Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

If any animation event had me wishing I were in London, this is it. I am as much of a fan of Antonia Byatt’s writing as I am a fan of Yuri Norstein’s animation. The following press release was sent to me regarding an event on Jan. 19th:

CURZON SOHO THUR 19 JAN 6.00PM

TALE OF TALES: An animated journey discussed by
AS BYATT and CLARE KITSON

Tickets £5 / £4 concessions

Yuri Norstein should not need discovering. In the animation world he is a legend, and his film TALE OF TALES has twice been voted the best animated film of all time. Yet he remains little-known among the wider public.

In discovering Norstein you can forget Disney, and forget the longueur found in East-European animation of past decades. This visionary filmmaker’s unique oeuvre ranges from children’s films (which are equally enchanting to adults) to his enigmatic masterpiece, TALE OF TALES. His admirers include Johnny Vaughan (who once, on Channel 4, nominated Norstein’s HEDGEHOG IN THE FOG as his all-time favourite animated film), Michel Gondry (who conceived one of his Björk videos as a tribute to that same film) and Booker-winning novelist AS Byatt, who recently wrote an in-depth analysis of TALE OF TALES in The Guardian.

In celebration of the new book Yuri Norstein and Tale of Tales: An Animator’s Journey by Clare Kitson, Curzon Cinemas presents Norstein’s legendary TALE OF TALES followed by a discussion with Clare Kitson and AS Byatt, hosted by Gareth Evans (editor of Vertigo Magazine and Time Out film critic).

TALE OF TALES is a strange, poetic, wistful amalgam of Norstein’s childhood memories (he grew up in a USSR ravaged by WW2), fears for the present (it was made in the late ‘70s, the time of ‘stagnation’ under Brezhnev) and hopes for the future.

The total duration of the screening plus discussion is 60mins. Clare Kitson’s book, by John Libbey Publishing, will be on sale after the screening.

With thanks to AS Byatt, Clare Kitson, Dick Arnall and Gareth Evans.

For more information about Curzon Cinemas, or to get logos and pictures sent to you contact Shelley McCarten 020 7292 1692

Curzon Soho 99 Shaftesbury Avenue London W1
www.curzoncinemas.com Box Office 020 7734 2255

Subscribe to the comments through RSS Feed