KISKAKAS: MOME Anim Premier and GRAFIX EXPO

KISKAKAS: MOME Anim Premier is an interesting screening event in Budapest that each fall showcases the diploma projects of the MOME Anim MA graduates. Once again the graduates took the leap of faith and made some extraordinary, exciting and fresh pieces. They took the courage to experiment with different genres, techniques and forms of animation. Among the projects there are book and videogame designs, short films, technological experiments, philosophical path findings, precise self-analysis, lyric inner journey to the past and witty reflections to the Hungarian reality.

Melinda Kádár made her 2D digital animated film, The wellspring and the tower, inspired by the circulation of the decomposition and rebirth of an ecosystem. Inspired by childhood memories and traumas the 2D digital films Out there by Judit Orosz and Windbreak by Ágnes Győrfi and the mixed technique film, Thornes and fishbones by Natália Azevedo Andrade are dealing with the challenges childhood. Some of the filmmakers chose psychological dilemmas and the world of dreams as their subjects. In his mixed technique film, Sola Zoltán Debreczeni introduces a woman who is trying to cope with anxiety at work and her nightmares. Anna Szöllősi also chose a young woman as her main character in her 2D digital rotoscope animation, Helfer.

The girl, struggling with stress and recurring nightmares is offered an alternative solution by her helper, but in the process, she must decide whether she is ready to confront her biggest fears. Our Sleeping by Boglárka Ászity is a 2D digital animation. The young director explores the individual and universal layers of our sleeping habits. There were some amongst the graduates who boldly experimented with cross border projects. József Simon created the universe of Biom, an alien planet, where a dangerous predator hunts the inhabitants of the local micro-biosphere. The project is a test version of a game and an intro video. Lili Korcsok designed Homeostasis, a book and trailer of a world she created entirely.

The last film of this year’s selection is Bye little block! by Éva Darabos. In her 2D digital animation, spiced up with witty humor, the filmmaker invites the audience to a housing project where the protagonist learns that soon she will have to leave her old flat for good. After receiving the upsetting news her overwhelming emotions grow into a surreal panorama of the block she used to call home.

The graduates at MOME Anim have all brought their very own artistic voices and professional perspectives into their films, so the selection of KISKAKAS this year again holds out the hope of a gripping and colorful program. Before the screening the audience will have the opportunity to see and buy the brand-new works of MOME Anim students at the GRAFIX exhibition and fare from 5.30 pm. The EXPO offers a wide variety of products like posters, postcards, zines, riso prints, stickers and more. It is a good chance to meet the artists behind the magic.

