Primazine

Online Animation & Art Magazine

PrimaZine is an online animation magazine where from time to time we share with you professional interviews, articles, podcasts about creators, specialists, festivals, projects or anything else that we find inspiring in the world of visual culture, motion pictures and especially animation.

Interview

The creative plus must still be conjured from within – Interview with Melinda Kiss

27/10/2023

Kriza

Júlia

Animation designer, associate professor, currently the Head of the Department of Animation and Media Design at the Budapest Metropolitan University (METU), the supervisor of the Animation Bachelor and Master courses, and the producer of student animated films. In her position of higher education in arts her priority object is raising awareness of talent management and cinematic visual culture. At this year’s Primanima she’s participating as part of the Masters Jury, and she prepared a selection, Introducing METU Anim.

Interview

It is primarily the content that interests me, not the form - Interview with Orsolya Láng

27/10/2023

Kriza

Júlia

Orsolya Láng is at home in a variety of genres: as a graphic artist she was featured in this year's Primanima with her exhibition, ‘Timelines’, as a book illustrator she has worked on several literary works, and in her four published volumes of fiction she has also taken on various creative roles as a poet and writer. As a filmmaker, she is most interested in the documentary and portrait genres, but also finds her voice in the world of book trailers. She told us about the creative bridges that connect different genres, why she sometimes feels like a traffic cone, her book trailer production methods and the place of authorial animation in journals. At the 11th Primanima, she was a member of the International Jury.

Interview

It takes strong inner integrity to be steady when uncertainty surrounds us – Interview with Ábel Visky

27/10/2023

Kriza

Júlia

Film director who studied at the Sapientia University of Cluj-Napoca and the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest. His first feature-length creative documentary, ‘Tales from the Prison Cell’, brought him international and national recognition on the professional scene. He is currently making an extraordinary documentary about the world-famous fairy tale writer Veronika Marék. He told us about the differences between filmmaking education in Transylvania and Hungary from the student and teacher perspectives, his formative Disney film experiences as a child, and the diverse influences of his family background on his adult life.

Interview

Art gives us an opportunity to analyse, respond to, and hope for creating social change – Interview with Theodoros Kakoullis

20/10/2023

Kriza

Júlia

Theodoros Kakoullis is a graphic designer and artist since the 90s. In 2002, he was appointed by the Cyprus Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth as a Graphic Design tutor and later as a graphic designer to the Pedacogical Institute of Cyprus to this date. He designs mainly posters and publications for cultural and social themes, such as Theatre plays, Festivals, Museums and Education. He has been awarded several times for designing stamps issues for the Cyprus Post and Cyprus pound collector coins for the Central Bank of Cyprus. He is also a board member of the advisory committee development programs of the International Animation Festival of Cyprus. He’s taking part at this year’s Primanima as a member of the Masters Competition’s jury.

Interview

Having to say goodbye to a wise seal because of the character count – Interview with Kinga Maksai

20/10/2023

Kriza

Júlia

She has become the author of four successful children's books in just five years, and in 2022 she published her first novel for adults, the psychological thriller ‘Most már biztosan hazaér’. The teacher of film/media and literature at the Illyés High School in Budaörs. We talked to her about the crucial role of illustrations in children's books, the process of making storybooks, the aspects of quality in children's animation and why she believes it is important for young generations to acquire the skills to consume media intelligently.

Interview

I'm theme-oriented, and the genre it becomes is determined by the theme – Interview with Ákos Kele Fodor

20/10/2023

Búzás

Anna

Ákos Kele Fodor is surrounded by a very colourful world, pushing and connecting boundaries, and he still feels familiar in many fields: literature, music, performance, visual poetry, multimedia, teaching and learning. He has written a visual poetry artist's book with an electronic music album of poems (‘Echolalia’), worked on gypsy tales (‘A szív vége’ [End of the Heart]) and in his latest book, co-authored with Krisztina Peer (‘Kibeszélő – Kényes témás gyereklélekktana’ [Chatter – The psychology of sensitive issues]), he has created children's poems on taboo subjects that are difficult to address. Ákos is a returning guest at Primanima, and this year he will be one of the jury members for the children's films.

