Serial Parallels (2019) by Max Hattler

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Serial Parallels

This experimental animation by animation artist Max Hattler approaches Hong Kong’s built environment from the conceptual perspective of celluloid film, by applying the technique of film animation to the photographic image. The city’s signature architecture of horizon-eclipsing housing estates is reimagined as parallel rows of film strips: Serial Parallels. "This film reflects on urban architecture in a very physical rather than intellectual way. The megacity is experienced as a pulsating apparatus where you can just sense the presence of otherwise invisible humans. It speaks directly to the retina and vestibular system. The Animation Avantgarde Jury gives a Special Mention to Serial Parallels by Max Hattler." Jury Statement, Special Mention (Animation Avantgarde), Vienna Shorts, 2020 "This film is an extraordinary fine and poetic work, which uses familiar methods in unexpected and new ways. And provokes the questions: is repetition our only support, are these monstrous ships a good reflection of human nature. Congratulations to Max Hattler for Serial Parallels." Jury Statement, Award for Best Film, Kinodot Festival, 2020 "Hong Kong's distinctively shaped housing blocks form mesmerizing patterns that appear to move and shimmer in this dazzling, subliminally subversive dance of images."International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), 2020 "the escalating urban anxiety of Max Hattler's Serial Parallels" Vassilis Kroustallis, Zippy Frames, 2020 "Max Hattler, another Festival regular, animates the windows, balconies, and façades of unnamed buildings in Hong Kong with such speed and repetition that the iconic high-rise architecture becomes something different altogether." San Francisco International Film Festival, 2020 "In seinem delirierenden Filmkunstwerk „Serial Parallels“ hat der deutsche Animations- und Avantgardefilmer Max Hattler der Brutalität in Stein, die sich in den Himmel stapelt, Leben eingehaucht. Dazu musste er die fotografierte Wirklichkeit nicht einmal manipulieren, lediglich die nur in Nuancen abweichenden Aufnahmen der Stockwerke als Einzelbilder aneinanderschneiden. Mit den Mitteln des analogen Films hat er ein Stück optisches Techno geschaffen, das kein Weggucken duldet. Der 9-Minuten-Film gehört zweifellos zum Coolsten, was das Internationale Trickfilmfestival Stuttgart in seiner Online-Ausgabe zu bieten hat." Daniel Kothenschulte, Frankfurter Rundschau, 2020 "An experimental documentary that applies the art of animation to the photographic image, achieving a hallucinatory portrait of one of the most vertical and densely built cities in the world: Hong Kong’s immense housing blocks appear to shimmer in a dazzling dance of fluid and dreamlike images. A disorientating and

