An Extraordinary Panorama on Experimental Animation: Works by Suzan Pitt
21st Shanghai International Film Festival
June 17th, 2018
SFC Shang Ying
Studio City (Bagua Shop) Room 2
June 20th, 2018
Shanghai Paragon Studios Hall 6
June 23rd, 2018
SFC Shanghai Film Studio Hall
In our understanding of cinema history and culture, avant-garde films and experimental footages have always been absent. Major film festivals in Mainland China rarely touch upon such programs as well. However, video art not only belongs to art galleries, it can also create extraordinary experiences in cinemas.
In order to meet the diverse preferences of viewers, the 21st Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) has elaborately prepared a number of videos incorporated with experimental properties for panorama. Among them, one of the highlights must be the special screening of the works by Suzan PITT, the acclaimed animation master from the US. This is also the first time for SIFF to show the productions of a single film animator in its animation program. We believe she will definitely bring an extraordinary audiovisual experience to you.
Suzan PITT is an experimental animation artist renowned throughout the world. In the special panorama, SIFF will showcase her five animation works – ASPARAGUS, JOY STREET, EL DOCTOR, VISITATION and PINBALL, as well as a documentary SUZAN PITT: PERSISTENCE OF VISION. Among them, the director's signature production ASPARAGUS enjoys symbolic meanings in her artistic career; PINBALL, as Pitt’s very first digital work, displays the new content and style brought by the new shooting technique... All six films last for nearly two hours in total, which will be screened in one session.
Graduating from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in the United States, Suzan PITT was originally a painter. In 1968, she began making distinctive animated films which were inspired by her paintings using super 8 mm film. Bold and changeable, her image is embodied with absurd and surreal features, reflecting the instigation, restlessness, depression, and liberation in human minds. In her creation, each fictitious role is like an individual in reality, who has its own past and future in a specific time and space.
She uses extraordinary perception to capture life and nature, and extraordinary imagination to create fairy tales and dreams. It is fair to say that Suzan PITT's works have enriched animated films, allowing the category to flourish in the fields of art, television and drama. Now her works are travelling the world to participate in various film festivals and exhibitions, including those at noted art venues such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Whitney American Museum of Art.