Bruno Bozzetto is an Italian animation artist. No. Bruno Bozzetto is "the" Italian animation artist. And he is more than that. Somehow he is also an anthropologist and a philosopher, he observes people, describes social interactions, tells stories with incredible depth and imagination, designs unique characters, and animates them.
Today, he received the
Nemoland Award in Florence after being awarded the Berlin Golden Bear in 1990 and being nominated for the Oscar in 1991. There is hardly anything more wonderful, charming and flattering than being invited to Florence by
Nemo, the fantastic "Accademia delle Arti Digitali"(Eric Goldberg, Yoichi Kotabe, Gary Goldman, Don Bluth are some of the Nemoland awardees). And there is hardly anything more wonderful, charming and flattering than Bruno Bozzetto accepting the invitation. Since his childhood, he has been fascinated by animation. He animated his first characters as a teenager - not having appropriate means did not keep him from animation. One of his first animation films was produced on his mother's ironing table. His passion, his talent, his ideas, and his father's support made him what he is now: a "gran maestro" who is too modest to accept that he is a master of animation and story telling.
When he was 17, the only known animation was made by Disney ... a rather discouraging (technological) standard for a teenager. Nevertheless, he continued and focused on ideas and creativity instead of technology. His first short film was "Tapum! La storia delle armi" (1958), since "mankind invests 95% of its time into arms" he decided to make a film on weapons. His masterstroke was, without doubt, Signor Rossi (
Mr. Rossi) (1960-1978), a series that enjoys cult status today. In 1965, he produced "West and Soda", a parody of the traditional American western. Who knows, perhaps he is also the founder of "Spaghetti Western" - Bruno and Sergio Leone discussed that question but could not find an answer. A great many more films followed, such as "Vip, Mio Fratello SuperUomo" (Vip, My Brother Superman) in 1968, a parody of superheroes and satire about advertising, brainwashing and consumerism. In 1976, he released "Allegro Non Troppo" featuring six pieces of classical music. The idea for the film was born when, one day, Bruno was packing his bag listening to Ravel's Bolero. He had just finished reading a book in which mankind was to vanish in the very last two seconds. The combination of the repetitive rhythms of "Bolero", its explosion at the end and mankind vanishing in the last two seconds was the starting point for his film.
Bruno never lost his curiosity. When computers became more important he started using new technology. Flash, Photoshop, ... Bruno sees learning as a life-long experience. Plus, he makes sure he is the one dominating technology and that it is not the other way round. No matter what role technology plays in his films, all of his productions have a deeper meaning and all of them use humour as a means to communicate his train of thoughts.
The Milanese animation artist is living with his family and pets (among them his amazing sheep that does not know he is a sheep) in Bergamo and has his "
Studio Bozzetto & Co" in Milan. Congratulations and thank you for your inspiration, Bruno.
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'Birds And Pencils And Sundry Other Things And Hobs' by Florian Satzinger (Brandstudio Press)
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Photo impressions of the 2009 Nemoland festival (Photos © NEMO NT). From left to right: Stefano Casini, Maryam Laura Moazedi, Giuliano Cenci (2x), Alex Orrelle, Florian Satzinger.
Alex Orrelle, Florian Satzinger, Florence 2009 (Photo © NEMO NT)