Interview

It is the strength of community and the common will to do something that really enchantes and influences me – Interview with Jacqueline Molnár

20/10/2023

Búzás

Anna

Jacqueline Molnár’s name is familiar among the circle of Hungarian readers, she illustrated many books by János Lackfi and her drawnings were used to republish Ervin Lázár’s fairy tales. She’s at home in Budapest and in Barcelona, her drawings evoke a magical world, colourful and vivid, with lots of humorous little details. At this year’s Primanima she was participating as part of the Children’s Films Jury.

Interview

The Night Is a Source Of Inspiration – Interview with Alexander Gratzer

13/10/2023

Kriza

Júlia

Director of 'In The Upper Room', winner of Grand Prix of the 10th edition of Primanima, filmmaker Alexander Gratzer is coming to this year’s festival as part of the International Jury. In 2015, while studying painting at Vienna, Gratzer decided to create animated short films, largely under solo visual and acoustic direction. Further studies led him to the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest, where he graduated with his film 'In The Upper Room' in 2021. He currently lives in Vienna as a freelance artist, distributor and passionate hobby table tennis player. He also holds a masterclass entitled the joy of failure at the 11th edition of Primanima.

Interview

If Live Action is Prose, Animation is Poetry – Interview with Joseph Wallace

13/10/2023

Kriza

Júlia

Joseph Wallace’s name is well-known in the auteur animation scene by his essentially unique style and exceptional sensitivity in choosing the main topics of his creations. The BAFTA Cyrmu nominated director, scriptwriter and producer has won awards, received Vimeo Staff Picks and his films were screened at festivals around the world. At this year’s edition, we had the chance to talk about the most significant influences on his artistic viewpoint, why animation has an important role in social responsibility, and the progress of making his acclaimed music video for Sparks. We also asked Joseph about his masterclass at this years’ Primanima, in which he takes part as a member of the International Jury.

Interview

We have more in common than we think - Interview with BEAST IFF crew

6/10/2023

Incze

Kata

This year, we had the chance to hold an animation workshop at this year's BEAST International Film Festival, and we grabbed the chance to talk to festival director Radu Sticlea and organiser Pavla Rouskova about future plans and present challenges, and why the festival is being held in Portugal.

Event

Primanima Animation Caravan for the first time in Italy!

18/7/2023

Patrovits

Tamás

This year, Primanima joined the European network of All Digital, which gives us even more opportunities to initiate collaborations and to present and promote the creative pedagogical side of animation. Thanks to this, we have now been invited to Italy.

Interview

Interpreting Cinema Is a Learning Process – Interview with Dóra Bartal and Krisztina Peer

23/5/2023

Németh

Márta

The PrimaTeen project was launched in 2019, when we introduced for the first time a new section of animated shorts dedicated to teens. PrimaTeen has now grown into a complex programme that, alongside the Primanima festival, also visits schools, other festivals and collective spaces. To mark the occasion, we interviewed the creators of the initiative, Dóra Bartal, programme curator of the PrimaTeen section, and Krisztina Peer, clinical child psychologist and consultant of PrimaTeen programme.

Interview

It is valuable to be able to state your opinion and to be able to change it – Interview with Rebeka Dóra Kajos and Márton Somorjai

22/5/2023

Németh

Márta

The PrimaTeen initiative is not only a film programme. We have a talked about the PrimaTeen's sessions and experience with Rebeka Kajos, art therapist and Márton Somorjai, drama teacher who joined to the programme in the last year.

Anim

Contemporary Animation Horizons – Open Call

12/4/2023

Primanima

Cut out the horizons with us! Open call for young visual arts, photography, animation and film students and emerging artists. Check out the Countryside Animafest Cyprus and the Primanima festival joint workshop opportunity. Apply by 15 May!

