Next Sunday night, February 7, The Balboa will host acclaimed Russian animator Yuri Norstein. He’ll present three of his works: “Hedgehog in the Fog,” “Tale of Tales,” and a segment of his work in progress, Nikolai Gogol’s “Overcoat”.
Norstein (Yuriy Norshteyn) was born in Russia during his parents’ World War II evacuation. After studying at an art school and a short stint at a furniture factory, he found employment at studio Soyuzmultfilm in 1961. The first film that he participated in as an animator was Who Said “Meow”? (1962).
Norstein uses a special technique in his animation, involving multiple glass planes to give his animation a three-dimensional look. The camera is placed at the top looking down on a series of glass planes about a meter deep (one every 25-30cm). The individual glass planes can move horizontally as well as toward and away from the camera (to give the effect of a character moving closer or further away). He does not use computers in his work.
One of the films that will be shown, “Overcoat”, has an interesting backstory. Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, Norstein earned many state and international awards for his work. Then, in a bitter twist of irony, he was fired from Soyuzmultfilm in 1985 for working too slowly on his latest film, a (presumably) feature-length adaptation of Gogol’s Overcoat. By that time he had been working on it with his usual small team of three people for two years… and had only finished ten minutes.
Fast forward to 2010, and Norstein is still finishing the film; his stubborn perfectionism has earned him the nickname “The Golden Snail”. He’ll show some of the yet-to-be finished film at the event. And to help fund its completion, proceeds the Balboa event will benefit Norstein’s studio in Moscow.
The duration of the screening will be about 90 minutes; doors open at 8pm with the screening starting at 8:30pm. The show is expected to sell out, so purchase advance tickets here ($25).
Watch the short documentary below about Norstein where he talks about his work and gives you a tour of his studio, where the magic happens.
Sarah B.