Vera Neubauer

Last updated

Vera Neubauer
Born
Prague, Czech Republic
Alma mater State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart (BA)
Royal College of Art (MA)
Occupations
  • Animator
  • Artist
  • Educator
Spouse Phil Mulloy

Vera Neubauer is a Czech born British experimental filmmaker, animator, feminist activist and educator. She is known for her jarring, provocative and anti establishment approach. Her life's work spans genres, from cinematic short film to television series for children. [1] Neubauer has received two BAFTA Cymru awards. [2] [3]

Contents

Early life

Vera Neubauer was born to Dr. Helene and Dr. Karl Neubauer in Prague. In December 1965, several years before the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, Neubauer fled the totalitarian regime with her parents and siblings. Arriving in Vienna, Neubauer gained refugee status and traveled on to Düsseldorf. Here she studied Print-making at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart [4] under professor Gunter Bohmer.

In 1968 Neubauer journeyed to London. She continued to study printmaking at the Royal College of Art and in 1970 switched departments to study film-making. [5] She struggled to survive and squatted in central Brixton. During this period she worked in a local Brixton Youth Centre and taught print-making at Isleworth Polytechnic.

Career

Neubauer's experiences of life as a refugee and the loss of her family, often inform her works. As do her personal takes on the themes of birth, death, abuse, femininity, myth and existence. [6] [7]

In the UK Neubauer became one of founding members of the film collective 'Spectre' that included Stephen Dwoskin, Phil Mulloy, Simon Hartog, Anna Ambrose, Michael Whyte, John Ellis, Keith Griffiths, and Thaddeus O'Sullivan.

Neubauer's collected works are distributed by the BFI, [8] LUX [9] and New York based The Film-Makers' Cooperative.

Neubauer is known for her work in multiple moving image disciplines and for her nuanced feminist stance. [10] She has won multiple awards for her work including two BAFTA Cymru Awards. [11]

Animation

She is a key figure in the History of British animation and is linked to the Second Wave of British Animation (1979–1996). Neubauer has been active as a filmmaker, animator and instigator of social reform for five decades.

Vera Neubauer's films are the terrorist branch of the art form, the Red Brigade of the animated film. [12] (Animating the Unconscious: Desire, Sexuality and Animation by Leslie Felperin)

Her first animated series after graduation was 'Pip and Betssie' that was commissioned for three years by the Germany television station Bayerischer Rundfunk. [13]

Neubauer's oeuvre of animated works is often considered experimental and ‘cutting edge’.

Vera Neubauer is one of Britain’s most innovative and provocative animators. Her highly idiosyncratic style uses an array of techniques, combining animated sequences with documentary and live action drama, provoking and entertaining in equal measure. (British Animation Awards) [14]

She is frequently cited for her ability to combine her personal stories of pain, loss and rebirth, underpinned by a wider societal commentary. Her canon of work mixes various techniques such as 2D drawing with photography, scratching into film emulation, cut out collage and giving character to found objects.

Live action

Neubauer's works often center around, and are created within her own neighborhood. Many of her films are short and meditative. Neubauer often uses the camera, much as a painter would use a brush, to create broad poetic strokes.

Neubauer's first drama film “Don’t be Afraid” made in 1990 starred a young Nick Moran [15] in the lead. It was based on the life of a squatting white couple who gave birth to a mixed race baby. The film gave an insight into issues facing young urban youth, both political and personal, whilst confronting audience's expectations and prejudices.

Her narrative and experimental films make use of guerrilla production techniques and are often socially critical and focus on social issues, poverty, women's rights, abuse and the homelessness.

Education

Neubauer taught for nearly 30 years at Royal College of Art, Central Saint Martins and Goldsmiths College.

In literature / film

Neubauer is the subject of Maria Anna Tappeiner's 2012 45 minute documentary for 3sat 'Das Ganze Leben im Trickfilm' ('An Entire Life in Animation'). [16]

