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About the short film

Memories from the Holocaust have been portrayed in almost every medium, but rarely animation -- and never before by a child animator. Animated short film "INGRID PITT: BEYOND THE FOREST" is a cross-generational collaboration between a world-class animation master, two-time Academy Award-nominated Bill Plympton, and a first-time animator, 11-year-old artist Perry Chen. It is narrated by Ingrid Pitt herself.

Starting with Ingrid Pitt's poignant narration and Bill Plympton's 23 traditional pencil sketches as storyboard, award-winning artist and film critic Perry Chen brings this moving story and its contemporary implications alive. Read more

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Events in July 2012

Comic-Con panel: A Cross-Generation Collaboration: The Inside Scoop of a Comic-Con Success Story

In 2009, a nine-year-old San Diego artist and award-winning film critic Perry Chen met Oscar-nominated animation legend Bill Plympton (Guard Dog) at Comic-Con and drew a "Hot Dog" next to the one Plympton drew for him from his acclaimed animation series. A year later, Perry was hired to work on an animation short, Ingrid Pitt: Beyond the Forest, about a young Holocaust survivor (actress Ingrid Pitt's story), under the guidance of Plympton. The rest is history.

A panel of the creative team, sponsors, and distributor, including Perry Chen (animator), Kevin Sean Michaels (director), Bill Plympton (storyboard and character design), and Zhu Shen (producer), share the amazing behind-the-scenes story: how a first-time child animator's film got sponsorship from leading animation companies, went on to premiere at the 2011 Comic-Con and LA Shorts Fest, won multiple film festival awards, was featured in Animation magazine and on 2011 Animation Show of Shows, qualified for an Academy Award, touched many hearts, and secured worldwide distribution by Shorts International, the distributor of Oscar-nominated shorts and other outstanding short films.

This lively panel, moderated by animation historian Jerry Beck, will also feature a sneak peek at the new animated film The Namazu, voiced by Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants).

What:	Panel at Comic-Con, with personal appearances by Perry Chen (animator), Kevin Sean Michaels (director), Bill Plympton (storyboard and character design), and Zhu Shen (producer). Moderated by animation historian Jerry Beck.
When:	Sunday, July 15, 2012, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Where:	San Diego Convention Center, 111 West Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101 (Room 7AB)
More info.	listing on Comic-Con website

Kevin Sean Michaels and Tom Kenny at Comic-Con the Los Angeles Animation Festival

ShortsHD Celebrates Plympton

ShortsHD, the only TV network dedicated to short films, is launching a special collection of shorts from award-winning animation icon Bill Plympton on Animate! which kicks off July 25 at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. EST / 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. PST, repeating July 28 at 8 and 11 p.m. EST / 5 and 8 p.m. PST.

Following the documentary premiere will be Plympton works including The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger and Ingrid Pitt: Beyond the Forest.

"Bill Plympton is a cult figure amongst animators, and is known by audiences for his distinctive style and hilarious imagination," said Carter Pilcher, Chief Executive of ShortsHD. "We're thrilled to bring our audiences some of Bill's most entertaining films plus the inside scoop on his restoration of Winsor McCay's historic 1921 animated short — it's an amazing undertaking."

Learn more at Animation Magazine and the ShortsHD website.

The ASIFA-SF Awards Party
See the winning films, meet some of the winners and enjoy the potluck treats
Sunday, July 29, 2012

At Oddball Films, 6:30 PM, Awards and movies around 8:00 PM
275 Capp Street, San Francisco, CA 94110, third floor, free, bring friends

The Winners of the first ASIFA-SF Spring Festival are:

Best in Show

Leonard Cohen's Plato

Commissioned Films

First Place, (tie) Leonard Cohen's The Parable of the Tulleries and David Tart's The Story of Animation

Funniest Film Award
David Tart's The Story of Animation

Independent Animation

First Place, Joanna Priestly's Dear Pluto
Second Place, Mark West's The Tyger
Third Place (tie) Alan Orcutt's There's an App for That and Sabrina Wanie's Hope (music by Nik Phelps)

Excellence in Animation
Mark West's The Tyger

Best Music Video
Luke Jaeger's Carolina Shout

Special Jury Award
Karen Lithgow's It's All About Perspective (music by Nik Phelps)

Excellence in Humor
Jefferson Thomas' Rathle and Alan Orcutt's There's an App for That

Excellence in Experimental Animation
Ben Ridgway's Cellular Circuitry

College students

First Place (tie), Michelle Ikemoto's Tule Lake (SJSU) and Rebecca Denton's The Last Goodbye (SFSU)
Second Prize, Allison Huffman's Warden of the Woods (SFSU)
Third Place, Bronto House Animation's The Pod (SJSU)

Excellence in Humor
Chris Lam and Eunsoo Jeong's Couch & Potatoes (SJSU)

Excellence in Animation
Michelle Ikemoto's Tule Lake (SJSU)

Young animators

Excellence in Humor
Gwydion Brain's Build-a-Baby Workshop (BayCat Animation Program)

Merit Awards go to all who entered this category: Perry Chen for Ingrid Pitt: Beyond The Forest, Trevor Cartmill-Endow for Just Say No to Fur, etc.), Dani Bowman for Mr. Raindrop, students of Gene Hamm at Alchemia and students of Tim Harrington at BayCat.

Come celebrate, network, eat, drink and laugh. Enjoy a variety of films.

ASIFA-SF will provide some of the basics for this party; please bring special treats to share with others.

Oddball Films is located at 275 Capp St. between 17th and 18th Street. It is a giant 3rd floor warehouse loft full of rare 16mm films. Stephen Parr provides historic footage to filmmakers and runs a great film series in this space. Capp runs parallel to and between Mission and Van Ness. The warehouse is near Muni, the 16th St. Bart Station and the Victoria Theatre.

Volunteers are needed to clean up after the party.

Please see our events page for other months.