. In 2008 she joined HiT Entertainment where she is currently Group Director, Production a role that has involved overseeing the move to CGI for such iconic brands as ‘Thomas & Friends’, ‘Bob the Builder’ and Fireman Sam. She is also Executive Producer of the upcoming CGI series ‘Mike the Knight’ which will debut in Autumn 2011. Prior to joining HiT Entertainment, Marion ran her own production and consultancy company, Red & Blue Productions. During this period she co-produced the award-winning pre-school series ‘Fun with Claude’ with the UK’s Dot To Dot Productions. The series is currently airing on Playhouse Disney in the UK and ZDF in Germany. Before setting up Red & Blue, Marion was Managing Director of Telemagination, one of Europe’s largest 2-D animation studios. During this period she executive produced shows such as ‘The Cramp Twins’, ‘Metalheads’ and ‘Pongwiffy’ and received two BAFTA nominations.

Ken Anderson, Creative Director and Executive Director at August Media Holdings, CEO Red Kite

A BAFTA award winning producer with over 20 years’ experience in the animation industry; Ken Anderson oversees all development and production for Singapore based August Media, now parent to Red Kite Animations. Ken co-founded Red Kite in Edinburgh, in 1997, and has since led the company to become one of the foremost children’s and animation production companies in the UK, responsible for hit series such as ‘Dennis and Gnasher’, ‘The Imp’ and ‘The Secret World of Benjamin Bear’.

Gary Thomas Associate Director, Animate Projects; Film Adviser, British Council

Gary Thomas is a Film Adviser at the British Council, the UK’s cultural relations agency that works promote British film internationally, where he leads on animation and also oversees the British Council’s work in film in the UK, East Asia and China. He also works as Associate Director at Animate Projects, an arts charity that champions experiment in animation (www.animateprojects.org). He was previously Head of Moving Image at Arts Council England. He initiated and coordinates Animation Alliance UK, advocating for the support of independent animation, and lobbying for investment in production, training and archive.

LIAF Animation Industry Event: Moving Documentaries: animation, truth and lies

Friday 2 October, 14:00

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Animation is associated with the surreal and fantastic, but also has a long and distinguished history in documentary, from Winsor McKay’s 1918 12-minute-long film The Sinking of the Lusitania, to Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir exactly 90 years later. Persuasive, illustrative and able to get over abstract details in attractive and compelling ways, animation is still being used to document someone’s version of the truth, from propaganda to imagined visualisation of the microscopic or unseen in medical and architectural visualisation.

How do animation documentary makers describe their practice, and what is special about the medium? Can the use of animation in documentaries always be justified? Is the agenda about accessibility, or dumbing down?

Chaired by Saint John Walker, Creative Skillset.

Speakers

Samantha Moore, independent film maker, Animator, Senior Lecturer in Animation at University of Wolverhampton

Samantha Moore’s animated docs include; ‘Success with Sweet Peas’ (2003), ‘doubled up’ (2004) for Channel 4 television and Arts Council England and ‘The Beloved Ones’ for the UK Film Council and Screen WM. In 2010 she made ‘An Eyeful of Sound’, for the Wellcome Trust, about synaesthesia. It won an award “for Scientific Merit” from the journal Nature at the Imagine Science Film Festival in New York, the Best Animation/Experimental film award at the Scinema Science Film Festival in Australia and a Diploma for Documentary at the Flip Animation Festival UK. This year she finished ‘Shadow Stories’ for Shrewsbury Art Gallery and Museum. Samantha teaches animation at the University of Wolverhampton and is studying for a PhD by practice at the University of Loughborough. Her PhD subject is about representing internal brain states through animated non-fiction, and she is currently making work about prosopagnosia (face-blindness) and phantom limb syndrome.

