MAX HATTLER: Serial Parallels

Serial Parallels This experimental animation 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.
AWARDS - Special Prize of the Jury Panel (Experimental), 12th Tehran International Animation Festival, Iran, 2022 - Audience Award, Cinema Urbana Architecture Film Festival, Brazil, 2021 - Vimeo Staff Pick, 2021 - DEFA Promotion Prize Animation (National Competition), Filmfest Dresden, Germany, 2021 - Prädikat "besonders wertvoll", Deutsche Film- und Medienbewertung (FBW), Germany, 2021 (highest certification mark "especially worthwhile" by the German federal authority for evaluating and rating film and media) - Best Experimental Animation, T-Short Animated Film Online Festival, Germany, 2021 - Merit Award, 22nd DigiCon6 Asia Awards, Hong Kong, 2021 - Special Mention, 25th Riga International Short Film Festival 2ANNAS, Latvia, 2021 - Off-Limits Award, Annecy International Animation Film Festival, France, 2020 - Best Abstract Film Award, London International Animation Festival, UK, 2020 - Best Animated Short Film (Les Nouveaux Alchimistes), 49th Montreal Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, Canada, 2020 - New Signs Award (Audience Award), Lago Film Fest, Italy, 2020 - Sphinx Award for Best Video, Videomedeja Festival, Serbia, 2020 - Award for Best Film, Kinodot Experimental Film Festival, Russia, 2020 - Honorary Mention (Computer Animation), Prix Ars Electronica, Austria, 2020 - Mention Award (International Competition), CINANIMA Festival, Portugal, 2020 - Special Mention (German Competition), Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg, Germany, 2020 - Special Mention (Experimental), Festival Tous Courts, France, 2020 - Special Mention (Animation Avantgarde), Vienna Shorts, Austria, 2020 - Special Mention (Labo), Animatou International Animation Film Festival, Switzerland, 2020 - Honourable Mention (Professional Jury), Videoformes Festival, France, 2020 - Special Mention (Experimental), Guanajuato International Film Festival, Mexico, 2020 - Special Mention (Experimental), MalatestaShort Film Festival, Italy, 2020 - Award for Best Editing, San Giò Verona Video Festival, Italy, 2019 - Jury Mention, FIVA Festival Internacional de Videoarte, Argentina, 2019 SCREENINGS AND EXHIBITIONS 2023-2024 - Nektar z Innej Planety (Nectar from Another Planet), Poznan, Poland, Sun 25 Feb 2024 - Relentless Melt No. 31: Abstract and Experimental Animation from Hong Kong, Close-Up Cinema, London, Thu 7 Dec 2023, 20:15 (screening curated and presented by Max Hattler + Q&A with Dr Paul Taberham) - Relentless Melt No. 30, Clockenflap Festival, 1-3 Dec 2023 (programme of experimental animation co-curated by Max Hattler and Jay Hofmann-Forster) - Relentless Melt No. 29: Animated Abstractions from Hong Kong, University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, UK, Wed 29 Nov 2023, 14:00 (screening curated and presented by Max Hattler, hosted by Animation Research Centre and Prof Birgitta Hosea) - Relentless Melt No. 28: Experimental Animation from Hong Kong, Film University Babelsberg, Potsdam, Germany, Wed 1 Nov 2023, 13:00 (Room 6001) (screening curated and presented by Max Hattler, hosted by Film University's animation department) - Aachen & Welt Festival, Auge & Welt, Aachen, Germany, 12-13 Aug 2023 - Perrière Animation Festival, La Perrière, France, 22 Jul 2023 - Lo Pati Centre d'Art, Amposta, Catalonia, Spain, 21 July - 20 September 2023 (Mirages screening cycle curated by Irma Vilà Òdena. Artists included throughout 2023: Max Hattler, LIA, Dirk Koy, Hamill Industries, Anna Carreras and Xavi Bou) - Fest Anca International Animation Festival, Zilina, Slovakia, 29 June - 2 July 2023 (UTOPIAS thematic focus screening) - 20th Vienna Shorts International Short Film Festival, Vienna, Austria, 1 Jun 2023 ("three quarters" Young People screening) 2022 - Birth of Surveillance, Meat Market Stables, North Melbourne, Australia, 23 Nov - 6 Dec 2022 (exhibition curated by Dirk de Bruyn and Wendy Beatty. Artists included: Charles Pratt, Louis Hock, Max Hattler and