I had the wonderful opportunity to spend a day with animation duo Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis, three-time Oscar nominees, whose film When the Day Breaks (1999) has been so formative for animators and animation scholars worldwide. Tilby and Forbis were guests of honour at the Cinematheque Vancouver, and I was invited to moderate a conversation with the two artists following their presentation and film screening.
Continue reading “Public Event: Wendy Tilby / Amanda Forbis”
In my role as Chair of the ECU Research Ethics Board for the past three years, I organize an annual educational event related to the ethics of creative research and practice. This year’s event featured a conversation with Dr. Charlotte Schallié from Survivor-Centred Visual Narratives about working with survivors of violent trauma and atrocity. While we do not record our events, I wrote a post covering some key points that came up in the conversation and audience discussion that followed. Dr. Schallié commissioned ECU student Hannah Strocel to develop illustrations for the text, and it’s now published on the SCVN website here.
After years of giving interviews on animation-related journalism stories, I finally made it to primetime ☺️. I was recently featured on CBC News — The National broadcast (11-01-26) and online article — on the occasion of Toy Story‘s 30th anniversary. The story asks whether Pixar can recapture its early magic, and I weigh in on what made the studio’s first films so technically and culturally groundbreaking, how the barriers to entry in 3D animation have fundamentally shifted, and what that means for the future of the form. Read the story on CBC News.
Lotte Reiniger’s Adventures of Prince Achmed turns one hundred this year, and I was grateful to introduce this astonishing film at a special screening at VIFF (03-01-26). Musicians Gordon Grdina and Hamin Honari provided live musical accompaniment to a packed theatre. Honari, an Iranian percussionist now based in Montreal, spoke with feeling about the role of art in sustaining a common human spirit and imagination against the violence of war.
Continue reading “Public Talk: “Adventures of Prince Achmed” (1926)”
My review of the luscious exhibition Heart On: Joyce Wieland was published over the holidays in PUBLIC Journal online here. Below is a version of the review that includes my documentation of the exhibition.
Continue reading ““Ohhh, Canada… Joyce Wieland’s Erotic Citizenship” (exhibition review)”
I’m introducing this matinee screening of Walt Disney studio’s Fantasia (1940) at VIFF Theatre (Dec-14-2025) and moderating a post-screening discussion of the film. Looking forward to discussing this film in the context of Visual Music cinema, colour on screen, and feminized labour in the studio’s ink-and-paint department and animation at large .
It was an honour and delight to receive an invitation from the famed GEIDAI animation program at Tokyo University of the Arts, to serve as an international reviewer for their Masters thesis projects. This animation school is bursting with creative energy, storytelling sincerity, and — under the leadership of the brilliant Koji Yamamura — fully committed to artisanal animation.
Continue reading “International Thesis Review: Tokyo University of the Arts”
How can researchers and community-engaged artists centre accessibility and equitable participation of disabled participants, when selecting research or creative methods, designing their recruitment materials, or establishing consent processes? What responsibilities should researchers and creative practitioners have to disabled participants, whose experiences or stories they solicit or share? This virtual roundtable, presented by ECU’s Research Ethics Board (February 11, 2025), featured three participants speaking through lenses of crip theory, health design principles, and disability advocacy in the arts.
Continue reading “Virtual Roundtable: Ethics of Accessibility”
[Update: the position has been filled] Animate Materials Workshop is hiring a research assistant for a project on Indigenous storytelling for animation. Supported by interviews with contemporary animation producers, this project explores the possibilities and barriers of adapting oral stories for animation, with a focus on contemporary Inuit animation.
Continue reading “Hiring Student RA – Indigenous Storytelling in Animation”
Alla Gadassik: Media Scholar and Animation Curator 