Patrick Jenkins, Artist, Animator, Film Director at Patrick Jenkins Studio

Patrick Jenkins is an award-winning artist, animator and documentary filmmaker. His recent film ‘Sorceress’ (2012) was shown in competition at this year’s LIAF, the Melbourne International Animation Festival, Melbourne, Australia, and BE FILM (The Underground Film Festival), New York, U.S.A. His previous film ‘Tara’s Dream’ won both Second Prize and Best Animation Prize at the 2010 Toronto Urban Film Festival. His film ‘Amoeba’ won first prize at the 2010 Toronto Animated Image Society Showcase. His film ‘Inner View’ (2009), an animated homage to the art of Canadian artist Kazuo Nakamura was an Official Selection of Animafest, in Zagreb, Croatia in 2010. His film ‘Labyrinth’ (2008), a surreal detective story, won 1st place in the Independent, 6 to 30 Minutes Category, at the 2009 KAFI Festival and 3rd Prize for animation at the 2010 Be Film Festival in New York City and was included in the dvd the Highlights of LIAF 2009. His documentaries, ‘Of Lines And Men: The Animation Of Jonathan Amitay’ and ‘Death Is In Trouble Now: The Sculptures Of Mark Adair’ premiered on BRAVO! Television in October 2007. His film ‘The Skateboarder’ premiered at the 2005 Montreal World Film Festival and was shown at the 2005 Ottawa International Animation Festival and the prestigious 2006 Annecy Animation Festival in Annecy, France. His documentary film ‘RALPH: Coffee, Jazz and Poetry, The Poetry of Ralph Alfonso’ premiered at the 2001 Montreal World Film Festival and was broadcast on CBC Television’s Canadian Reflections and BRAVO! Television.

www.interlog.com/~pjenkins/televisionwork.html

Tim Webb, senior tutor at Royal College of Art

Tim Webb was born in Shropshire in 1960. On leaving school secondary school he completed a 5-year apprenticeship in Dental Technology before returning to full time art education in 1982. On completion of an Art foundation course in Shrewsbury, Webb gained a First Class BA in animation at The West Surrey College of Art (now University for the Creatve Arts – Farnham). From 1986, Webb has been working in animation. His graduation film was an animated documentary/diatribe about the politics of smoking. The film was influenced by Peter Taylor’s book ‘The Smoke Ring’ (1984). This film helped in gaining his big break. ‘A is For Autism’, was commissioned by Clare Kitson for a season of programmes on disability, screened in1992. The film continues to be shown in many festivals and resulted in Tim’s first offer as visiting tutoring work at Farham. This evolved into work in many other BA courses and eventually Webb took up his current post as Senior Tutor at the Royal College of Art in 1996.

Jonathan Hodgson, Animation Director, Sherbet, Programme Leader BA (Hons) Animation, Middlesex University

Jonathan Hodgson is a BAFTA winning animator based in London. He directed the animation for Franny Armstrong’s feature length climate change documentary ‘Age of Stupid’, which had a worldwide cinema release in 2009. Educated at Liverpool School of Art and Royal College of Art, he worked as a freelance animation director at many London animation studios before setting up Sherbet with producer Jonathan Bairstow in 1996. His early 2D animation was quite experimental and largely based on observation and personal experience. Most of his more recent work has been in the area of documentary animation. He has won numerous international awards, directed dozens of television commercials and created motion graphics for several television series. In addition, he was an art director on the children’s animated series Charlie and Lola. He combines filmmaking with teaching and somehow finds time to be the Programme Leader for BA Animation at Middlesex University. His most recent film ‘Wonderland: The Trouble with Love and Sex’ is the first full-length animated documentary on British television and was broadcast on BBC2 and BBC HD on 11th May 2011.

LIAF Animation Industry Event: In a world… the art of animated film titles

Saturday 3 October, 10:00

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Type ‘Animated Title Sequence’ into Google and you’ll get 2,150,000 results which is a measure of the popularity and impact it has. Distilling a movie or tv series offer into a few seconds needs skills in storyboarding, editing, and an acute understanding of the audiences tolerances and expectations. Take the Bond films as an example, and how they evolved, and how the audience’s expectations were raised each time, making it a status symbol to be asked to make one. For something so short there are often large teams and sometimes large budgets, and always large pressures.

We look under the bonnet of the film title sequence; and ask leading proponents how you get commissioned, who is in control, what are the pressures, and how much creative leeway do you have?

Chaired by Saint John Walker, Creative Skillset.

Speakers

Paul Donnellon, creative director and animation director, VooDooDog.

Paul Donnellon, originally from Dublin, studied animation and graphic design at Dun Laoighaire College of Art and Design. Paul moved to London to work with TVC, the company who animated the Beatles’ ‘Yellow Submarine’ and ‘The Snowman’. Paul’s first animation work was seen in 1986 on Raymond Briggs’ ‘When the Wind Blows’. From 2000 to 2002 Paul worked at the Oscar winning company The Mill as the consultant director of 3D animation. He also directed several commercials for The Mill for clients JWT and BBDO New York. Since then he has established his own company VooDooDog with his producer David Obadiah. In 2005 Paul was nominated for an EMMY for his outstanding animated title sequence design and direction for the Golden Globe winning feature film ‘The Life and Death of Peter Sellers’. He also won the WORLD GOLD MEDAL at the New York Festivals for his outstanding direction of an animated title sequence. Paul’s feature film work for Working Title Films include his award winning animated title sequence for Emma Thompson’s film ‘Nanny McPhee’ and graphic sequence ‘Smokin Aces’. Paul has been commissioned by Channel 4 and the Royal Ballet to direct a stop motion film of Swan Lake due for transmission 2014.

