Animation is hip and trendy again, as testified recently by Radiohead and their decision to present the first single Burn the Witch from their new album Moon Shaped Pool – as an animated video. Author Virpi Kettu played with a stop-motion combo of a tribute to a British TV series from the 1960s and the horror movie The Wicker Man.

Burn the Witch will probably be included in the programme of the next Animafest Zagreb  Zagreb and this year’s programme section dedicated to animated videos, Cinema for the Ear, features 17 recent and not so recent works covering different aesthetic approaches. Join us and find proof on Wednesday, 8 June, at Swanky Monkey Garden, 10pm, and Friday, 10 June at 8pm, Zagreb Dance Centre.

A special place in this year’s Cinema for the Ear section is taken by the classic of music and videos – My Baby Just Cares for Me by Nina Simone. This claymation video was directed in 1987 by this year’s special guest, jury member and the co-founder of the Oscar-winning Aardman Studio, Peter Lord.

My Baby Just Cares for Me is one of the typical Aardman late eighties hit, which launched this production company to stardom and garnered it its current iconic status. Aardman is also to thank for Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer, which won record-breaking nine MTV Awards in 1987 and the best video at Brit Awards.

My Baby Just Cares for Me jedna je od tipičnih Aardmanovih uspješnica s kraja osamdesetih, koje su navedenu producentsku kuću i usmjerile prema današnjem statusu. Spomenimo da je Aardman zaslužan i za spot Sledgehammer Petera Gabriela, koji je 1987. osvojio rekordnih devet MTV-jevih nagrada, kao i nagradu za najbolji britanski video Brit Awards.

Apart from this jewel of music and animation, the rest of the Cinema for the Ear selection is equally interesting, ranging from romantic charming drawings simulating hand drawings on misty glass, to radical hardcore techno escapades in both music and image, based on a comprehensive use of samples.

Several videos in this latter group uses the glitch aesthetics, mostly those on less known but quite innovative recent electronic performers, such as Kid606 with B Minor, Sevdaliza with That Other Girl, Discodeine with Aydin, Zombieflesheater with Tweng, and QQQ with The Ebullient.

On the opposite side of the spectrum are videos for the Floyd member David Gilmour The Girl in the Yellow Dress or Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967 by John Mayer, the latter being a particularly interesting experiment. The illustrations for this piece were made by the famous Italian animator Virginia Mori.

The selection also includes a Croatian video – Ako je by the band Pridjevi – as the best proof to the hypothesis on multi-talented creative people: the master mind of Pridjevi, Dino Santaleza, is also the director of the video.

Another interesting example if the Dutch alter rock ban De Staat and their video Witch Doctor, a recent social network hit, or If You Go Away by Rebeat feat. Shirley Bassey, a true gem for the lovers of deep house.

Films watched by the ears are not Animafest’s only music-related section.

On Friday, 10 June at 10.30pm don’t miss the traditional, popular Animators Jam Session at Vinyl club, Bogović Street. One of the performers is Animafest’s artistic director Daniel Šuljić, known to some as a member of Stampedo and Roppongi Red bands. And finally, on Saturday, 11 June at Vinyl, grab the mic and join the Animafest team at a karaoke party.