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meditative journey that challenges you to let go and immerse yourself in its hypnotic vision, set against a dead-on soundtrack of metallic noises and urban sounds. An innovative and transfixing animation firmly rooted in a hectic metropolis and completely detached of time and space, all at once." Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, 2020 "Todo es susceptible de ser animado. Incluso los edificios de Hong Kong. Serial Parallels es la vanguardista obra que lo demuestra. Max Hattler se propuso fotografiar la característica arquitectura residencial de su nuevo país de residencia, mientras Zhang Riwen y Iresa Cho se encargaron de la también laboriosa tarea de animarlos con stop motion. Las fachas desfilan ante nuestros ojos de un modo tan original y a tal velocidad que pronto dejan de ser fachadas para convertirse en estímulos hipnóticos, algo así como una pieza de electrónica experimental, de trance, pero para los ojos. Cierto que el experimento pierde algo de fascinación en la segunda mitad, pero Hattler encuentra la manera de mantenernos interesados con tan mínimo recurso narrativo, cosa que tiene su mérito. Para quien quiera experiencias nuevas. (8,5 / 10)"Animacion para adultos, 2020 "Serial Parallels ... provides a transfixing portrait of one of the most vertical cities in the world. ... captivating architectural animation."Directors Notes, 2019 "... a hypnotic vision of a relentless urban architecture, set to a suitably mechanical soundtrack." Alex Dudok De Wit, Cartoon Brew, 2019 "Max Hattler’s new piece, Serial Parallels is as soothing as it is dizzying. ... The experience is like a meditative journey, in which you let go of control and become immersed in the flowing and rushing buildings. The sounds are reminiscent of the kinds of things you would encounter in an urban landscape; motors, helicopters, scraping cement and the warm ticking of a film reel playing. The pace of the sound and visuals create a mesmerising, abstracted view of Hong Kong. The parallel strips are often travelling in different directions and the camera tilts make it feel as though the buildings are looming in closer or slowly falling backward. A disorientating experience that is firmly oriented in Hong Kong with a strong sense of time and place." Amy Baker, Skwigly Online Animation Magazine, 2019 "High rises on speed. Buildings move, up and up and up and then down again, only to move up once more. Fascinating, invigorating, pulsating and fascinatingly meditative." OFF - Odense International Film Festival, 2020 "Hong Kong’s residential skyscrapers serve as the visual material for this mesmerizing architectural animation. Comparable to single frames from a film, the different skyscrapers’ housing pods are individually arranged, some of them in parallel strips. Because of their similarities, the composition creates either static or an elegant flow and, because of their differences, a vibrant life of its own." Vienna Shorts, 2020 "Paralelos em Série (Serial Parallels), de Max Hattler, leva-nos até à paisagem urbana de Hong Kong pela perspectiva conceptual da película cinematográfica. A curta-metragem, muito ritmada, usa a arquitectura em movimento como o motor da narrativa e da região." Ines Moreira Santos, Hoje Vi(Vi) Um Filme, 2020 "Paralelos em Série pode ser encaixada na categoria experimental, dada a sua falta de narrativa no sentido mais comum do termo. Usando imagens fotográficas de edifícios de Hong Kong e usando técnicas de animação, é aplicado um movimento ótico no sentido vertical ao longo de todo o filme. É uma curta-metragem hipnótica, que não deixa ao espectador muitas opções que não sejam a de se deixar levar pela experiência quase meditativa. Nota: 4/5." Luis Ferreira, Cinema Serima Arte, 2020 "...un cortometraje que ha pasado por innumerables festivales y que muestra, utilizando técnicas de animación aplicadas a la fotografía, una visión fascinante, conceptual, de las edificaciones de la ciudad de Hong-Kong, con una técnica audiovisual que resulta casi hipnótica." En Primera Fila, 2020 "Sem uma história ou narração, com uma acelerada edição abstrata marcada por sons urbanos, o artista alemão Max Hattler constrói um filme todo formado por fotografias de edifícios que se sobrepõem geometricamente em um ritmo hipnótico, como uma espécie de cartema animado. Os prédios retratados são de Hong Kong, mas o curta é universal ao problematizar a claustrofóbica vida nas grandes cidades verticalizadas onde não é possível enxergar a linha do horizonte." Julio Cavani, Cinema Escrito, 2020 • Stills: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s9gu3rlhjwrsjdv/AAABz5grdnS4bpQiPiTPMiRSa?dl=0 • Trailer: http://vimeo.com/maxhattler/serialtrailer • Official website with press quotes, up-to-date information: http://www.maxhattler.com/serialparallels/

