Pozla

Rémi Zaarour, known by the pseudonym Pozla, is a French cartoonist and animator. He is best known for his graphic novels and for his award-winning student film Le Building.

Rémi Zaarour
Born1982 (age 40–41)
Amiens, France
Occupation(s)Cartoonist, animator, graffiti artist
Years active2005–present
Notable work

Early life and education

Zaarour was born in 1982 in Amiens.[1] He has said that he has "always drawn in a rather obsessive way" and that he began experimenting with graffiti at an early age.[2] Through this latter pursuit, he often got into trouble with the police - he also adopted the pseudonym Pozla during this time, which is derived from the French phrase for "Put it there".[3] After high school, he attended ESAAT in Roubaix.[1][2] He then continued his education at Gobelins, l'École de l'image.[1][2][4]

In 2004, Zaarour created the short student film Zob-Zob est amoureux (Zob-Zob in Love).[5] The same year, he collaborated with classmates Xavier Ramonède, Pierre Perifel, and Jun Frederic Violeton on a second short film, Festival Qualité.[6][7] For his group thesis film, Le Building, Zaarour reteamed with Ramonède and Perifel, and also worked with Marco Nguyen and Olivier Staphylas. Le Building uses a combination of 2D and 3D animation.[8] Zaarour worked on the 2D segments and finalized the film's character designs.[9][10] He also assisted Perifel in creating the film's backgrounds.[9][11] Le Building screened in numerous international film festivals and won several awards,[12][13][14][15] including Best Undergraduate Animation at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.[15]

Career

After graduating from Gobelins, Zaarour joined the second season of Lascars as a co-director.[1][4] He also animated the opening credits sequence for the 2009 feature film of the same name.[1][4][16][17] While at Gobelins, Zaarour had studied Flash animation under one of the creators of Lascars, Boris Dolivet.[2][18] In the same year that the Lascars feature film was released, Zaarour and Dolivet collaborated on a short film tied to the series - Les Lascars: Cuccarazza, which was directed by Zaarour and partially written by Dolivet.[4][19]

Extending their partnership into the realm of comics, Zaarour and Dolivet co-created the graphic novel series Monkey Bizness.[1][2] The first volume of this series was released in 2010.[1][16][20] Published under their respective pseudonyms, Pozla and ElDiablo, Zaarour is credited as the illustrator of this series and Dolivet as the writer.[2] Zaarour's wife, Miaw, handled the coloring.[2][20] Monkey Bizness marked Zaarour's first foray into creating comic book art professionally. The series focuses on Jack Mandrill the baboon and Hammerfist the gorilla, as they navigate the criminal underworld of a post-apocalyptic city known as "Los Animales".[1][2][16] Volume 2 of Monkey Bizness was released in 2013,[1][4][21] and Volume 3 was released in 2017.[22]

In addition to Lascars, Zaarour has worked as an animator on the films Persepolis, The Rabbi's Cat, Ernest & Celestine, and A Monster in Paris.[1][2][4] He has also worked on the television series L'île à lili, Molusco,[4] and Mouk.[4][23]

The Rabbi's Cat offered Zaarour the chance to reteam with his Gobelins classmate and Le Building co-director Marco Nguyen, who served as an animation director on that film.[24] Zaarour also contributed to the music video for Tryo's song "Greenwashing", which was directed by Nguyen.[4][24]

Other projects of Zaarour's include co-directing the music video for the song "Lollipop" by Mika, illustrating the book Les petits polars: Si près du malheur à Lille by Michel Quint,[1] and creating the graphic novel, Carnet de santé foireuse, which received a special award at the 43rd Angoulême International Comics Festival.[25][26]

Zaarour has continued to pursue graffiti art as a side occupation. Unlike his youthful ventures, his work has now been officially recognized[1][3] and has been exhibited at the Galerie Chappe,[1][27] the Sergent Paper Gallery,[1][28] the Gutenberg Museum in Switzerland, and the Galerie l'Attrape Rêve.[1] His work can also be seen in the streets of Arles,[1] Nantes, Aix-en-provence, and the Mile End area of London.[29]

Zaarour regularly returns to his hometown, Amiens, where he teaches a class at Waide Somme, a local animation school.[3]