Anim

Primanima Jumpstart workshop participants at the Animarkt Stop Motion Forum – Summary from Zoé Nagy

14/12/2022

Nagy

Zoé

Primanima has always paid attention to opening up opportunities for young animators not only at the festival but beyond. Every year, the festival is preceded by an international animation workshop dedicated to different techniques, genres or practices. Our partners have been actively involved in the running of the international animation workshop and long-term talent development programme Primanima Jumpstart, which was launched at the 10th Primanima. This year, we collaborated with prominent film and animation professional platforms in the Visegrad region (MOMAKIN, CEE Animation Forum, StoryLab). Thanks to MOMAKIN, several Jumpstarters were able to attend the 2022 Animarkt Stop Motion Forum and take part in the professional events of the Forum. Here is a summary from Zoé Nagy about the Forum.

Shorts

The Unreal That Peeks Out Of Reality, The Extraordinary That Lurks In The Everyday - Interview with Atsushi Wada

25/10/2022

Paal

Maris

Japanese animation film director and producer Atsushi Wada, also known as the "The Quiet Master", has graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts. He is an experimental artist who defies narrative structures and strict dogma to build his own dreamlike visual world. His films focus on the precise, repetitive movements of everyday characters. He has won numerous festival awards, including the Silver Bear at Berlin, Best Film at the London International Animation Film Festival and the Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival's Grand Prize. We spoke to him about his animated short film 'Bird on the Peninsula', which was screened at the 10th Primanima.

Interview

You Need to Find the Right Form for the Content – Interview with József Fülöp

16/10/2022

Primanima

He became the head of the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME) animation studies programme in 2005 and the director of the Media Institute in 2011, and currently he is the rector of the institution. He also appears as a producer of many exam- and diploma films’ credits, that receive praise and success in the international scene. We talked with József Fülöp about MOME’s institutional creed, his tasks as a producer, about the similarities in the roles of a jury, a teacher, and a mentor.

Interview

Wind an imaginary world around yourself! – Interview with Bori Rutkai

6/10/2022

Búzás

Anna

Bori Rutkai is the most multifaceted Hungarian children’s song author. Many families have a book of Bori Rutkai on their shelves and their children sing her songs by heart. Bori is a visual artist, singer, composer, writer of tales and song lyrics, who sings joyful and rad songs not only for children, but for the whole family. Her catchy tunes and rhymes, colourful costumes, even more colourful drawings and crocheted puppets will nestle themselves in everyone's head. Bori was a guest at the 10th Primanima as a jury member, performer and exhibitor.

Interview

Humor Always Slips In – Interview with Fokion Xenos

5/10/2022

Búzás

Anna

The works of Fokion Xenos are not unknown to the audience of Primanima, two of his animations were also in competition in the children's program in previous years and he was one of our jury members and lecturer in 2022. His work Heatwave won the award for the most popular international children's film in 2019, which was shown with great success at more than 70 festivals. He began his studies in Athens, then studied at the NFTS in London, and currently works in both countries. As an animation filmmaker he is interested in playful and bold stories that focus on visual wit and emotional honesty.

Interview

Standing Out From The Mainstream – Interview with Tamás Patrovits and Csaba Vágó

5/10/2022

Somorjai-Pálvölgyi

Nóra

Animation film director, graphic artist, art educator, Primanima founder and director Tamás Patrovict and head of the mayor’s cabinet in Budaörs Csaba Vágó share their thoughts on the occasion of the festival’s 10th anniversary.

Interview

Breaking Boundaries in Animation – Interview with Thomas Renoldner

5/10/2022

Primanima

Thomas Renoldner has tried himself in many different kinds of art forms: drawing, painting, fotography, object art, installation, performance, music. Besides, he is also a master teacher and he is leading a studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Animated film is used by him as a medium to combine the art disciplines he has experimented with. On the 10th of Primanima we were privileged to host his photo exhibition. He was a jury member of the Young Director’s Competition programme, we had the chance to listen to his masterclass and he was also asked to be one of the tutors of the first Primanima Jumpstart programme.

Interview

Unwittingly I am attracted to simple, harmonical, minimalistic things – Interview with Gerzsenyi Judit

2/9/2022

Primanima

Architect, resident of Budaörs, active in the life and organisation of civil cultural events in the city. She is the founder of the Twentyforty Association, which organises, among other things, built environment education sessions and summer architecture camps for children. She is a regular guest of the Primanima festival, and one year she even served as a jury member. At the 10th Primanima, the Major was the venue for the Jumpstart Installation, and at the 11th Primanima, the works of Contemporary Animation Horizons from the Hungarian workshop will be presented there.