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AWARDS - Off-Limits Award, Annecy International Animation Film Festival, France, 2020 - Honorary Mention (Computer Animation), Prix Ars Electronica, Austria, 2020 - Special Mention (Animation Avantgarde), Vienna Shorts, Austria, 2020 - Award for Best Film, Kinodot Experimental Film Festival, Russia, 2020 - Honourable Mention (Professional Jury), Videoformes Festival, France, 2020 - Award for Best Editing, San Giò Verona Video Festival, Italy, 2019 - Jury Mention, FIVA Festival Internacional de Videoarte, Argentina, 2019 SCREENINGS AND EXHIBITIONS - La Truca International Animation Festival, Cali, Colombia, 4-8 May 2021 - MUMIA, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 3-10 Dec 2020 (International Competition) - 36th Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, 6-8 Nov 2020 (German Competition) - 22nd Wiesbaden International Animation Festival, Wiesbaden, Germany, 4-7 Nov 2020 (Best of International Animation 2019/2020 Competition) - Cinema Urbana - Architecture Film Festival Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil, Oct 2020 - Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 7-11 Oct 2020 - Anifilm, Liberec, Czechia, 6-11 Oct 2020 (Abstract and Non-Narrative Animation Competition) - Animafest, Zagreb, Croatia, 28 Sep - 3 Oct 2020 (World Panorama) - Move Cine Arch Film Festival, Brazil, Sep 2020 - 16th Indie-AniFest, Seoul, Korea, 17-22 Sep 2020 (Asia Road Competition) - Minikino Film Week 6, Bali International Short Film Festival, Bali, Indonesia, 4-12 Sep 2020 - LINOLEUM Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival (Online Edition), Ukraine, 2-6 Sep 2020 (Experimental Animation and Video Art Programme) - 18th Fantoche International Animation Film Festival, Baden, Switzerland, 1-6 Sep 2020 (International Competition) - Fest Anca International Animation Festival, Zilina, Slovakia, 27-30 Aug 2020 (International Competition) - Odense International Film Festival, Odense, Denmark, 24-30 Aug 2020 (Animation Competition) - MalatestaShort Film Festival, Cesena, Italy, 22-30 Aug 2020 (Official Competition) - 4th Festival Ecra (Online Edition), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 20-30 Aug 2020 - 18th Hiroshima International Animation Festival, Hiroshima, Japan, 20-24 Aug 2020 (Best of the World) - 19th Countryside Animafest Cyprus, Salamiou, Cyprus, 9-12 Aug 2020 (International Competition) - 16th Lago Film Fest, Revine Lago, Italy, 24 Jul - 2 Aug 2020 (New Signs Competition) - Video Art Miden, Kalamata, Greece, Jul 2020 (POSTPONED) - 7th Diversions International Short Film Festival, Sveti Ivan Zelina, Croatia, 2-5 Jul 2020 - FILE Festival, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 30 Jun - 9 Aug 2020 (POSTPONED) - Annecy International Animation Film Festival (Online Edition), Annecy, France, 15-30 Jun 2020 (Animation Off-Limits Competition) - 17th Vienna Shorts International Short Film Festival (Online Edition), Vienna, Austria, 28 May - 2 Jun 2020 (Animation Avantgarde Competition) - Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Germany, 28 May 2020 (Kolloquium der Klasse von Prof. Marcel Odenbach, Fachbereich Video) - Monstra Festival (Online Edition), Lisbon, Portugal, 25-31 May 2020 (International Short Film Competition) - 8th Kinodot Experimental Film Festival (Online Edition), Saint Petersburg, Russia, 22-27 May 2020 (International Competition) - 22nd Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (Online Edition), Athens, Greece, 21-31 May 2020 - 27th Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (Online Edition), Stuttgart, Germany, 5-10 May 2020 (International Competition) - Besides the Screen Festival and Conference, Vitoria, Brazil, 21-23 Apr 2020 (POSTPONED) - Independent Film Festival Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti, MI, USA, 16-18 Apr 2020 (POSTPONED) - 63rd San Francisco International Film Festival, San Francisco, CA, USA, 8-21 Apr 2020 (CANCELLED) (Golden Gate Awards Competition for New Visions Short - Under 30 Minutes) - 16th Akbank Short Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey, 16-26 Mar 2020 (POSTPONED) (Perspective screening) - 26th International Short Film Week Regensburg, Germany, 14-16 Mar 2020 (Window to ArchitectureCompetition) - Videoformes Festival, Clermont-Ferrand, France, 12-15 Mar 2020 - Stop Motion Our Fest, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 11-15 Mar 2020 (Panorama) - ANIMAC, Lleida, Spain, 27 Feb - 1 Mar 2020 (Official Selection) - 49th International Film Festival Rotterdam, Holland, 22 Jan - 2 Feb 2020 (Perspectives Ordinary Heroes: Made In Hong Kong) - Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand, France, 13 Jan - 7 Feb 2020 (Click for Flicks official online section) - Artsvit Gallery, Dnipro, Ukraine, 19 Dec 2019 (Nikita Liskov Artist Talk) - 9th FIVA Festival Internacional de Videoarte, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 13-15 Dec 2019 - 8th China Independent Animation Film Forum (CIAFF) aka 1st TOPU International Animation Festival, Haimen, Nantong, China, 12-15 Dec 2019 - Relentless Melt No. 15: Hongkongské abstrakce, Filmasia Asian Film Festival, Kino Ponrepo, Prague, Czechia, Sat 7