Retrospectives

Filmography

YearFilmRoleNotes
2019Fields of VisionDirector, Animator 4 min.
2019The Mummy's Curse ReturnsDirector, Animator18 min.
2016A Tragedy of No'Importance' Director7 min.
2015You AreDirector15 min.
2014Scarred SkiesDirector4 min.
2014Life StoryDirector3 min.
2013One Day In MayDirector20 min. live musical performance, in collaboration with composer and violinist Alexander Bălănescu     
2010All Done and DustedDirector, writer, animator 3 min.
2010Fly In The SkyDirector, writer, animator20 min.
2004Woolly Town - Woolly HeadDirector, writer, animator 5 min.
2002HookedDirector, writer, animator 10 min.  Channel Four & Arts Council of England   
2002Wolly WolfDirector, writer, animator 4.15 min. Sianel Pedwar Cymru Winner BAFTA Cymru Best Animation & Winner BAFTA Cymru Best Short Film  
1999La LunaDirector, writer, animator26 min. Channel Four & British Film Institute 
1999I DanceDirector, animator2 min.
1997The Dragon and The FlyDirector, animator1 min. LUX (British film company) London Film-Makers' Co-op
1996Wheel of LifeDirector, writer, animator16 min. Arts Council of Wales & Sianel Pedwar Cymru Awarded at Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film.
1995The Lady of The LakeDirector, writer, animator20 min. Winner Ankara International Film Festival winner Best Experimental Film Mediawave, Audience Award Filmfest Dresden. 
1993Live TVDirector, writer1 min. The Arts Council of Great Britain and the BBC
1990Don't Be AfraidDirector, writer27 min. Channel Four Youth Jury Award at International Short Film Festival Oberhausen & Winner Melbourne International Film Festival 
1988Passing OnDirector, writer30 min. Channel Four
1987The Mummy's CurseDirector, animator25 min. Arts Council of Great Britain
1986Mid AirDirector, writer, animator16 min. Channel Four Winner Melbourne International Film Festival
1984The World of ChildrenDirector, writer, animator15 min. Channel Four
1981The DecisionDirector, writer, animator33 min. British Film Institute
1978Animation for Live ActionDirector, writer, animator25 min. British Film Institute
1976FateDirector, writer, animator1 min.
1972/73 Vision On Director, AnimatorTelevision series for BBC Bristol
1973/75Pip and BessieCreator, director, writer, animatorTelevision series for Bayerischer Rundfunk
1972Animation - AllegationDirector, animator25 min.
1972GeneticsDirector, writer, animator1 min. Royal College of Art
1971Cannon FodderDirector, writer, animator1 min. Royal College of Art

Related Research Articles

The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Awards, is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The ceremonies were initially held at the flagship Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square in London, before being held at the Royal Opera House from 2007 to 2016. From 2017 to 2022, the ceremony was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London before moving to the Royal Festival Hall for the 2023 ceremony. The statue awarded to recipients depicts a theatrical mask.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lotte Reiniger</span> German silhouette animator and film director

Charlotte "Lotte" Reiniger was a German film director and the foremost pioneer of silhouette animation. Her best known films are The Adventures of Prince Achmed, from 1926, the oldest surviving feature-length animated film, and Papageno (1935). Reiniger is also noted for having devised, from 1923 to 1926, the first form of a multiplane camera, one of the most important devices in pre digital animation. Reiniger worked on more than 40 films throughout her career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brenda Blethyn</span> British actress (born 1946)

Brenda Blethyn is an English actress. Known for her character work and versatility, she is the recipient of various accolades, including a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and a Cannes Film Festival Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and two Primetime Emmys. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama in 2003.

<i>Vera Drake</i> 2004 British film

Vera Drake is a 2004 British period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh and starring Imelda Staunton, Phil Davis, Daniel Mays and Eddie Marsan. It tells the story of a working-class woman in London in 1950 who performs illegal abortions. It won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and it was nominated for three Academy Awards and won three BAFTAs.

Dad's Dead is a seven-minute award winning film written and directed by Chris Shepherd, commissioned by animate!. It was first transmitted on Channel 4, in 2003. Mixing animation with live action, it deals with how memory works.

Kevin Edward Allen is a Welsh actor, director, producer and writer. Allen came to prominence with the 1991 BBC film On the March with Bobby's Army, and for writing and directing his debut feature film, Twin Town, in 1997. He directed and co-wrote the movie adaptation of Dylan Thomas' "Under Milk Wood", submitted for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2015 Oscars ceremony but not nominated, the Hollywood feature films, The Big Tease and Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London, and the first series of ITV's Benidorm, along with numerous other films and documentaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joy Batchelor</span> English animator, director, screenwriter, and producer

Joy Ethel Batchelor was an English animator, director, screenwriter, and producer. She married John Halas in 1940 and subsequently co-established Halas and Batchelor cartoons, whose best known production is the animated feature film Animal Farm (1954), which made her the first woman director of an animated feature since Lotte Reiniger. Together they created over 2000 shorts/films, and produced roughly 70 propaganda pieces during World War II for the British government. She helped co-write, write, animate, produce, and direct many of their productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanna Priestley</span> American film director

Joanna Priestley is an American contemporary film director, producer, animator and teacher. Her films are in the collections of the Academy Film Archive in Los Angeles and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Priestley has had retrospectives at the British Film Institute, Museum of Modern Art and Hiroshima International Animation Festival in Japan. Bill Plympton calls her the "Queen of independent animation". Priestley lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

The Illuminated Film Company is a British animation company founded in 1993 by Iain Harvey. It has produced the series Little Princess (2006-2022) and the ITV children's surreal comedy series The Rubbish World of Dave Spud (2019–present) and other 2D-animated productions such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar & Other Stories, War Game and On Angel Wings.

Suzanah Clare Templeton is a British animator. Her film Peter and the Wolf has won several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2008.

<i>Jo Jo in the Stars</i> 2003 British film

Jo Jo in the Stars is a twelve-minute film that won the 2004 BAFTA Award for Best Animated Short Film. Created and directed by Marc Craste, it was indirectly inspired by "The Carny", a song by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Sally El-Hosaini is a Welsh-Egyptian BAFTA nominated film director and screenwriter.

