Womanimation! Returns to Providence On Saturday, June 25, Merging Arts will present the 8th annual Womanimation Film Festival in Providence, and if you’re not quite sure what it is, their slogan says it all, “It’s women…It’s animation…It’s Womanimation!” The Womanimation Film Festival will take place at AS220 and will feature 11 short films from around the world. The films will showcase a wide range of animation styles from stop motion to painting on glass, and the films will represent an even wider global cross section as the festival features shorts from Belgium, Israel, the Czech Republic and more. With selections just being locked in and schedules announced, I was able to ask co-founder and co- programmer Toni Pennacchia a few questions about this year’s festival. Josh Gravel: Can you give me a brief introduction and overview of the festival? Toni Pennacchia: The purpose of the festival is to highlight women’s contributions to the animated short film art form. Back in 2008, we started highlighting women’s films (both live-action and animation) as part of SWAN Day (Support Women Artists Now). Eventually, we sort of did our own thing and decided to highlight animated films for a couple of reasons. One, as we did with SWAN Day, to highlight women’s contributions, which often get lost in the mix. But more broadly, to emphasize the importance of storytelling in animation. Often animation is thought of as either just for kids or generally wacky or experimental. Our mission is to demonstrate that there is some serious (yet entertaining) storytelling possible within the animated short film format. JG: What types of films will you be screening this year? TP: This year’s festival has a bit of a split personality. There are several very women-centric or feminist- oriented films, often a bit risqué. On the other hand, there are some very lyrical, family-friendly films. It really is a pretty diverse mix.​ As always, we have a mix of animation styles, from traditional 2-d to stop- motion to 2-d computer to paint on glass. JG: Is there anything that sets this year apart from previous years? TP: One unexpected thing is that we have a couple of previous participants with newer films that we are screening. This is not because of favoritism, since we also rejected several submissions from previous participants. Again, I think the “split personality” is a little different this year. One thing people sometimes think about the festival (incorrectly) is that it is an agenda festival. While we don’t shy away from those types of films (and this year have more than average), it really is again about the storytelling and the art form, not any particular message. ​JG: What would you like your audience to get out of your programming? TP: We want to sort of hit that sweet spot between challenging and entertaining the audiences. It’s definitely nothing like the mainstream cineplex fare, though on the other hand, it’s not just “weird for the sake of weird.” I think people will find that it’s very substantive programming, but enjoyable at the same time, and not something you’d find anywhere else. We’re one of the few festivals in the world devoted to women’s voices in animation. ​JG: Was there anything that you specifically went after for this year’s festival? TP: Not particularly, other than overall high quality that we look for every year. One of the fun things about programming is the sort of organic development of the program as you cull down the better submissions to find a program that makes sense. We want to balance a good overall flow and relationship between films, but on the other hand touch on a variety of themes and not spend too much time on any one motif. For example, we had several finalists dealing with nature themes, but ended up limiting that in our final selection. The 8th annual Womanimation Festival takes place Saturday, June 25 at AS220, 115 Empire Street in Providence. All 11 shorts will screen together as one feature length presentation with showtimes at 4pm, 6pm and 8pm. For more info check out the Merging Arts website at mergingartsproductions.com. The Return of Brute Force Brings a Community Together “I admire anyone who can get something done on a shoestring,” says Rhode Island local filmmaker Brett Davey. “But I think sometimes people who do film or video get caught up on waiting until they have the best piece of equipment.” He’s talking about his latest and fifth feature film: The Return of Brute Force. “If you’re doing any project like this you have to be really enthusiastic about it because the world isn’t sitting there waiting for your next movie; you have to have the drive to go out there and make it.” The film may seem on the surface to have a straightforward plot: A group of students from Scarpa Elementary School takes on bullies while their school gets the squeeze from a big corporation. However, this film is anything but conventional. From its conception to casting and every step in the nine-month filmmaking process, each aspect was a collaboration between the generations. Timothy and Van Davey, Brett’s two sons aged 9 and 13, were involved with the film from the outset. Davey’s youngest son came to him with an idea for a movie that would eventually become The Return of Brute Force, a local, independent film starring his sons and their friends. “The quality is very good for such a small crew; some of the kids were 4 feet tall, but I think people will be surprised with the level of acting and quality of the film,” says Davey regarding his cast and crew. Davey himself caught the filmmaking bug about 20 years ago, after being inspired by truly independent films of that time. Kevin Smith’s Clerks and Richard Linklater’s Slacker are two that he mentioned as being a catalyst because they were super low budget and the casts consisted of friends of the filmmakers. Davey compares these films to today’s “independent films” that are in stark contrast. “You’ll see an independent film starring Mark Wahlberg.” Casting for Brute Force was relatively easy, except for one role. Davey had a hard time finding someone to play the bully; he ended up searching on a Facebook group for young actors and found Charlie Tacker. According to Davey he was incredibly professional and fit right in with the other kids; Charlie also has a pretty impressive IMDb page. Another person involved with Brute Force who should be mentioned was Delia Maguire, a neighbor and current high school student. She was vital, filling the roles of the assistant director and script supervisor during filming. “Sometimes in life there is less of an emphasis on the arts and on creativity in general; you see it less in schools now, too,” said Davey. The Return of Brute Force was a creative outlet for everyone involved. The kids weren’t only getting acting experience with this project, they were able to practice various production responsibilities, like holding boom mics and assisting with the lighting. They were encouraged to bring their own unique ideas to the set, including suggestions concerning dialogue, line delivery and costumes. Not only does Brute Force have a locally sourced cast and crew, but an original score with contributions from four Rhode Island musicians who volunteered to work on the film. Davey has worked with Damian Puerini, Joe Principe, Glenn Robinson and Dylan Sevey in the past shooting music videos. They came forward with music written specifically for the film as well as some music they already had in their canons but never found a project that fit. Brett Davey likes to make people laugh; four out of his five feature films have been comedies. He said that The Return of Brute Force obviously has overt anti-bullying and anti-corporation messages, but that it’s not a “message-movie” per se. The very existence of the film itself sends strong messages, a sense of the importance of community and collective creativity. The Return of Brute Force will be premiering at 4pm on Saturday, June 11 at The Columbus Theatre located at 270 Broadway, PVD. Film Review: Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping chronicles the career of Conner4Real, an international pop sensation. After finding success with his hip-hop group The Style Boyz and then branching out with a hit solo album, Conner has hit his first career lull as his second record doesn’t meet critical and sales expectations. With a troubled tour, failed corporate sponsorship and an entourage of “yes men,” Conner faces adversity for seemingly the first time. With Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping The Lonely Island guys have created what will surely be considered one of the great satires of the music industry, possibly second to the legendary Spinal Tap. The characters and situations can alternate between likeable believability and the utterly ridiculous in a single scene while still keeping the audience engaged with the characters. The writing is also top notch as Popstar is jam packed with so many hilarious jokes and references that I bet I’d have to see the movie a second time to catch them all. Not to mention that since this is a movie about the music industry Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping also features a number of catchy and hilarious songs from its many fictional music acts.