PROGRAM

• JUDIT OROSZ - OUT THERE (8' 51"), 2D digital animation
  While playing hide and seek, a little girl is wandering deeper and deeper into the garden until she finds herself at a distant place.
• ZOLTÁN DEBRECZENI - SOLA (8' 19"), mixed technique
  A woman working in the IT sector have to fight alone with work-related stress and her nightmares that are slowly turning into her reality.
• JÓZSEF SIMON - BIOM (1' 25", game intro), 2D digital animation
  Biom is a test version of a game and an intro video. We are on an alien planet, where the greatest predator of the local micro-biosphere hunts down unprotected and peaceful creatures. The main character Bo has a bubble that protects him from harm, and helps him to attack his enemies, if necessary.
• MELINDA KÁDÁR - THE WELLSPRING AND THE TOWER (7' 27"), hand-drawn digital 2D animation
  When the wellspring that sustains the ecosystem dries out, its cry for help triggers a process which uses all of the world’s resources to build a tower. This seems to have a destructive effect on the environment, but the tower has only one purpose: to resurrect the wellspring.
• NATÁLIA AZEVEDO ANDRADE - THORNS AND FISHBONES (9' 45"), stop-motion, 2D drawn animation, 3D
  The lives of three bored and neglected children are filled with imaginary adventures, until comes the day when they try to break out. Their busy mother seems completely detached from her surroundings emotionally. As the children grow and the mother’s routine is more and more tiresome, the secrets of the mysterious house unravel.
• LILI KORCSOK - HOMEOSTASIS (0' 45", book and trailer), digital drawing, hand drawing, 3D
  The main subject of my diploma project was a book design, that gives an inside view of a world I have created, however it does not give a definitive answer to the viewer about why things work the way they do. It gives the freedom to imagine and complement the fractional images and stories.
• BOGLÁRKA ÁSZITY - OUR SLEEPING (6' 57"), 2D digital animation
  Our sleeping was inspired by my own experiences and my memories related to my family. Although the episodes of the film are deeply personal, they also have a universal message that everyone can relate to through their own sleeping habits.
• ANNA SZÖLLŐSI - HELFER (9' 35"), 2D digital rotoscope animation
  „Helfer” is about a young woman who is struggling with anxiety and recurring nightmares that she wants to end. She is seeking a helper who offers an alternative solution but in the process, she must confront her biggest fears. The film details their relationship in a surreal world through symbolic events. 
• ÁGNES GYŐRFI - WINDBREAK (7' 18"), 2D digital animation
  A child’s experiences at her rural grandparents come to life in haiku-like images. The connection between the child’s spirit and nature is both personal and universal, general and symbolic. The scenes of the film are mosaic pieces that incorporated throughout the creation.
• ÉVA DARABOS - BYE LITTLE BLOCK! (8' 01"), 2D digital animation
  The protagonist learns that soon she will have to leave her blockhouse flat for good. After receiving the upsetting news, she is overwhelmed with emotions. Her teardrop of farewell grows into a concrete monolith. When the drop hits the ground a surreal panorama of the block - she used to call home - unfolds.

KISKAKAS

KISKAKAS Film Days was founded in 2002 by the Animation Department of MOME with the aim to bring the new, the exciting, the emerging and the unconventional animated works to Budapest, Hungary. The spring program offers an international panorama each year from the newest and boldest works of our partner schools. In accordance with our students’ projects, KISKAKAS has some spin off programs as well, like the semester project screenings, a film club curated by our students, trash projects and certainly the regular fall program, the MOME Anim Premier.

MOME ANIM GRAFIX

Since 2017 the screenings are complemented with MOME Anim Grafix, the annual comics and graphic design fare, where the audience can meet and greet the artists and buy some of their recent works.

MOME ANIM

The animation community at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest (MOME Anim) is one of the most influential creative workshops and intellectual centers of animation in Hungary. Our main activities are education, content development, talent management and production. The education’s scope includes the BA and MA animation programs, short term courses and international training programs. Through content development and talent management we execute projects, incubation and research activities. In the frameworks of our production scope the department brings various animation projects to life in partnership with domestic and international partners. We organize the KISKAKAS (Little Rooster) film days, exhibitions, film premieres and screenings, conferences and professional panels. Our main goals are to foster the next generation to start a successful career in animation and to map and research the continually expanding scope and use of animation. Our mission is to enhance the reputation and success of Hungarian animation both on a national and a global level. Our students made greatly successful films and received many awards in the past years. Réka Bucsi’s Oscar shortlisted diploma film, Symphony no. 42 (2014), Nadja Andrasev’s Cannes Award for The noise of licking (2016) or Flóra Anna Buda’s award at the Berlinale for her graduation project, Entropia (2019) are just a few from the many recognitions our graduates have received.

MOME

The Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design  Budapest (MOME) is a center of studies, research and innovation, where with the tools of creativity and design we are working for a human centered better future. MOME celebrates its 140. birthday in 2020. MOME continues to take a defining role in forming the Hungarian design world and creative industry. MOME is an inevitable institution and center where the Hungarian artist and designer scene converges. Our history made us one of the key actors in the cultural and artistic scene in Hungary. Our alumni are often leading experts and defining designers of their fields and the university is an important hub for the creative industry both in Hungary and abroad. MOME works regularly with fellow educational institutions, research groups, studios, not for profit organizations as well as with corporate and governmental partners.

LINKS

• KISKAS Webpage
• MOME Webpage
• Facebook Page