Ottawa '07 official selections: James Calvert

O.k., as much as I love Mr.s' Hertzfeldt, Hodgson and Rao (sounds like a dead sexy law firm, don't it?), I wanna cover some names not familiar to mine ears this week. Today, a clip from 'Mermaid Story', directed by James Calvert. It's featured in 'Dust Echoes', a great series of evocative shorts commissioned by the Australian Broadcast Corporation based on Aussie aboriginal 'bush tales' and native lore. From the site:

"Dust Echoes is a series of twelve beautifully animated dreamtime stories from Central Arnhem Land, telling stories of love, loyalty, duty to country and aboriginal custom and law."

It's lovely work, puppet animation set against glowing backdrops and an equally glowing ambient tribal soundtrack. I'd come across this series quite some time ago, and methinks a similar series of Canuck aboriginal tales needs to happen. There's a long history of partnership in various international broadcast and radio projects between the CBC and ABC...a native story exchange, might I suggest? Again, no worries, it's a short clip, so I won't deprive you of the full glory of this short on the big screen at the Bytowne. Here's a link to the host site for the Dust Echoes series:

http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes/default.htm

Mr. Calvert, by the by, is one of the founding members of the People's Republic of Animation, out of Adelaide. This studio is barely out of the bubble wrap (founded in 2003) but judging by the feedback and awards their work has been getting, you wouldn't know it. Here's their 2007 showreeel; judge fer yerselves, but to my eyes, there be some damn fine work here!



The PRA website is at http://www.thepra.com.au/...go have yerselves a gander.

Whoof! O.k., enuff. Madi has requested something cool...a look back at the OIAF poster art through the years! I'll see about starting a new series next week. Cheers!