Nic Benns, Momoco

Nic Benns is the co-founder, along with Miki Kato, of film design studio, Momoco. The firm has been making main titles and commercials for 12 years, gaining international recognition for its sequences. Nic has collaborated on theatrical opening sequences with directors such as Richard Curtis, Stephen Daldry, Lasse Halstrom, Kevin Spacey and recently Dustin Hoffman. His aesthetic is cinematic, texturally rich and layered. Film Credits include ‘Contraband’, ‘Salmon Fishing In The Yemen’, ‘The Three Musketeers’, ‘One Day’, ‘An Education’, ’30 Days of Night’, ‘Alien vs Predator’ and ‘Love Actually’. TV Credits include ‘Ripper Street’, ‘Misfits’, ‘Luther’, ‘The Fades’, and ‘Great Expectations’ for which he won the EMMY in 2012 for Outstanding Main Titles. His 30 minute Sci-Fi film, ‘Copelia’, starring Vincent Regan, Ralph Brown and Olivia Williams, was shown internationally and won awards in various festivals including best VFX.

Maria Manton Producer and Director at Munky

Maria Manton has over twenty-two years experience producing animation, live action and special effects. Her love for filmmaking has led to her working with almost every type of animation style and film making technique. She’s produced literally hundreds of commercials, and to date 13 multi International award winning short films – awards including many BAA’s, a BIFA and a BAFTA nomination. Maria has also produced cult TV and online series, branding and TV & film title sequences. Maria has produced at a number of the UK’s leading animation companies and in 2000 she co-founded Slinky Pictures, which she also ran for its award winning decade, as well as producing the majority of Slinky’s diverse output over that time. Maria has also produced many music videos as well as tour content, including the entire visual content for the U2 Elevation Tour and a film for live screening at the World Cup 2010 Kick Off Party. In addition to developing feature length projects, Maria has also found time to direct, her work includes the Bull animation for the feature, ‘Bunny and The Bull’, and, most recently, she was Animation Director on a special short for The Chapman Brothers. Maria is an occasional lecturer at The NFTS and The RCA, and often sits on juries for Film Festivals and BAFTA.

LIAF Animation Industry Event: Sound in the Frame

Anyone who works in animation knows the impact sound and music makes to an animated project – but just how important are their contribution in the making of an animated film? This session will be a general discussion, with examples of the influence of these two elements in the creation of an animation project.

Chaired by Mark Ashworth Senior Sound Designer, Sound Editor

Saturday 3 October, 14:00

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Speakers

Mark Ashworth, Senior Sound Designer, Sound Editor

Mark Ashworth is UK based and heads the team at Erect Spider. He is an experienced Sound Designer, Musician, Technician and a Head of Department. Mark started his career as an established Artist in the genre of drum and bass and ran 3 record labels as well as a recording Artist during this ten year period, then through a love and passion of film expanded his creative talents into the field of film and in particular Sound Design and Sound Editing. Teaming up with long term friend and Film maker Robert Morgan (‘The Cat with Hands’, ‘The Separation’, ‘Bobby Yeah’) together their work has spawned a string of award winning films and most recently been nominated for a BAFTA in 2012. Mark also has a long term side project as a musician with the band ZnO as well as numerous side projects including one musical project with the Quay Brothers scorist Timothy Nelson. Mark so far this year has completed work on Steve Stones directing feature debut ‘Entity’ due for release in 2013. He has also worked on three shorts this year ‘El Armadillo’ by Darren Bransford, childrens animation ‘Paddy the Page‘ by Joe Orton & Daniella Orsini and the short film ‘Smoke’ by Maude Hirst and Sophia Jackson.

