For 25 years, Britain’s Channel 4 charmed, perplexed and occasionally infuriated prime time television audiences with short creative, auteur animation. Commercial pressures eventually pushed this rich seam of work off the small screen. Outside the UK these short films kept British animation at the forefront of the international scene. (Many of them made their local debuts at the Wellington and Auckland Film Festivals and have been unavailable here ever since.)
This selection of highlights by a who’s who of the artform, was kindly curated by Clare Kitson who for more than a decade was responsible for commissioning animation at the Channel. It’s a wonderful selection - and it barely scratches the surface of what was produced. Prepare to be amazed by this tantalising sample of what is already being wistfully regarded as a golden era for the art of animation in Britain.

Thanks to NZIFF Animation Now! programmer Malcolm Turner for his assistance with this programme.

Girls Night Out
UK | 1985-1988 | 6 minutes | Joanna Quinn
Earthy fantasy morphs into down-to-earth reality.

Feet of Song
UK | 1988 | 6 minutes | Erica Russell
This elegantly crafted film established NZ-born Erica Russell’s reputation as an animator following in the Len Lye tradition.

Next
UK | 1989 | 5 minutes | Barry Purves
A Mr W. Shakespeare attempts a wordless overview of his plays in this stop-motion classic from Barry Purves, also noted as a producer of live theatre.

Deadsy
UK | 1990 | 5 minutes | David Anderson
Wafer thin surface humour cleverly masks a deep ocean in which lurk some sinister truths.

Cowboys: Outrage
UK | 1991 | 3 minutes | Phil Mulloy
Grotesque Wild West goes vaudeville! A prairie tale from the Welsh master of stark, dark ink.

15th February
UK | 1995 | 6 minutes | Tim Webb
Based on a Peter Reading poem in which a symbolic rejection and its sadistic outcome are revealed, this film mixes animation and live action.

Many Happy Returns
UK | 1996 | 8 minutes | Marjut Rimminen
A ghost-like little girl keeps tapping on a woman’s consciousness, demanding attention, recalling a traumatic childhood event

Death and the Mother
UK | 1997 | 11 minutes | Ruth Lingford
A mother pursues Death into the inky thicket in a courageous bid to win back her child.

Love Is All
UK | 1999 | 3 minutes | Oliver Harrison
A beautifully crafted fairy tale for the future.

Furniture Poetry
UK | 1999 | 5 minutes | Paul Bush
A stop-motion masterpiece packed to the brim with improbable ideas and a cavalcade of furniture.

The Man With The Beautiful Eyes
UK | 1999 | 5 minutes | Jonathan Hodgson
Shimmering with the barely constrained energy of the Charles Bukowski poem on which it is based.

The Cat With Hands
UK | 2001 | 3 minutes | Robert Morgan
A film about what can go wrong in the dark – with a feline-fast snap ending!

City Paradise
UK | 2004 | 6 minutes | Gaelle Denis
Tomoko, who arrives from Japan to learn English, accidentally discovers a mysterious, secret London, inhabited by friendly little aliens.