We want to create the
ultimate historical program of Australian animation and
screen it at MIAF next year. And we reckon that a thousand
heads are better than one.
Australia is a big land and people have been animating here
for a long time. The history runs deep and the stories live
in the memories of hundreds of people. Lost classics, forgotten
masters, shelved projects, great works that deserve another
big screen moment of glory and how many card-carrying members
of the earlier Australian animation pioneer generations
must there be out there.
And it’s not just the films – what about animated
ads, collections of old art work, posters and flyers that
have been tucked away in cupboards, articles in scrapbooks
or tapes of old TV programs. Or people who did the sound?
Or who went out and secured the money? Or who signed off
on the funding? For that matter, what about vague memories,
iffy rumours or downright tall tales?
Who knows, perhaps there will be enough material emerge
to stage an exhibition of artwork and memorbilia. The whole
thing could morph into a mini-festival in its own right.
After all, there are features out there that deserve a dusting
off too.
MIAF seems like a perfect ‘collection point’
to gather all these ideas in one place and then turn them
into something we can all experience…. and maybe share
with the rest of the country. And the world.
Through the course of the year we hope to build a network
capable of receiving all the ideas, leads, thoughts and
material that we possibly can. We want to make as many people
as possible in as many places as possible aware of the Project.
And we want to give the ultimate outcome of all this collective
action a home.
But right now, it’s just an idea. And in the great
Aussie tradition, we thought we’d buy you a beer and
run it by you to see what you think and see if you have
any thoughts.
So come down to ACMI for that other
great Aussie tradition - Friday afterwork drinks - and
join GAAP Ambassador, Adam Elliott, and MIAF Director,
Malcolm Turner, to see where we can take this.
www.gaap.net.au
