Tag Archives for Sheila Sofian

‘A Conversation with Haris’ by Sheila Sofian

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A young Bosnian immigrant recounts his experience with war, illustrated in painting-on-glass animation.

The Paint on glass technique used in this film is a great example of what this technique can do. We are visually drawn, pulled, pushed, washed and wiped through the memories of a young boy as he recounts his experience of war. His memories dissolve and reconstruct as we travel seamlessly through time and space in a seemingly endless wave of images, which commands our interest.

The Directors voice can be heard asking direct, probing questions, which results in some unsettling honest answers, accounts of brutality and murder of Haris’s family members, it’s hard listening coming from such a young boy and reminds us of the strength animated documentary can poses in giving voices to those that we dont always get to hear. This is an important film.

We were very lucky to collaborate with Sheila for the first Animateddocumentary.com award given at FAFF 2016

http://www.sheilasofian.com/

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‘Survivors’ by Sheila Sofian

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A documentary animation about domestic violence, distinctively drawn in conté crayon. With images that are sometimes abstract or vividly representational, this animated documentary is based on interviews with victims of domestic violence who bravely recount their brutal histories, and, with the help of counsellors, take their first steps to recovery.

Sheila has made many animated documentary films, including the 2013 feature Truth Has Fallen, and she is an Associate Professor at the University of Southern California.

We were very lucky to collaborate with Sheila for the first Animateddocumentary.com award given at FAFF 2016

More info on Sheila’s website: sheilasofian.com

http://www.imdb.com/video/wab/vi703372825/

The first AnimatedDocumentary.com Award at FAFF 2016!

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We were thrilled to be part of this years Factual Animation Film Fuss festival: hosting an event, giving our first ever award, and mingling with the great and the good of the UK animated documentary crowd.

The festival is in its second year, run by Daniel Murtha, and hosted at the Genesis Cinema in London, UK. In addition to several programmes of the best new work in animated documentary, a Q&A with film-maker Samantha Moore, chaired by Alys Scott-Hawkins, opened out discussions with a number of film-makers in the audience, including Mary Martins, Emma Calder and Alex Widdowson.

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Still from Truth Has Fallen by Sheila Sofian

The AnimatedDocumentary.com award was presented on the final night of the festival. We were very pleased to have our award sponsored by animated documentary director Sheila Sofian. The winner received signed original artwork from Sheila’s film ‘Truth has Fallen’, a feature length documentary we have featured on the blog. The film is about about people wrongfully convicted of murder and the weaknesses in the US justice system that allowed these injustices to occur. You can find out more about Sheila’s work on her website here.

The winning film was Spirit Away by Bettina Kuntzsch. We thought that the film was a fantastic example of using existing documentary evidence to engage the audience.

We also awarded two Special Mentions: Loop by Samantha Moore and Life Inside Islamic State by Scott Coello. We made a third award for Best New Voice and this went to The Divide by Mary Martins.

Loop by Samantha Moore

Life Inside Islamic State by Scott Coello

The Divide by Mary Martens

‘Truth has fallen’ by Sheila Sofian

“If they’re not doing time for this, then surely for something else.”

The new film from US director Sheila Sofian, follows inmates on life sentences in the US prison system. Sofian “conjures up an inferno of expressive animations painted on glass, abstract re-enactments, and surrealist details, which condenses into a passionate appeal to politicians to abolish prejudgements and racial discrimination.”

The films world premier will be at Dok Leipzig this November and has been nominated for the Animadoc Award.

We have featured Sheila’s work on the blog before, most notably her writing on animated documentary.

We wish Sheila the best of luck with her new film and also her nomination for the Animadoc award!

http://films2013.dok-leipzig.de/de/film.aspx?ID=6096&title=Truth+Has+Fallen

‘Blogging the animated documentary’ – article on Society for Animation Studies blog

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An article about this very blog, which I was invited to write for the the Society for Animation Studies blog. Blogging about blogging!

Well in this case it’s reviewing films we’ve looked at on the blog so far, in order to assess the animadoc landscape; as something of a follow-up to other articles on the site’s current theme of animated documentary.

If you haven’t checked them out already have a look at:

Bella Honess Roe on Animated Memories

Sheila Sofian on The Camera and “Structuring Reality”

Who said that? The dispensability of original sound in animated documentary, by Samantha Moore

Paul Ward’s “To document differently”: random thoughts on a taxonomy of animated documentary.

And do leave comments – there are some fascinating points and debates to be had…

Animated Realities conference, Edinburgh, June 2011

Edinburgh College of Art hosted a collaborative event with the Edinburgh International Film Festival: the Animated Realities conference: ‘a truly interdisciplinary event and a new platform for ideas’. The jointly curated animated documentary festival programmes of the festival including Iranian feature ‘The Green Wave’ were screened as part of the conference.

Keynote speakers included Sheila Sofian (University of Southern California), Paul Ward (Arts University College, Bournemouth) and Paul Wells (Loughborough University).

http://www.animatedrealities.co.uk