News of the Muse

The seventh annual international festival of animation, comics and cartoons takes place at the Tel Aviv cinematheque from August 25-28.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A comical convention The seventh annual international festival of animation, comics and cartoons takes place at the Tel Aviv cinematheque from August 25-28. Three days of movies, meetings, workshops, master-classes, exhibitions, activities for kids, a comics fair and more will run at a nearly non-stop pace. The festival showcases local and international developments in the genres, as well as recalling bygone glories. This year Italian animator Bruno Bozzetto, political cartoonist Sergio Staino and comics illustrator Vittorio Giardino will be among the guests One of the most important events will be the screening of Super-Camel, a joint Israeli-Palestinian animated feature. Sixteen young Palestinian and Israeli animators worked on the project guided by mentors from Italy's I Castelli Animati, the Italian animation festival that takes place in Rome. There will also be a documentary on the making of the film. Bozzetto, also a comics illustrator, director and producer, will have a retrospective of his work. He's best known for his films on Signor Rosso, the prototypical Italian, and for the more than 100 short films he made that explain science to the average viewer. A special program will also be devoted to the best of Italian animation from the 70s to the present. Comics artist Uri Fink will also be honored with a life achievement award for Zbeng, the comic strip that first appeared in Ma'ariv L'Noar in 1987. Since then Fink has published some 50 comic books and has lectured and exhibited all over the world. Helen Kaye Elvis 'as popular as ever' As the 30th anniversary of Elvis's death approaches on August 16, every groupie and fan is looking to get his hand on a collectible item. But even the most devoted collector pales in comparison to Bill Schurk. A sound recordings archivist at Bowling Green State University, Schurk has more than 200 books about Elvis, 283 recordings, LPs and compact discs, featuring Presley or others singing his songs. In a timely tribute to "the King," BGSU will be adding the 100,000th item to its 40-year-old Sound Recordings Archives this week. The item, a 2003 LP entitled Elvis 2nd to None, - was chosen by Schurk himself. "He's as popular as ever," the archivist said in a statement about Elvis. As evidence, he cites the recent announcement of a planned overhaul of Graceland, Presley's Memphis mansion and, since his death, a major tourist attraction. "His fan base started early," said Schurk. The people who became Elvis fans as teenagers or younger more than 50 years ago "are passing the baton" to their grandchildren. Jerusalem Post staff