Maria Manton Producer and Director at Munky

Maria Manton has over twenty-two years experience producing animation, live action and special effects. Her love for filmmaking has led to her working with almost every type of animation style and film making technique. She’s produced literally hundreds of commercials, and to date 13 multi International award winning short films – awards including many BAA’s, a BIFA and a BAFTA nomination. Maria has also produced Cult TV and online series, branding and TV & Film title sequences. Maria has produced at a number of the UK’s leading animation companies and in 2000 she co-founded Slinky Pictures, which she also ran for its award winning decade, as well as producing the majority of Slinky’s diverse output over that time. Maria has also produced many music videos as well as tour content, including the entire visual content for the U2 Elevation Tour and a film for live screening at the World Cup 2010 Kick Off Party. In addition to developing feature length projects, Maria has also found time to direct, her work includes the Bull animation for the feature, ‘Bunny and The Bull’, and, most recently, she was Animation Director on a special short for The Chapman Brothers. Maria is an occasional lecturer at The NFTS and The RCA, and often sits on juries for Film Festivals and BAFTA.

Ruth Sullivan, Foley Artist

Ruth Sullivan is a Freelance Foley Artist. She has worked on several recent TV dramas such as ‘Misfits’, ‘Ripper Street’, ‘The Paradise’, ‘The Hunted’, ‘Downton Abbey’, ‘Spooks’, ‘Hustle’, ‘Any Human Heart’, ‘Whitechapel’, ‘Merlin’, ‘Case Sensitive’, ‘Inside Men’, ‘Outcasts’, ‘Wild at Heart’, ‘Skins’, ‘Body Farm’ plus animations including ‘Everything’s Rosie’ Series 1 & 2, ‘The 99′, ‘Little Princess’ and ‘The Cat in the Hat’. Films over the years include: ‘Troy’, ‘Eyes Wide Shut’, ‘Mamma Mia!’, ‘Creation’, ‘Proof’, ’28 Days Later’, ’1408′, ‘The World Is Not Enough’ (Golden Reel nomination), ‘Paul’, ‘Death at a Funeral’, ‘Snow Cake’, ‘Keeping Mum’, ‘Still Crazy’, ‘The Hours’, ‘My House in Umbria’, ‘Running Free’ (Golden Reel nomination) and ‘The Life and Death of Peter Sellers’ (Emmy winner).

From left to right – Malcolm Turner (MIAF Director), Kevin Richards, Ralph Steadman, Charlie Paul

LIAF Director Nag performs his annual introductory blurb

We papped Ralph as the fans went in for signing after signing – he didn’t let down a single one.

Very happy Liisi (dedicated LIAF Volunteer) with her Ralph Steadman artwork

We’ve opened, we’re here and we’ve got that Ready-Brek festival glow once more.

The Barbican pulled out all the stops yet again, providing the wave – then the crest, on which we surfed for our Gala Opening. Special mention to Tamara Anderson and of course  the entire Barbican team – it’s no mean feat hosting our festival!

So as you’ve probably come to expect by now, we opened with a taster of what’s to come in the form of a mini-programme of shorts, followed by the first feature of the fest. The first of these carefully selected shorts was ‘Mount Head’  - Koji Yamamura. Koji will be visiting us from Japan for a Retrospective of his work and to deliver a Masterclass on November 1st. We’re also lucky enough to be able to exhibit some beautifully crafted drawings from his films, which you can find in the foyer of the Barbican’s shiney-new cinemas on Beech Street. Next followed ‘The House’ (David Buob, Germany); ‘The Pub’ – Joseph Pierce (Joseph was a judge for LIAF 2011 so you may have spotted him milling around with us); and finally the award-winning ‘Luminaris’ (Juan Pablo Zaramella, Argentina).

With this tasty starter enjoyed and digested, it was time to serve the main course . Charlie Paul’s ‘For No Good Reason’ is a documentary following the radical British artist Ralph Steadman. It really is a ‘must see’ and if you weren’t able to catch it at our Gala Opening, we urge you to treat yourself and seek it out. It’s all in there – the artistic processes, the Hunter S Thompson story, the heart-felt politics, the ‘Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas’ days, and more – LOTS more.

The story is largely told via someone you might have heard of – Johnny Depp, who every now and again drops in to see his pal (and hero) Ralph. And so begins a wild and high-spirited journey, a good dose of mayhem, interviews with the likes of Terry Gilliam and fascinating archive footage. There is a very ‘Good Reason’ why we’ve been so keen to bring it to you the day our doors officially open for 2012 – and that is the animated sequences. The film is punctuated by a series of delightful animations by Kevin Richards. Kevin undertook the overwhelming task of animating these works of art, that until now, just hadn’t leant themselves very well to our beloved artform. In the Q&A that followed, Kevin and Charlie spoke of how Ralph’s work always “seems to be on the verge of going somewhere” (referring to movement, not levels of success!) and how Ralph had been approached many times before to animate his work, but for one reason or another it just hadn’t happened.