11TH INTERNATIONAL TOURNEE OF ANIMATION

To those who have seen any of the previous 10 Tournees, it should come as no surprise that the 18 short movies of this series (selected from nearly 500 entries from all over the world) represent some of the most sophisticated, witty and inventive contributions to the art of cinema. Works from eight countries are represented: Great Britain, Belgium, Canada, Iran, Italy, Romania, Yugoslavia and the United States. The subjects range from politics and social issues to personal relationships and private abstractions. Many of the films cut across different mediums, borrowing freely from such areas as dance, sculpture, painting and mime. Several of the movies are humorous, whimsical or simply wacky. Films from totalitarian countries are sometimes marvelously subversive in their political satire. Zlatko Grgic's OPTIMIST-PESSIMIST, for example, hails from the famous Zagreb Film Studio of Yugoslavia, and features a scene in which a cartoon Josef Stalin descends in white robes and wings. But there's something for everyone in this series, including TRUCK STOP (Tim and Fredda Brennan, U.S.A.) in which the pop tune “Willin” is animated in a pinball-machine style. KICK ME (Robert Swarthe, U.S.A.), which was nominated for an Academy Award, is a spoof on movie themes. Swarthe was one of the animators of the Beatles' film, “Yellow Submarine” (1968), one of the most visually inventive animated features ever made. FLOWER STORM (Iran), an anti-war fable, borrows images from Persian tapestries. AIR (Paul Driesson, Canada) is an amusing tale about pollution by the maker of last year's “Cat's Cradle.” SIMPLE SIMON (Jeff Hale, U.S.A.) was originally made for TV's “Sesame Street” and was submitted to the Tournee to be savored by a wider audience. In general, these movies appeal primarily to sophisticated audiences, but many imaginative youngsters would also find them compelling.