Dynamics of Dialogue

Olga Bobrowska

1980s Sino-European Opening-Up at the Animation Festivals in Annecy (France) and Zagreb (Yugoslavia)

The lecture will examine the directions, methods of implementation, and aftermath of the 1980s Sino-European intercultural dialogue conducted by animators, curators, and animation historians. While this dialogue remains a two-sided, politicized process, it should also be perceived as an exceptional and creative phenomenon driven by mutual curiosity. Its development can be observed from two complementary perspectives. Firstly, we will focus on analysing and interpreting selected films and writings of A Da (1934-1987), the renowned and highly regarded animation artist, beloved by the animation community, and celebrated by experts, an author of the films such as Three Monks (《三个和尚》, 1989) and Super Soap (《超级肥皂》, 1986). His creative works demonstrate a critical awareness in reflecting on European animation, particularly the Zagreb School and the Polish School of Animation. A Da’s efforts to modernize the expressive means of animated film (such as reduced imagery, sound design, and editing) complement the evolving landscape of late twentieth-century animation, which was increasingly shaped by the global market and entertainment industry. Collections archived at world-leading animation festivals, i.e. Annecy (France) and Animafest Zagreb (Croatia, formerly in Yugoslavia), reveal the agents and mechanisms of this ongoing exchange. Documents from Annecy illustrate the structural difficulties in overcoming cultural misunderstandings, while individual interactions in Zagreb fostered artistic collaboration between Chinese and Western art-house filmmakers and led to the establishment of the Chinese chapter of ASIFA. A Da, who served as a juror and visitor at both festivals, should be recognized as a creative spiritus movens behind these phenomena. Archive-based research at European festivals, along with contextual analyses of A Da’s films, sheds light on the collaborative aspects of the Sino-European dialogue. At the same time, it reveals the distinctive characteristics of art-house animation styles and their functions in Deng Xiaoping’s China and Europe on the eve of the Iron Curtain’s fall.