SHORTS COLUMN | Don Hertzfeldt Tours the Nation with his Most Ambitious Short Ever
by Kim Adelman (October 30, 2008)
A scene from Don Hertzfeldt's "I am so proud of you." Image courtesy of the filmmaker.
Don Hertzfeldt is hitting the road. Having won the 2007 Sundance Film Festival‘s Grand Jury Award in Short Filmmaking for his epic short film “Everything will be ok,” the 32-year-old animator of such instant-classic shorts as “Rejected,” “The Meaning of Life,” and “Billy’s Balloon” is spending October and November 2008 touring North America in a rare series of one-night-only screenings to premiere his longest piece ever, the 22-minute “I am so proud of you.” With ten more cities on his schedule, Hertzfeldt updates indieWIRE on his touring experiences to date. Nearly two years in the making, I am so proud of you is Don Hertzfeldt’s most ambitious work yet. Advance word indicates that Hertzfeldt has taken his game to a whole new level in terms of storytelling and craft. The short is the second in an anticipated trilogy of shorts that began with the 17-minute “Everything will be ok.” It continues to the saga of Bill, a stick figure with a woeful life. Like all of Hertzfeldt’s work, this latest piece was single-handedly animated and shot entirely on his antique 35mm animation stand, one of the last remaining cameras of its kind left in America. The piece’s extensive special effects were all crafted without the use of computers and meticulously created directly on film, using traditional double exposures, in-camera mattes, and innovative experimental techniques. “The tour has been going fantastic, we’ve sold out every venue so far…,” Hertzfeldt reported shortly after his Alamo Drafthouse gig in Austin, Texas and before departing for the Ragtag Cinema screening in Columbia, Missouri. The UC Santa Barbara grad, who received a nomination for the Short Film Palm D’Or at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival for “Billy’s Balloon” and an Academy Award nomination in 2001 for “Rejected,: has built up a loyal cult of followers eager to view his latest masterpiece. Hertzfeldt’s work was last seen on the big screen touring as part of “The Animation Show,” a touring theatrical program of international shorts which he co-created with Mike Judge and programmed for its first three seasons.
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AFI Fest
AFI Fest '09
BROKEN EMBRACES
A Film By Almodovar, Starring Penelope Cruz Opens New York 11/20, Opens Los Angeles 12/11 Opens additional cities 12/25 Where is it opening by you? www.sonyclassics.com/brokenembraces/dates.html "Astonishing! A Masterpiece!" Jeffrey Lyons, KNBC Weekend Today "Cruz with Almodovar makes BROKEN EMBRACES soar!" Richard Corliss, TIME Written and Directed by Pedro Almodovar www.brokenembracesmovie.com www.facebook.com/brokenembracesmovie |
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Here’s a link to my friend’s review of the evening:
http://petethepanda.blogspot.com/2008/10/i-am-so-proud-of-you.html
Don is a humble, very approachable “normal” kind of guy :)
“I could have shown him all of these films online though so it was the discussion part that convinced me to go.”
Uh, “Everything’s ok”, “Meaning of Life”, and “I’m so proud of you” aren’t anywhere online that I know of, dude. And ya can’t tell me that seeing Rejected in a movie theater is the same as a lame Youtube rip. I thought his new stuff was good. His fans can be a little freaky but seriously how many animators can you think of that can draw crowds like this, let alone tour the country? Don is pretty fracking amazing.
I was at the Musicbox for this show as well and thought his new film was only OK. It’s a sequel to his last one though so what can you expect with sequels. Individually, both of these new movies were worlds apart from the “Meaning Life
’ turd. Having watched that one three or four times now it still felt like it couldn’t end soon enough. The internet wonder ‘Rejected’ is still the star of the program. My brother hadn’t seen it before and he laughed so hard he blew popcorn on the guy in front of us. I could have shown him all of these films online though so it was the discussion part that convinced me to go. Hertzfeld’s followers fawned all over him for nearly two hours. Its nice to see an animator that loves his work even more than his fans do.
Damn, I couldn’t disagree with that comment more. I saw this tour at the Music Box and thought “So Proud of you” was one of the most beautiful, funny, haunting, and life- affirming shorts I’ve ever seen. NOT depressing at all. But it’s almost impossible to describe. One scene is very funny and the next is very sad, and somehow it all weaves together just right and makes you feel right inside. I thought it was Hertzfeldt’s best, and it was a rare treat to hear him tell stories after. It’s gonna be a long wait now for Part 3.
I watch his new tour in Austin a few weeks ago and was disappointed in the new film. It felt like a longer more depressing version of his last picture. The fan boy questions during the question part afterwards were painful to sit through. I don�t get the hype.