Co-presented with ASIFA-East
Moderated by Tristian Goik, independent animator and motion graphics editor
Emerging filmmaker Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo presents several short films, along with the US premiere of a few episodes of his new series Ex-Aequo! (full series available online starting Monday, February 14). Weaving his passion for dance and sports, Mbotti Malolo’s films offer powerful, sensitive and insightful portraits and stories. Ex-Aequo! poignantly brings to life discrimination based on gender, race and disability in the sports arena.
Following the screening, Mbotti Malolo will discuss his work and his deep roots in hip hop culture and dance.
3 shorts, 2 TV series episodes (53 min), Talk (30 min)
The Heart is a Metronome (Le Cœur est un metronome)
US Premiere
Dir. Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo, France, 2007, 4 min, color
In French with English subtitles
A quick-tempered father argues with his son one last time before the child decides to leave the family. Dance becomes their only means of communication.
The Sense of Touch (Le Sens du toucher)
US Premiere
Dir. Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo, France, 2014, 14 min, color
Without dialogue or commentary
Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2014 – Official Selection
Chloé and Louis are deaf and mute, and secretly in love. Their gestures become substitutes for words, and dance becomes their communication. Their love becomes the choreography.
Make it Soul
NY Premiere
Dir. Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo, 2018, France, color. 15 min
In English
César Award 2020 – Nominated for Best Animated Short Film
Chicago, winter 1965. The Regal Theater hosts James Brown and Solomon Burke, two monuments of Soul music. This is the chronicle of a match, not of boxing, but of soul music. This story becomes a metaphor for change in 1960s America.
Ex Aequo!
Dir. Karine Chaunac, Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo & Camille Duvelleroy, 2021, France, color. 2×10 min.
In Spanish and Portuguese with English subtitles
Set over 10 minutes each and based on interviews with international athletes and sports professionals, Ex-Aequo! brings to life stories of discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation and disability. The series gives voice to those who want to be treated with equality. Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo will present two episodes in person and the full series will be available online starting Monday, February 14.
About Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo
Born in Vaulx-en-Velin, France, Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo is a dancer, animator and filmmaker of Cameroonian descent.
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He studied animation at the Emile Cohl School of Lyon. His first short, The Heart is a Metronome (2007) was elected “Best First Film” at Hiroshima Film Festival in 2008. The Sense of Touch (2014), also internationally recognized, is the perfect example of the connection between dance and animation. For the film, he learned sign language and worked with born deaf French actress Emmanuelle Laborit. Also a trained dancer, Mbotti Malolo choreographed his first show Les Mots – a solo for two performers in 2017. His 2018 short, Make It Soul, a tribute to black American music, was nominated for the César for Best Animation Short Film in 2020. The hybrid documentary series Ex æquo! (2020), was produced for the Paralympics Games of Tokyo in 2021.
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About Tristian Goik
Tristian Goik is an independent animator and motion graphics editor in New York.
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He is the president of the ASIFA-East chapter based in NYC. ASIFA was founded in 1960 in Annecy, France by a group of international animators to increase world-wide visibility of animated film. Tristian graduated from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and has worked for Page Six TV, Thomson Reuters, and “Stephen Colbert Presents: Tooning Out the News.” He is a volunteer screener for the NY International Children’s Film festival, and a featured artist on GIPHY. Tristian loves to go to drink-and-draws in his free time.
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