Interview

About Innovation and Creativity – Interview with Nikolai Troshinsky

30/8/2022

Primanima

Nikolai is an illustrator, animation filmmaker and an experimental video game designer. He has studied illustration and animation in Spain, Italy and France. His most recent work is the video game 'Card Shark' released in collaboration with Nerial Studio.

Interview

About the Power of Art – Interview with Maria Steinmetz animation filmmaker

10/10/2019

Herczeg

Zsófi

Maria Steinmetz is a German animation filmmaker who started her studies at the Konrad Wolf Film Academy in Potsdam in 2005. Her 2011 graduation film “Der Wechselbalg / Changeling” was screened at several international festivals, including Cannes. She completed her Master's studies in Frank Geßner's class, where she graduated in 2014 with “Macramé”. Since 2015, she has been working as a freelance animator, and teaching animation workshops for children and adults.

Interview

The Most Interesting and Inspiring Thing is to Combine Different Personal Styles – Interview with Gina Thorstensen

4/10/2019

Herczeg

Zsófi

Norwegian multifaceted artist who works in very diverse fields such as illustration, wall painting, sculpture, puppets, animation and video art.

Interview

Films With A Critical Attitude – Interview with Béla Weisz

3/10/2019

Primanima

Béla Weisz was born in Szekszárd and started working in the Animation Studio in Kecskemét in 1983. In the beginning, he contributed to the films and series made in the studio as an illustrator, then as a director and scriptwriter. In 1991, he obtained a residence in the Folimage Studio in France. Here, he worked on the motion design of several series and films, and has also written and directed two own animations. He was teaching at the Animation Academy La Poudriere. Since 2014, he is also engaged in the development of digital educational materials by assignment of the Institute of Education Research and Development. Besides filmmaking, he designs caricatures, comics, posters and illustrates books. The collection of his comics was published in 2012, edited by Vad Virágok Könyvműhely. His films, scripts and designs won several awards on Hungarian and international festivals. In 2003, he was awarded the highest prize at the Art Festival of Hungarian Caricature.

Interview

Estonia Was a Distant Mysterious Country on the Map – Interview with Lucija Mrzljak

18/9/2019

Bartal

Dóri

Lucija Mrzljak is a Croatian animation film director and illustrator. She studied at the fine arts academies in Zagreb, Krakow, Prague and Tallinn. She completed her MA in animation in Estonia as a student of Priit and Olga Pärn and got her first professional experience as an animator with Joonisfilm studio. Her debut film “A Demonstration of Brilliance in Four Acts” received a Primasound special mention at Primanima 2018.

Interview

I Watch the Films From a Child’s Perspective – Interview with Zoltán Balázs

28/10/2018

Primanima

Zoltán Balázs was born in 1977 in Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania. He studied design at the Tibiscus University in Timișoara, where he graduated in 2004. He completed his doctorate studies in 2014 at the Faculty of Art at the West University of Timișoara. He is the head of the Department of Art at the Partium Christian University in Oradea. In addition to his work as an educator and artist, he also organizes cultural events. In 2008–2011, he was the main organizer of the Metrion Animated Film Festival in Oradea.

Interview

I Need To Be Aware of Everything That Is Not On The Screen Yet – Interview with Judit Czakó

26/10/2018

Herczeg

Zsófi

Judit Czakó teaches the basics of film editing with practical and dramaturgical focus since 2004 at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest (MOME). In 2007, 2010 and 2011 she was awarded the Golden Scissors Award for best film editing at the Hungarian Film Week. At the Kecskemét Animation Film Festival, she won the prize for the best animation editing for her work on Bella Szederkényi’s film “Orsolya”. For the feature film “Liza, the Fox-Fairy” she was given the Award for Best Film Editing at the 2nd Hungarian Filmweek. In 2015 she was given the prestigious Béla Balázs Prize. Judit Czakó was the editor of animations such as “Rabbit and Deer”, “Symphony no. 42”, “Dipendenza”, “Home”, “I am Simon” and “My Name is Boffer Bings”.