Marjut Rimminen is a Finnish-born animator and film director living and working in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dmitry Geller</span> Russian animator and film director (born 1970)

Dmitry Alexandrovich Geller is a Russian animator and film director.

Ruth Lingford is an independent animator. Since 2005, she has taught at the Harvard University. She now holds a position as faculty member in the visual and environmental studies, where she is senior lecturer and director of undergraduate studies. She previously taught at the Royal College of Art and the National Film and Television School, UK. Before investing herself in animation, she was an occupational therapist working with the elders and people suffering from mental disorders. Lingford completed a BA in fine arts and art history at the Middlesex Polytechnic from 1987 to 1990 and a MA at the Royal College of Art until 1992. In 2008, she received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from the University of Wolverhampton.

Czech animation has been a tradition for over 100 years. Czech animators are considered pioneers in film animation. Czech animation dates back to the 1920s, and its "Golden Era" spans between the 1950s and the 1980s. Notable Czech animators include Jiří Trnka, Karel Zeman, Břetislav Pojar, Jan Švankmajer, Vera Neubauer, Hermína Týrlová, and Jiří Barta. Czech animators have employed cel animation, cutout animation, puppet animation, and clay animation. 3D animation is seldom used due to lack of finances and trained 3D animators. This led to a decline in the years following 1989.

Joseph Wallace is a BAFTA Cymru-nominated film and animation director based in the UK. He uses stop-motion puppet and cut-out animation techniques to produce short films and music videos.

<i>Flee</i> (film) 2021 animated documentary film

Flee is a 2021 independent adult animated documentary film directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen. An international co-production with Denmark, France, Norway, and Sweden, it follows the story of a man under the alias Amin Nawabi, who shares his hidden past of fleeing his home country of Afghanistan to Denmark for the first time. Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau serve as executive producers and narrators for the English-language dub version.

Craig Welch was a Canadian animator. He was most noted for his short films No Problem, which was a Genie Award nominee for Best Animated Short Film at the 14th Genie Awards in 1993, and How Wings Are Attached to the Backs of Angels, which won a number of awards at film festivals in 1996.

References

  1. ↑ Google Books "The Women's Companion to International Film by Annette Kuhn and Susannah Radstone", 1994 (Retrieved 02 July 2020)
  2. ↑ bafta.org, "Vera Neubauer BAFTA Cymru Animation Winner 2002", British Academy Film And Television Awards, 2002 (Retrieved 12 Aug 2020)
  3. ↑ bafta.org, "Vera Neubauer BAFTA Cymru Short Film Winner 2002", British Academy Film And Television Awards, 2002 (Retrieved 12 Aug 2020)
  4. ↑ Google Books "Animation: A World History Volume III: Contemporary Times (chapter Vera Neubauer) by Giannalberto Bendazzi", 2015 (Retrieved 02 July 2020)
  5. ↑ Google Books "British Film Culture in the 1970s by Sue Harper, Justin Smith", Published by Wallflower, 2013 (Retrieved 02 July 2020)
  6. ↑ Google Books "The Undercut Reader, Critical Writings on Artists' Film and Video an Interview by Claire Barwell with Vera Neubauer", Published by Wallflower, 2003 (Retrieved 02 July 2020)
  7. ↑ Google Books "Animating the Unconscious Desire, Sexuality and Animation - Vera Neubauer's Wheel of Life Interview", Published by Wallflower Press, 2012 (Retrieved 02 July 2020)
  8. ↑ bfi.org.uk, "Vera Neubauer Filmography", British Film institute, 02 July 2020 (Retrieved 02 July 2020)
  9. ↑ lux.org.uk, "Selected Works by Vera Neubauer", LUX, 02 July 2020 (Retrieved 02 July 2020)
  10. ↑ Google Books "Women in Film An International Guide by Susannah Radstone", 1991 (Retrieved 02 July 2020)
  11. ↑ homemcr.org, "Clare Kitson interview with Vera Neubauer", Home MCR, 08 Nov 2008 (Retrieved 02 July 2020)
  12. ↑ Google Books "Animating the Unconscious: Desire, Sexuality and Animation by Jayne Pilling", 2012 (Retrieved 02 July 2020)
  13. ↑ onlinefilm.org, "'Pip and Betssie' by Vera Neubauer", On Line Film, 02 July 2020 (Retrieved 02 July 2020)
  14. ↑ http://www.britishanimationawards.com, "'British Animation Awards profile of Vera Neubauer", British Animation Awards, 2004 (Retrieved 02 July 2020)
  15. ↑ peliculas.itematika.com, "Nick Moran Biography in Spanish Language", Peliculas Itematika, (Retrieved 02 July 2020)
  16. ↑ http://www.imdb.com, "Vera Neubauer - Das ganze Leben im Trickfilm", IMDB, 2012 (Retrieved 02 July 2020)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.