Petr Ginz + AJFF

 

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (@atljewishfilm) screened The Last Flight of Petr Ginz as the finale of the festival on Wednesday night.

I love (and wholeheartedly agree with) their review.

The imagination of a Czech child prodigy who perished at Auschwitz is celebrated in this inspiring testament to a boy’s wonder. Precocious and filled with intellectual curiosity, Petr Ginz was a gifted writer and artist who captured the inhumanities of war with surprising maturity, objectivity and even humor. By the time of his death at age 16, he had penned five novels, a diary and an underground newspaper in Terezín, and had produced hundreds of drawings and paintings. His story was largely unknown until the ill-fated Space Shuttle Columbia carried the boy’s artwork. Filmmakers Sandra Dickson and Churchill Roberts skillfully combine interviews and archival materials with exquisite animation of Petr’s designs. Poignantly narrated by sister Chava Pressburger and beautifully scored by composer John Califra, THE LAST FLIGHT OF PETR GINZ is a joint production of Wake Forest University and University of Florida.

We sneaked a picture of the slides playing before the screening.

The post-screening Q&A with Sandy, Cindy, and me.

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Here is the trailer for the documentary.

And here is a trailer specifically for the animated portion.

Tiger, tiger.

A look at another of one the study drawings for my 2012 sketchbook, MENAGERIE.

Tree house

When we bought our house 4 or 5 years ago it had one particularly cool feature: a tree house. Or club house. Or a room on stilts. Whatever you'd like to call it. Standing in the backyard by a tree, this fully wired (yes, it has power) one room fort with a porch is the envy of the neighborhood. (I think?)

I've recently become re-obsessed with it. I'll go in cycles of forgetting about it and suddenly noticing it again and thinking,"Oh man, if I knew someone who had one of these I'd be like, 'Why are you not in it all the time!'"

 In fact, as you can see, I did some of The Hidden People out there last summer.

As the weather has improved over the few last weeks, I've been working on drawings and due to my new MacBook Pro, I've been working some out there and handling emails.

I even did a little video tour of it the other night. I'll do a better one in the day light sometime.

Sorry, can't embed the video. You got to click to see it.

* * * 

And I set a fire bowl up on the porch. For hilarious.

So. The time has come to really do it right. A little studio away from studio. With the help of a friend we'll be making this a for real working space. I can't wait.

Excited? Excited.

MENAGERIE: sketchbook 2012

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you might have noticed I've been posting a few peeks at my new 2012 sketchbook, MENAGERIE.

I would describe my last sketchbook, The Hidden People as "natural world creature fantasy." This new book is a whole menagerie of animals and dragons in operatic situations. I think you'll enjoy it.

Here's a look at some of those new drawings:

RENAISSANCE BAIRE ... DO YOU GET IT?

This is not King Richard, sorry.

Tigers are surely the most beautiful animal.

These are all studies in preparation for one of the main drawings for the book. Here's a peek at another one of the roughs. Without a doubt, this is my favorite little drawing I've ever done, heretofore.

* * *

My goal of creating a yearly sketchbook remains on track.

2008, 2009, 2010, 2011.

More NYC / UN

Here's a few more pictures about our time in NYC and UN visit.

Dinosaurs.

I find my own dinosaur. As a kid I always wished it was a cooler looking one.

At the Nintendo World Store. My favorite place in all of New York.

Stature of Liberty. My mom came to the party.

Leo Lowry. A childhood friend of Petr Ginz.

Outside the UN.

The reason for the trip of course was to attend the UN screening of The Last Flight of Petr Ginz. The show and the panel afterwards went very well. I'm grateful for the chance I got to contribute to the film and that Petr Ginz's life's work is being recognized.

We're now looking forward to the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival! I'm thrilled to hear they have reviewed the film and specifically called the animated portions "exquisite."