Interview

I See a Developing and Versatile Animation Scene in Hungary – Interview with Bálint Gelley

26/10/2018

Primanima

Bálint Gelley is an animation film director and producer. In 2012, he graduated as an animation director at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest. Between 2012 and 2014 he participated at the international workshops Animation Sans Frontieres and Adapting for Cinema. He started his career as an animator and director, and in 2015 founded the CUB Animation Studio together with Bella Szederkényi. Here, he started working as a producer. Now he directs the series called A Door to Othertown, which is the adaptation of a book by Andrea Magyari.

Interview

It’s High Time to Rethink The Future. Or Rather The Present. – Interview with Ferenc Fischer

20/10/2018

Bartal

Dóri

Ferenc Fischer has attended the Secondary School of Visual Arts in Budapest, where he studied toy design, but graduated with an animation film. At the Academy of Applied Arts (currently Moholy Nagy University of Arts, MOME) he earned a degree in animation, and at the same time in Art Education. During his university years he saw the short ‘The Wrong Trousers' by Wallace and Gromit, that was the moment when he decided to make puppet animations himself. He has worked for almost a decade in Ferenc Cakó’s puppet film studio as a director, animator, set designer and executive producer. He was teaching at MOME and at the Secondary School of Visual Arts. Currently he is an external lecturer at the Budapest Metropolitan University and also teaches at Álmos Jaschik Secondary Art School. His most known animations are the successful parody spots The Real MTV Bear and the unsuccessful TV Teddy Bear. He is specialized in puppet animation and animation history.

Interview

The Chaos at Home Feels Familiar – Interview with György Pálos

8/10/2018

Bartal

Dóri

György Pálos is a film director, cinematographer, producer, screenwriter, photographer with more than 25 years of experience in film production.

Interview

Festivals Have a Crucial Role to Play in Film Education – Interview with Kreet Paljas

2/10/2018

Primanima

Kreet Paljas is a cultural manager, the founder, and co-organiser of Estonian Week, Baltic Sea Film Festival, Finnish Film Days. She has been promoting Hungarian and Estonian animated films since 2003. She is currently the programme director of Anilogue International Animation Festival.

Interview

The Problems with No Clear Solution Keep My Mind Busy – Interview with Tomek Ducki

24/9/2018

Bartal

Dóri

Tomek Ducki (1982, Budapest) is a Hungarian-Polish filmmaker and designer. Creator and director of multi-award winning animated shorts and music videos. He graduated from the Moholy-Nagy Unviersity of Art and Design in Budapest (MOME) and from the National Film and Television School in London. For ten years he mostly lives in Krakow and he tries to sleep more.

Interview

Andalusian-Hungarian cultural-bodega – Interview with György Durst filmproducer

4/10/2017

Primanima

György Durst was born in 1951 in Okány. Between 1974 and 1996 he was head of production and then executive secretary of the Balázs Béla Studio. Between 1995 and 2011 he was involved in the establishment and operation of the Duna Workshop, where he worked as a producer. Since 1995, he has been the founding owner of the Kép-Árnyék Mozgóképkészítő Társaság, in 1997 he established the Premier Plan Foundation, since 2002 he has been the dramaturgical director of Duna Television and since 2005 he has been the president of the Association of Hungarian Film Clubs and Film Friends.

Interview

In Between the Ordinary and The Extraordinary – An Interview with Mauro Carraro

30/9/2017

Bartal

Dóri

Mauro Carraro was born in North-East Italy in 1984. He studied woodblock printmaking, photography and graphic design at the Polytechnic University of Milan and then continued his studies in France. In 2010 he graduated from Supinfocom Arles, where he studied CG animation. He currently lives in Geneva where he works at Nadasdy Film Studio.

Shorts

Shaky Lines and The Joy of Making Animation With Your Own Hands – Interview with Joni Männistö animation director

13/10/2016

Primanima

Joni Männistö is an award-winning animation filmmaker and animator born in 1981 in Finland. After graduating from the animation department of Turku Arts Academy in 2011 he became a member of two Finnish animation collectives, Paperihattu and Turun Anikistit. He has directed such films as ‘The Trap’ (Katiska, 2008), ‘Swarming’ (Kuhina, 2011) and ‘Electric Soul’ (2013). His filmography includes recent collective productions ‘Recycling’ (2014) and ‘Wormhole’ (2016) in which he worked as one of the animation artists. Apart from filmmaking, he works as the artistic director of Turku Animated Film Festival and as a visiting lecturer at Turku Arts Academy. He currently lives and works in Tallinn.