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Dec 2019, 15:00-16:30 (screening curated by Max Hattler, introduced by Iresa Cho) - Feinaki Beijing Animation Week, Beijing, China, 14-17 Nov 2019 (Competition) - ReAnima Bergen International Animation Festival, Bergen, Norway, 14-17 Nov 2019 (Competition) - Kaboom Animation Festival, Utrecht and Amsterdam, NL, 9-17 Nov 2019 - Cinetoro Experimental Film Festival, Cali, Palmira, Roldanillo and Toro, Colombia, 29 Oct - 4 Nov 2019 - Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany, 29 Oct - 13 Nov 2019 (window display solo exhibition, part of Phantom Horizons series curated by Robert Seidel) - Relentless Melt No. 14: 香港實驗動畫精選, Zhong Shan 73 (中山73影視藝文空間), Taichung, Taiwan, Sat 26 Oct 2019, 19:30-20:30 (screening curated by Max Hattler for International Animation Day) - Banjaluka International Animated Film Festival, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 24-28 Oct 2019 - Stoptrik International Film Festival, Maribor, Slovenia, 3-6 Oct 2019 (Borderlands Competition) - Encounters Film Festival, Bristol, UK, 24-29 Sep 2019 (International Competition) - Supernova Digital Animation Festival, Denver, 19-21 Sep 2019 (Director's Choice programme) - Ars Electronica Festival, Linz, Austria, 5-9 Sep 2019 (Ars Electronica Animation Festival programme) - Max Hattler. Receptive Rhythms, Goethe-Institut, Hong Kong, 4-28 Sep 2019 (Max Hattler solo exhibition curated by Dr Harald Kraemer. Features Serial Parallels multi-screen installation) - San Giò Verona Video Festival, Verona, Italy, 23-27 Jul 2019 - Convento São Pedro de Alcântara, Lisbon, Portugal, 17-21 Jun 2019 (Society for Animation Studies Conference exhibition) - Relentless Melt No. 13: Consecutive Correspondences, Floating Projects, JCCAC, Hong Kong, Wed 15 May 2019, 18:30 (Hong Kong premiere of Serial Parallels) - Anifilm, Trebon, Czechia, 7-12 May 2019 (Max Hattler Retrospective) - 26th Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, Metropol 2, Stuttgart, Germany, 22:00 Fri 3 May 2019 (Relentless Melt No. 11: Hong Kong International screening) - 26th Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, Metropol 3, Stuttgart, Germany, 17:00 Fri 3 May 2019 (In Persona: Max Hattler screening) - Animation and Science SAS Symposium, Literaturhaus, Stuttgart, Germany, Wed 1 May 2019, 14:00 (paper: 'Superstructure Playgrounds')

CREDITS English title: Serial Parallels Chinese title: 序列平行 Director: Max Hattler Production: Relentless Melt Animation: Zhang Riwen, Iresa Cho Photography: Iresa Cho, Zhang Riwen, Max Hattler Editing: Max Hattler Sound: David Kamp Additional sound: Sky Kung Sound research: James Banbury Production management: Max Hattler, Iresa Cho Supported by: Hong Kong Arts Development Council Country: Hong Kong, Germany Length: 9’00” Year: 2019 Frame rate: 30 Available formats: DCP, 1080p HD digital file DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY Max Hattler is a German artist who works with abstract animation, video installation and audiovisual performance. He holds a master's degree from the Royal College of Art and a Doctorate in Fine Art from the University of East London. His work has been shown at festivals and institutions such as Resonate, Ars Electronica, ZKM Center for Art and Media, MOCA Taipei and Beijing Minsheng Museum. Awards and mentions include Annecy, Prix Ars Electronica, Anifilm Festival, London International Animation Festival, Bradford Animation Festival and several Visual Music Awards. Max has performed live around the world including at Playgrounds Festival, Re-New Copenhagen, Expo Milan, Seoul Museum of Art and the European Media Art Festival. He lives in Hong Kong where he is an Assistant Professor at School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong. "Using abstract imagery and kaleidoscopic juxtapositions, Max Hattler‘s work is disorientating and captivating. There’s no narrative conventions here as shapes and forms become your guide, and colorful geometric spectacles burst onto the screen. Neon patterns flash before the viewer in hypnotic rhythms in work that can reference everything from German Expressionism, Islamic patterns, and sci-fi." Kevin Holmes, The Creators Project "Max Hattler is a moving-image artist whose work is difficult to sum up into words – his animation is abstract and the

