Conversation #3: A Six-Minute Brush With Animated Expressionism
In Conversation with Keanu Hoi
Animation is an artform that was made to wring the most out of the wondrous possibilities of Expressionism. Early classics that launched the notions of expressionism into the cinematic space such as “The Cabinet of Dr Caligari” had to settle for some pretty cool backdrops and a few quirky acting moves. But on a good day with a tail wind animation IS expressionism… that’s its main point and one of its best party tricks.
Animator, lecturer and PhD candidate Keanu Hoi seems to understand this at an almost spiritual level. His most recent film HANNA is a simply stunning example of the kind of crazy-good relentless carnival of liquefied movement and visual transformation that speaks best to the bit of our brain where the most imaginative ideas go to hang out in comfortable armchairs, have a drink and share their selfies.
HANNA is a film that expresses Keanu’s best ideas about the endless possibilities of animation and is powering his research into “how animated previsualisation impacts collaboration, creativity and authorship”. The plan is talk to Keanu the artist and Keanu the researcher all at once and to prime ourselves for the chat we will be screening HANNA in International Shorts #1.
This session is classified: Unclassified (M) Mature, not recommended for viewers under 15 years.
Please note that Backlot is NOT fully accessible. There are stairs with handrails, but no lift to the second floor where the cinema is located.