Shorts

Animation Had Some Kind Of A Plan With Me - Interview with Kristjan Holm

11/10/2016

Orosz

Anna Ida

Kristjan Holm was born in 1976 in Tallinn, Estonia. He graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts in 1999 as an interior designer. Very soon he understood that a room is limited to four walls, which started to trouble him. An unexpected discovery that a film frame also has four walls, gave him the final impulse to change his focus and dedicate his life to investigating the ties between frames and walls.

HUN

ENG

Primazine

Online Animation & Art Magazine

The creative plus must still be conjured from within – Interview with Melinda Kiss

It is primarily the content that interests me, not the form - Interview with Orsolya Láng

It takes strong inner integrity to be steady when uncertainty surrounds us – Interview with Ábel Visky

Art gives us an opportunity to analyse, respond to, and hope for creating social change – Interview with Theodoros Kakoullis

Having to say goodbye to a wise seal because of the character count – Interview with Kinga Maksai

I'm theme-oriented, and the genre it becomes is determined by the theme – Interview with Ákos Kele Fodor

It is the strength of community and the common will to do something that really enchantes and influences me – Interview with Jacqueline Molnár

The Night Is a Source Of Inspiration – Interview with Alexander Gratzer

If Live Action is Prose, Animation is Poetry – Interview with Joseph Wallace

We have more in common than we think - Interview with BEAST IFF crew

Primanima Animation Caravan for the first time in Italy!

Interpreting Cinema Is a Learning Process – Interview with Dóra Bartal and Krisztina Peer

It is valuable to be able to state your opinion and to be able to change it – Interview with Rebeka Dóra Kajos and Márton Somorjai

Contemporary Animation Horizons – Open Call

Primanima Jumpstart workshop participants at the Animarkt Stop Motion Forum – Summary from Zoé Nagy

The Unreal That Peeks Out Of Reality, The Extraordinary That Lurks In The Everyday - Interview with Atsushi Wada

You Need to Find the Right Form for the Content – Interview with József Fülöp

Wind an imaginary world around yourself! – Interview with Bori Rutkai

Humor Always Slips In – Interview with Fokion Xenos

Standing Out From The Mainstream – Interview with Tamás Patrovits and Csaba Vágó

Breaking Boundaries in Animation – Interview with Thomas Renoldner

Unwittingly I am attracted to simple, harmonical, minimalistic things – Interview with Gerzsenyi Judit

About Innovation and Creativity – Interview with Nikolai Troshinsky

About the Power of Art – Interview with Maria Steinmetz animation filmmaker

The Most Interesting and Inspiring Thing is to Combine Different Personal Styles – Interview with Gina Thorstensen

Films With A Critical Attitude – Interview with Béla Weisz

Estonia Was a Distant Mysterious Country on the Map – Interview with Lucija Mrzljak

I Watch the Films From a Child’s Perspective – Interview with Zoltán Balázs

I Need To Be Aware of Everything That Is Not On The Screen Yet – Interview with Judit Czakó

I See a Developing and Versatile Animation Scene in Hungary – Interview with Bálint Gelley

It’s High Time to Rethink The Future. Or Rather The Present. – Interview with Ferenc Fischer

The Chaos at Home Feels Familiar – Interview with György Pálos

Festivals Have a Crucial Role to Play in Film Education – Interview with Kreet Paljas

The Problems with No Clear Solution Keep My Mind Busy – Interview with Tomek Ducki

Andalusian-Hungarian cultural-bodega – Interview with György Durst filmproducer

In Between the Ordinary and The Extraordinary – An Interview with Mauro Carraro

Shaky Lines and The Joy of Making Animation With Your Own Hands – Interview with Joni Männistö animation director

Animation Had Some Kind Of A Plan With Me - Interview with Kristjan Holm

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