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screening (may it be in a gallery space or projected onto the Regent’s Canal) of his works are always playful and innovative. He has collaborated with various visual and sound artists to create his inimitable ‘conceptual aesthetics’ which continue to win various awards and prizes during film festvials." Tatevik Sargsyan, Hunger TV "Max Hattler works on the thin line between abstraction and figuration, being able sometimes to create powerful political statements while eschewing the traditional constraints of narrative, choosing a poetics of implication over the mere construction of a discourse. In that matter, it is interesting to see how he is also able to mix the strategies of artistic practice with the techniques one would associate with the entertainment industry, creating pieces that can work on a variety of (sometimes) conflicting frameworks, from the gallery white cube to the dark walls of a nightclub, performing live in a film festival or spreading his interventions through the web." Hilda Magazine

MAX HATTLER’S FILMOGRAPHY Concrete Abstraction: Road Triptych (HK/DE 2020) Serial Parallels (HK/DE 2019, sound: David Kamp) ➕ (DK/UK/HK/DE 2019, sound: Antony Ryan, Sune Petersen) Matter and Motion (HK/UK/DE 2018, music: Lux Prima) Divisional Articulations (HK/DE 2017, music: Lux Prima) Five (HK 2017, co-directed with Team Five, music: Gustav Mahler) III=III (HK/DE 2016, sound: Jean-Gabriel Becker) All Rot (UK/DE/HK 2015, 4’00”, sound: Matthias Kispert, Max Hattler) —O| (VE/UK/DE/HK 2015, sound: Abilio Salmerón, Edgar Moreno, Max Hattler) Model Starship: Unclear Proof (UK/IT/DE 2014, installation loop, sound: Alexey Devyanin, Eduardo Noya Schreus A Very Large Increase in the Size, Amount, or Importance of Something Over a Very Short Period of Time (RU/UK/DE 2013, 2’15”, sound/music: Julien Mier) Unclear Proof (UK/IT/DE 2013, 0’45”, sound: Alexey Devyanin aka Pixelord) Stop the Show (aka WAR) (UK/ES/DE 2013, 1’00”, sound: Oeo, Max Hattler) X (UK/DE 2012, 6’00”, sound: Eduardo Noya Schreus) Model Starship (UK/DE 2012, 0’40”, sound: Eduardo Noya Schreus) Catch (UK/DE/JP 2012, 4’00”, co-directed with Noriko Okaku, music video, music: The Egg) Shift (UK/DE 2012, 3’00”, sound: David Kamp) RE:AX (UK/DE 2011, 1’30”, sound/music: Eduardo Noya Schreus) Sync (DK/NL/UK/DE 2010, 9’00”, sound: Dennis van Tilburg) Your Highness (UK/DE 2010, 3’00”, sound: Xavier Collet) Spin (FR/UK/DE 2010, 3’55”, sound/music: Eclectic) 1925 aka Hell (DK/UK/DE 2010, 2’00” / loop, sound: Blake Overgaard) 1923 aka Heaven (DK/UK/DE 2010, 2’00” / loop, sound: Adrian Dexter) Catch (UK/DE/JP 2009, variable, co-directed with Noriko Okaku, concert visuals, music: The Egg) Nothing (UK/DE/JP 2009, variable, co-directed with Noriko Okaku, concert visuals, music: The Egg) Where’s Your Head At (UK/DE 2009, 6’00”, concert visuals, music: Basement Jaxx) AANAATT (UK/DE/JP 2008, 4’45”, music: Jemapur) Drift (UK/DE 2007, 3’33”, music: Mark Bowden) Mount Allen (UK/DE 2007, 3’40”, music video, music: Economy Wolf) Theme for Yellow Kudra (UK/DE 2006, 3’05”, music: Economy Wolf) Striper v0.1 (UK/DE 2006, 0’30”, sound: Pablo Gav) Collision (UK/DE 2005, 2’30”, sound: Max Hattler) Nachtmaschine (UK/DE 2005, 3’00” director’s cut / 4’00” original, music: Hellmut Hattler) Everything Turns (UK 2004, 1’15”, sound: Max Hattler) To Bed (UK/DE 2003, 3’00”, co-directed with Martin Heaton, music video, music: Hellmut Hattler) Alpraum (UK 2001, 5’00”, co-directed with Martin Heaton, sound: Alex Marten Max Hattler SCM, 7F Creative Media Centre 18 Tat Hong Avenue Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong festivals@maxhattler.com phone: +852 5629 6041

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