Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

- How many times have I been to Annecy? Maybe ten. How many pictures do I have of the times there? Not too many. I always thought of the time in terms of food (oddly I always think of Ottawa in terms of films I’ve seen.)

One year was a bit different than others. It was about 1992; I was there alone and spent a lot of time floating about by myself. I got to meet a lot of older, more established masters such as Jan Lenica, George Schwizgebel, Rein Raamat, and Gene Deitch. I spent some time with a number of Brits who were there. It was the first time I’d met the folks from Aardman (not Nick Park who hadn’t risen to glory yet) as well as folk from TVC: Dave Unwin and John Coates.

The Americans weren’t into food. They would make sure to buy loaves of bread to take into screenings to eat. It had been a different experience for me in the past – lots of good meals in great restaurants. I ended up straddling two worlds that festival and had an original experience doing it.

John Dilworth and Linda Simensky were two friends from NY who were the main anchor for me. Here having a rest between films with a picnic.

Paul Glabicki‘s films have always been something of an inspiration for me, so it was great meeting him (on the left). Hélène Tanguay, of the NFB, stands next to him. Also: John D, me, and Linda.

Me, John and Glen Keane.

The three musketeers with Abby Terkuhle from MTV.

Here at the closing party: Back row L to R: Me, Linda, Paul Glabicki, Dilworth.
Front row: Nourredin Zarrinkelk the Iranian ASIFA board member, Bruno Bozzetto, and Terry Thoren.

At the airport, the four of us had the same flight. Linda Simensky, me, Masako Kanayama and John Dilworth.

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