I discovered this great podcast called Animalators: it's a collection of interviews to different animators and their experiences.
Perfect to listen to while working ;)
I think it's a great concept and project - and I hope it will go on and on -
and reminds me of my attempt in this blog, to interview animators friends who are spread all over the world, in order to tell and show all the different variety of animation jobs and lives.
Enjoy and spread the word!
Today's post is about the latest event that I visited:
La città incantata, Il meeting internazionale dei disegnatori che salvano il mondo, in Civita di Bagnoregio (Italy).
I am going to write it in English on purpose, because it is an Italian event and I wish more foreign artist knew about it, since it is an "international event for artists who save the world"!
This year it was the 4th edition of this beautiful festival, held in one of the most suffestive and breathtaking place I have ever visited: Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio, Italy).
The entire event last three days (from Friday to Sunday) and it all takes place in the little old town of Civita di Bagnoregio.
For once I didn't attend a festival which was purely for animation of film: actually I had the impression the main focus of La Città incantata is Illustration and Comics. That was a great experience for me, for once, to meet some artist working for not-moving pictures, for printed paper! I have the feeling that animators and illustrator belong to the same big family, but have at the same time a lot of differences, and rarely have the chance to meet together.
During the event there were some screenings in different locations, some random interviews in the streets, some talking and comic presentations, some exhibitions and also some double interviews.
I really appreciated the concept of the double interviews:
They organized some public interviews, putting together two artist, belonging to two very different fields or using very different approaches and techniques. For example comparing the great and traditional stop motion artist Fusako Yusaki with the modern sensible 3D director Mauro Carraro.
Another interesting activity during the event is "l'arte si anima in piazza" (which could be translated in English with "the art is animated in the square"): it consists in artist making art the whole day in the middle of Civita di Bagnoregio, in the main square - and also main venue of the whole festival.
Here there was for example the great Lorenzo Terranera, who painted a huge colorful canvas in one day.
There was also a modeling clay area, where Fusako Yusaki, Stefano Argentero, Francesca Ferrario and many other artists were creating colorful characters and little sculptures together with many kids.
Those characters have been then also animated, later, in the same square, with Stefano Argentero and Peter Lord.
La città incantata was not only a great festival and experience. I am so extremely grateful I had the chance to travel to Lazio and discover such a beauty in my own homeland. The nature in that region is wild and amazing and the people are warm and welcoming.
I hope I will have the chance to travel to La Città Incantata again!
