On May 3rd, 2009, ASIFA-East celebrated its 40th Annual Animation Festival in New York City. This is a wonderful festival and one I look forward to in anticipation of every year. ASIFA-East is the Eastern US chapter of ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film d' Animation), an international organization dedicated to the promotion of animated films. It is based in New York City and conducts monthly screenings, workshops, lectures, and panel discussions on both the local and not so local animation scene.

This festival is unique in that it may very well be the only one of its kind held every year without fail, and in which the membership chooses the winning films. Jury screenings of all submitted entries are held in March, and members in good standing are invited to judge the films on a variety of criteria. The award winners are not announced until the big day. Each year, the festival draws a huge crowd, and attendees cheer on the award winners, gab at the reception afterwards, and party on at the after party. And wake up awfully tired the next day from all the excitement!

Most festivals have a wonderful opening segment to set off the screening. This year, we were treated to an amazing set of openers by Animator Richard Gorey, who invited us to “Witness the Miracle” of the awards night with a reenactment of Moses’ parting of the sea. Each opening segment was different from the rest and a wide variety of techniques were used. This year’s winners were extremely diverse films, touching a lot of hearts and bringing lots of laughs. It’s hard to pick any favorites among the winners, as the winners are all talented filmmakers and the awards were well deserved. Some that stood out include Tree on a Limb by House of Chai, an inventive little film on a tree and a logger overcoming their fears, and Line Dance by David Ehrilch, a beautifully animated abstract piece.

Afterwards, a large mass ascended the stairs and elevator to the reception, to nosh on delicious sandwiches, and sip wine. This fest is practically a who’s who guide to the New York Animation Scene, and you often run into old co-workers and friends whom you haven’t seen in a while. Although the local animation scene is pretty slow right now, it’s inspiring to see so many artists taking the reins to pursue their own goals in animation, putting time into personal projects, collaborating with friends, and forming their own companies. Most here are using their down time wisely, and are quite busy despite the economic downturn. I find that diving into productions of your own volition and/or creation can be especially fulfilling. Why wait for the jobs to come to you? Why not create your own? There’s no point in sitting idly by and waiting for the tides to turn. They will as they always do, but in the meantime, you’ll have something of your own off the ground that may just lead to bigger and better things.

On a personal note, I was very excited to have a piece I worked on, honored in this year’s festival. My Sister’s Butt, a music video done with Pilar Newton of Pilar Toons (http://www.pilartoons.com), won an Excellence in Writing/Humor Award in the Sponsored Films Category. My Sister’s Butt was written and sung by the daughters of musician Stan Harrison, and it’s awfully cute and disgusting at the same time. You can view it on my website at http://www.daynamation.com/portfolio/mysisbutt.html. It was hilarious watching this on the big screen for the first time and hearing the horrified yet tickled laughs of the audience.

For a full list of this year’s winners, please visit: http://www.asifaeast.com/.