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- Written by ZF Team
- Category: Shorts
The new animation short by Joanna Quinn is here: Affairs of the Art.
Beryl has been a standard (and immediately identifiable) character in the Oscar-nominated director's work, from Girls' Night Out (1987) to Dreams and Desires: Family Ties (2006).
How many obsessions can one family have? In Joanna Quinn and Les Mills’ Affairs of the Art, we reconnect with Beryl, the working-class heroine who not only reveals her own obsession with drawing but exposes the addictions of her eccentric family, which include pickling, screw threads and pet taxidermy - Film Synopsis
Watch the trailer for Affairs of the Art
Unlike her previous animation films, Affairs of the Art is animated digitally (Cintiq screen) with TV paint software, a fact of showcasing Joanna Quinn's own artistic development and a whole set of different set of creative decisions she had to take. Les Mills & Joanna Quinn state that in this film they were freer to explore Beryl's origins and background in a 16-minute screening time.
We had always planned to do other Beryl films, so after completing Family Ties, there were still other ideas left over from the original five, so we decided to put them all together and make them into one 16-minute film. And that’s what Affairs of the Art is, and that’s why it’s more about characters and histories rather than a single story. It sort of goes in and out of people’s lives. We wanted to explore not just Beryl but other characters around her, in her family, for example - Joanna Quinn.
The superb characterization, the dynamism of the movement, and the liquidity and vigour of her line are qualities that most people admire about Joanna’s animation technique. I think that these qualities are immediately recognizable in her work. I tried to make sure, as much as possible, that she maintains this fluidity and energy throughout this film - Les Mills
Division of duties between the creative duo has Joanna Quinn doing the drawing, animation and directing, whereas Les Mills writes, does the color designs, and has produced the piece.
This is the first co-production between Beryl Productions International and the National Film Board of Canada. Affairs of the Art will have its premiere at the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival.
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