We were in Kensington to take in the charm and ambiance of the Roasterie, followed by a quick bite at Higher Ground Cafe (It's Global Vegetarian Night, a 3 course meal for $19.00), followed by ... ??
I give the boy a choice, there appears to be a free Youth Animation Shorts across the street at the Plaza, of which I know nothing, and a play at the Pumphouse, of which I know too much.
He chooses the film.
And so, after dinner we make our way across the street to the theater. Now it's advertised as free and I'm not too hopeful, guessing it's a showcase for student work.
Which it is, the lobby is full of people chatting and the theater is as full as I've seen it, there's tables full of information (which I dismiss, entirely happy in my ignorance, why ruin it?) and we find our seats and wait for the film to begin.
My desire for ignorance is thwarted, however, by the abundant speechifying that goes on before the film. It is, apparently, a "workfare" project sponsored by the Calgary Police Force, Public Library, Alberta Fish and Wildlife, the Plaza Theatre, Alberta Government, etc.... the gist of which is that unemployed/unemployable "Youth" (ranging in age from, say, 20 to 35 years of age) are taught remedial job skills in the production environment of an animation studio.
So the animated shorts we're about to see aren't born of any overwhelming creative urge to tell a story or work in a new medium so much as they are medium to teach "Youth" relevant job related skills, like working a cash register or how to safely handle fast food (important if you have any hopes of working or making a career in the arts...I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP!!!!).
Once that's out of the way the film begins.
Not the shorts, no, first there's a short documentary on the workfare program that's gotten these people out of bed to tell their stories.
It's an upbeat, well done little documentary that introduces you to the directors and cast of this evening's show. All of whom are present in the audience, by the way.
Now the shorts, they're unreviewable. They range from the absurdly, comically bad to the half decent sort of thing one might find on the NFB website.
This is good. Some are so bad, soo WTF that we can barely restrain our comments and laughter. The directors are in the audience, after all, and the rest of the audience are taking it quite seriously, the worst of the shorts generating the kind of applause that would make even Tim Burton proud ....
It's good because how often do you see work this bad? And, bearing in mind that it's student work - and "Workfare" student, not people who chose this, it's amazing. You have no idea of how bad things can get.
And it's good, after it's own WTF fashion.
And, surprisingly, some of the pieces are actually not too bad. Good, even.
Here is a trick. I'm used to seeing bad painting (the author of this myself), appreciating even the work behind a bad piece of art, I understand (somewhat) bad prose, but you seldom, if ever, see bad film or animation. It's too demanding, the equipment, the time, the effort, even the worst sitcom on TV has a bigger budget, staff than these productions, has - well, a polish, a thousand years of combined experience behind it. But each of these shorts, each of these films, they're a a world unto their self.
And at the end all of the directors take the stage to talk about their film, their experience making it, how the program changed their life, fielding questions from the audience, and for this alone it's excellent.
The boy, he's now profoundly depressed and his future career in the performing arts has never, ever looked so glum. This is a side to things he's never seen, and despite my reassurances that most of these people didn't "choose" the program, most of them will (hopefully) never make another film in their life, all of them were assigned to the program to teach them basic life skills that somehow or other life overlooked, he's not seeing it, he's seeing, well....
It's made him think.