Bibliography
  • (2010) Monkey Bizness: Arnaque, Banane, et Cacahuètes; English translation: Monkey Bizness: Scam, Banana, and Peanuts (illustrator)
  • (2013) Monkey Bizness: Les Cacahuètes Sont Cuities; English translation: Monkey Bizness: The Peanuts Are Cooked (illustrator)
  • (2015) Carnet de santé foireuse; English translation: Poor Health Report (author and illustrator)
  • (2015) Les petits polars: Si près du malheur à Lille; English translation: The Short Thrillers: So Close to Unhappiness in Lille (illustrator)
  • (2017) Monkey Bizness: La Banane du Futur; English translation: Monkey Bizness: The Banana of the Future (illustrator)

References
  1. Quint, Michel (2015). Les petits polars - Si près du malheur à Lille (in French). Paris: Le Monde. ISBN 9782363154910. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  2. Pozla (23 August 2013). "ElDiablo, Pozla et leur géniale BD « Monkey Bizness » — Interview". Madmoizelle (Online) (in French). Interviewed by Elsa Bordier. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  3. Fouquet, Jean-Christophe (2 February 2016). "Tombeur de tabous". Journal d'Amiens et d'Amiens Mètropole. No. 785. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  4. Marc Aguesse (25 October 2013). "Monkey Bizness tome 2, par Pozla et Eldiablo". Catsuka (in French). Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  5. "Anima Mundi 2005" (Press release) (in Portuguese and English). São Paulo: Anima Mundi. p. 119. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  6. Marc Aguesse. "Festival qualité (2004)". Catsuka. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  7. Xavier Ramonède (15 April 2009). "Le Building and Festival Qualité". Sushixav.blogspot.com. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  8. Stash staff (4 December 2005). ""Le Building" - Student Film". Stash DVD Magazine. No. 15. San Antonio, Texas: Stash Media. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  9. Rémi Zaarour. "Le Building - Team: Rémi Zaarour". le-building.com. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  10. "Movers & Shakers - Le Building: Singing in the Shower Can Be Hazardous to Your Health". 3D World. No. 77. Bath, Somerset: Future plc. May 2006.
  11. Pierre Perfiel. "Le Building - Team: Pierre Perifel". le-building.com. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  12. Olivier Staphylas. "Olivier Staphylas - Bio". staphylas.com. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  13. Marco Nguyen, Pierre Perifel, Xavier Ramonède, Olivier Staphylas, and Rémi Zaarour. "Le Building - News, pg. 1". le-building.com. Retrieved 21 August 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. Leo Barraclough (26 July 2006). "Toons Catch Continental Drift". Variety. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  15. Eric Homan (26 September 2006). "Talk to the Snail: OIAF Category E – Student Animation Competition". Frederator Studios. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  16. Marc Aguesse (4 November 2010). "Diabolica, Monkey bizness, Aleksi Briclot ..." Catsuka (in French). Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  17. Marc Aguesse (2 July 2009). "Lascars, le film - Opening". Catsuka (in French). Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  18. Boris Dolivet (19 June 2009). "El Diablo - Lascar sur la Croisette". Brain Magazine (magazine) (in French). Interviewed by Quinto. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  19. "Brussels Animation Film Festival - anima" (PDF) (Press release) (in French, Dutch, and English). Brussels: Anima Festival. p. 48. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  20. Elsa Bordier (25 August 2010). "Monkey Bizness par Pozla et ElDiablo". Madmoizelle (in French). Archived from the original on 10 April 2014.
  21. Elsa Bordier (14 June 2013). "Monkey Bizness tome 2 Les cacahuètes sont cuites". Madmoizelle (in French). Archived from the original on 22 January 2014.
  22. Marc Aguesse (27 January 2017). "Monkey Bizness - pilote de la série (par Pozla d'après sa BD, avec Passion Paris)". Catsuka. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  23. Marc Aguesse (31 January 2010). "Pilote du Tour du monde de Mouk (adaptation de la BD de Marc Boutavant)". Catsuka (in French). Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  24. Marc Aguesse (9 July 2012). "Tryo - Greenwashing (clip de Marco Nguyen)". Catsuka (in French). Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  25. Pozla (16 February 2016). "Rencontre avec Pozla, auteur de "Carnet de santé foireuse"". Sciences et Avenir (Online) (in French). Interviewed by Hervé Ratel. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  26. "Un ovni graphique en or34". Sud-Ouest. Bordeaux. 1 February 2016. p. 34. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  27. 90bpm staff (1 November 2013). "GM". 90bpm (in French). Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  28. Viacomit staff (2 October 2013). "Exposition Monkey Bizness par Pozla et Eldiablo x Sergeant Paper". Viacomit (in French). Archived from the original on 9 October 2015.
  29. Raphaël Chabassol. "Street Paintings". Dropr. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
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