Affairs of the Art

Affairs of the Art is a 2021 British-Canadian traditional animation short film directed by Joanna Quinn and written by Les Mills. Quinn also co-stars as the voice of Beverly.

Affairs of the Art
Poster
Directed byJoanna Quinn
Written byLes Mills
Produced byLes Mills
Michael Fukushima
StarringMenna Trussler
Brendan Charleson
Joanna Quinn
Mali Ann Rees
Edited byMia Rose Goddard
Music byBenjamin Talbott
Production
companies
Beryl Productions International Ltd.
The National Film Board of Canada
Distributed byThe Animation Showcase
Release date
Running time
16 minutes
CountriesUnited Kingdom
Canada
LanguageEnglish

The film has been screened at Film Festivals worldwide since February 2021 including Palm Springs ShortFest in the US, winning 26 International Awards including prizes in Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival and Annecy International Animation Film Festival.[1] It has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film[2] for the 94th Academy Awards and nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Short Animation.[3][4] The short was part of the world touring screening The Animation Showcase 2021.

The short film follows the character of Beryl and her eccentric family. Beryl, the working-class heroine, first appeared in the 1987 animated short film Girls Night Out, Body Beautiful (1990) and Dreams & Desires: Family Ties (2006). Affairs of the Art focuses on Beryl and her family's fixations and Beryl's own obsession with drawing and her determination to become an artiste of note.[5]

Cast
  • Menna Trussler as Beryl
  • Brendan Charleson as Ifor/Colin/Lenin/Interviewer
  • Joanna Quinn as Beverly
  • Mali Ann Rees as Mum/Edie

Production

The film is co-created between Joanna Quinn and Les Mills. Quinn is the film's director, storyboard artist and lead animator and Mills wrote the screen play, did the colour design and produced the film. It is their first new film featuring the lead character of Beryl since 2007. They began planning another Beryl film straight after their last film Dreams & Desires: Family Ties, but it took 15 years[6] before Beryl returned to the screen in a new film mainly because of major commitments to producing many TV commercials in the intervening years. The 16-minute-film was traditionally animated on a lightbox and took more than 24000 hand drawn frames (fps) to produce.[7] The animation drawings were scanned into the computer, coloured in TVPaint and finally composited in After Effects.[8] In this film there's a lot of lip sync, with a focus on breaking down the patterns of the lips movements.[9]

Accolades

Since its launch, the film has been selected in more than 65 festival selections[9] around the world:

Year Ceremony Award/Category Status
2021 Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival Best animation film[10] Won
Annecy International Animation Special Distinction for Direction[1] Won
Kaboom Animation Festival Best Short Film[11] Won
Los Angeles Animation Festival Best director[12] Won
Aspen Shortsfest Jury Award in the Comedy category[13] Won
Palm Springs Shortsfest Best Animation Short Film[14] Nominated
Insomnia Animation Festival The Profnastil Prize for Best International Short Animation Won
Fantoche Animation Festival International Audience Prize Won
Valladolid International Film Festival Golden Spike for Best Short Film[15] Won
Chicago International Film Festival Gold Hugo for Best Animated Short Film[16] Won
BAFTA BAFTA Award for Best British Short Animation Nominated
Academy Awards Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film[4] Nominated[17]

References
  1. Affairs of the Art (in French), retrieved 2021-11-15
  2. "94TH OSCARS® SHORTLISTS IN 10 AWARD CATEGORIES ANNOUNCED". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2021-12-20. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
  3. "Bafta Film Awards 2022: The nominees in full". BBC News. 2022-02-03. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  4. "How Oscar-Contending Animated Short 'Affairs of the Art' Continues Harnessing Family Obsessions". 24 January 2022.
  5. "Beryl's Fans Will Fall in Love with Her Eccentric Family in 'Affairs of the Art'". Animation Magazine. 2022-01-12. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  6. "Affairs of the Art - Interview with Joanna Quinn and Les Mills Part 1". Skwigly Animation Magazine. 2021-01-29. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  7. National Film Board of Canada (2021-12-01). "Beryl's Back, with a Whole New Obsession, in 'Affairs of the Art'". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  8. "Joanna Quinn On The Importance of "Choosing A Way Of Working That Ignites You"". Cartoon Brew. 2021-05-03. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  9. "'Affairs Of The Art': Joanna Quinn And Les Mills Discuss Their Creative Process In An Exclusive Video Q&A". Cartoon Brew. 2021-11-30. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  10. "Festival Scope". pro.festivalscope.com. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  11. "Kaboom 2021 Award Winners". Kaboom Festival. 2021-04-03. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  12. "'Bad Seeds' and 'Affairs of the Art' Lead LAAF 2021 Winners".
  13. "Affairs of the Art". Media Space. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  14. "Affairs of the Art | Palm Springs International Film Festival". www.psfilmfest.org. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  15. "Valladolid Short Film Candidate 2022: AFFAIRS OF THE ART". europeanfilmawards.eu. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  16. "Affairs of the Art [short film]". Cinema Chicago. Archived from the original on 2021-12-04. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  17. 2022|Oscars.org
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