Jorge Lorenzo) - Urban Jungle, Brotfabrik, Bonn, Germany, Fri 11 Nov 2022 (short film screening curated by Filmfest Dresden) - Beyond the Space, Art Gwangmyeong, Gwangmyeong-si, South Korea, 21 Oct - 10 Nov 2022 (public screen exhibition curated by Shirley Sehee Kim. Artists included: Max Hattler, Ina Conradi, Mark Chavez, Tate Egon Chavez, Shirley Sehee Kim) - Helle Nacht, Trafo, Baden, Switzerland, 17:00-22:00, Sat 5 Nov 2022 (Fantoche screening) - Berlin Minute Festival, Lichtblick Kino, Berlin, Germany, Thu 29 Sep 2022 - Image Forum Festival, Tokyo, Japan, 17-25 Sep 2022 ("Songs from the Vacant Lot" screening curated by Ip Yuk-Yiu) - 9th Festival of Fine Shorts - Festival de Finos Filmes, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1-4 Sep 2022 - FILE Festival, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 13 Jul - 28 Aug 2022 - Marktflimmern, Jena, Germany, 13 Jun 2022 - 12th Tehran International Animation Festival, Tehran, Iran, 29 May - 2 Jun 2022 - Melbourne International Animation Festival 2022: MIAF 2021 Re-Animated, ACMI, Melbourne, Australia, 19-22 May 2022 (International Competition) - Video Art Projects, Casa Bianca, Thessaloniki, Greece, 18-20 May 2022 (screening curated by Video Art Miden in collaboration with New Media Lab, School of Visual and Applied Arts, Thessaloniki) - Encounters: Urban Spaces, Filmhouse, Edinburgh, UK, Fri 6 May 2022 - Encounters: Urban Spaces, Belmont Filmhouse, Aberdeen, UK, Fri 6 May 2022 - 29th Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, Stuttgart, Germany, 3-8 May 2022 (HVM Architecture and Animation special programme) - Encounters: Urban Spaces, Chapter, Cardiff, UK, Sun 24 Apr 2022 - Encounters: Urban Spaces, Watershed, Bristol, UK, Thu 14 Apr 2022 - Encounters: Urban Spaces, Quad, Derby, UK, Mon 11 Apr 2022 (touring programme curated by Encounters Short Film Festival) - 52nd Tampere Film Festival, Tampere, Finland, 9-13 Mar 2022 2021 - 4th International Animation Exhibition (IAE)国际动画艺术展, Beijing, China, 20 Dec 2021 - Australian International Animation Festival, Wagga Wagga, Australia, 12 Dec 2021 - MUMIA, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 10-18 Dec 2021 - La Truca International Animation Festival, Cali, Colombia, 30 Nov 2021 - Relentless Melt No. 24: Hong Kong Experimental Animation, Mediatheque, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Willamette University, Portland, Oregon, US, Mon 15 Nov 2021 (screening curated by Max Hattler, introduced by Rose Bond) - Fonlad Festival, Coimbra, Portugal, 6-27 Nov 2021 (Oodaaq screening) - Festival du film européen, Houlgate, France, 20-26 Oct 2021 (Oodaaq screening) - 22nd cellu l’art Short Film Festival, Jena, Germany, 19-24 Oct 2021 (International Competition) - Canlandiranlar Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey, 18-24 Oct 2021 - 25th International Video Festival Videomedeja, Novi Sad, Serbia, 14-17 Oct 2021 - 4th Videodox Video Art Biennial, Galerie der Künstler, Munich, Germany, 12-24 Oct 2021 (nominated for the Videodox Award) - Strates sur la tranche, Le Lieu, Rennes, France, 9 Oct 2021 (event by Oodaaq) - 11th ANIMAGE International Animation Festival of Pernambuco, Brazil, Oct 2021 - Kinomural, Wroclaw, Poland, 25 Sep 2021 - Le vent en poulpe, Saint-Malo, France, 10-12 Sep 2021 (Oodaaq screening) - 22nd Wiesbaden International Animation Festival, Wiesbaden, Germany, 10-12 Sep 2021 (Best of International Animation 2019/2020 Competition) - 26. Friedrichstädter Stadtteilfest, Dresden, Germany, 10 Sep 2021 - Mariupol International Film Festival Cinema and You, Mariupol, Ukraine, 2-5 Sep 2021 - Exhibitronic Festival, Strasbourg, France, 1 Sep 2021 (Carte Blanche screening curated by Oh Eun Lee) - 6th Campulung Filmfest, Campulung Moldovenesc, Romania, 26-29 Aug 2021 - Turku Animated Film Festival, Turku, Finland, 25-29 Aug 2021 (International Competition) - Animist Tallinn International Animation Festival, Tallinn, Estonia, 18-21 Aug 2021 (Grand Competition) - 3rd Cinema Urbana Architecture Film Festival, Brasilia, Brazil, 17-29 Aug 2021 (Competition) - A Wall is a Screen reclaims the Fleets, Westwerk, Hamburg, Germany, 13 Aug 2021 - 45th Open Air Filmfest Weiterstadt, Weiterstadt, Germany, 11-16 Aug 2021 - Lighthouse Kurzfilmfestival: Die Stadt von Morgen, Freiluftkino im Fux-Hof, Hamburg, Germany, 7 Aug 2021 (curated by Maike Mia Höhne, Artistic Director, Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg) - Korjaaminen, Tampere, Finland, 5 Aug 2021 (architecture film night curated by Finnish Association of Architects for Tampere Theatre Festival) - 27th OpenEyes Filmfest, Marburg, Germany, 21-25 Jul 2021 (Competition) - Resuming the Avant-Garde: Focus City (International Workshop), Paderborn University, Paderborn, Germany, 15-16 Jul 2021 (Serial Parallels presented in 'Digitale Dynamiken: Der Stadtraum im zeitgenössischen Experimentalfilm' lecture by Aline Helmcke on 16 Jul 2021) - 8th Insomnia International Animation Film Festival, Yukhnovsky District, Kaluga Oblast, Russia, 15-19 July 2021 - Filmfest Dresden International Short Film Festival, Dresden, Germany, 13-18 Jul 2021 (National Competition) - Pergine Festival, Pergine Valsugana, Trentino, Italy, 2-17 Jul 2021 (Best of Lago Film Fest) - Paris International Animation Film Festival, Paris, France, 2-4 Jul 2021 (Short Pro Competition) - 13th Short Waves Festival, Poznan, Poland, 14-20 Jun 2021 (Urban View Competition) - Kurzfilmstreifzug, Flensburg, Germany, 4-5 Jun 2021 (organised by Flensburger Kurzfilmtage) - Oodaaq Festival, Rennes, France, 2 June - 27 July 2021 - Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, 1-7 Jun 2021 (Hamburg Positions: The City of Tomorrow) - Art Machines: Past/Present, Indra and Harry Banga Gallery, Hong Kong, 24 Nov 2020 - 23 May 2021 (group exhibition co-curated by Profs Richard Allen and Jeffrey Shaw) - Formentera Film - International Short Film Festival, Formentera, Balearic Islands, Spain, 12-16 May 2021 - 28th Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, Stuttgart, Germany, 4-9 May 2021 (Best of 2020 Live Stream) - Capsule 2.70: Max Hattler: Serial Parallels, Halle Nord, Geneva, Switzerland, 15 Apr - 15 May 2021 (curated by Maud Pollien) - Architektur in Bewegung online screening presented by Kurzfilmwoche Regensburg and Degginger, Regensburg, Germany, 14 April 2021 - 25th Riga International Short Film Festival 2ANNAS, Riga, Latvia, 9-15 Apr 2021 (International Short Competition) - T-Short Animated Film Online Festival, Karlsruhe, Germany, 7-30 April 2021 (Experimental Animation Competition) - Big Cartoon Festival on Tour, Russia, in Krasnoyarsk (26 Mar - 9 Apr), Voronezh (15-18 Apr) and Nizhny Novgorod (28 May - 6 Jun), Khabarovsk (10-12 Sep 2021) - Bridges Festival, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, 13-15 Mar 2021 - 12th Tehran International Animation Festival, Tehran, Iran, 28 Feb - 4 Mar 2021 - Relentless Melt No. 20: Hong Kong Animation Experiments, Animation;Experiment, Tehran, Iran, Thu 11 Feb 2021, 18:00-19:30 (screening curated by Max Hattler) - Sonic Academy, Vilnius, Lithuania, 17 Jan 2021 (Videoformes screening curated by Gabriel Soucheyre) - 18th London Short Film Festival, London, 15-24 January 2021 - Vilnius International Short Film Festival, Vilnius, Lithuania, 14-17 January 2021 (AnimaDOK Programme) - 34th Stuttgarter Filmwinter, Stuttgart, Germany, 11-17 Jan 2021 (International Short Film Competition) - Ars Electronica Animation Festival on Tour 2020, Jan-Dec 2021 (International Touring Programme) 2020 - Interface Video Art Festival, Zagreb, Croatia, 14-18 Dec 2020 - Bogotá Short Film Festival - BOGOSHORTS, Bogota, Colombia, 8-15 Dec 2020 - 38th Festival Tous Courts, Aix-en-Provence, France, 1-5 Dec 2020 (6th International Experimental Short Film Competition) - London International Animation Festival, London, UK, 27 Nov - 6 Dec 2020 (Abstract Showcase Competition) - Art Machines: Past/Present, Indra and Harry Banga Gallery, Hong Kong, 24 Nov 2020 - 23 May 2021 (group exhibition co-curated by Profs Richard Allen and Jeffrey Shaw) - PÖFF Shorts, Tallinn, Estonia, 17-25 Nov 2020 (Shorts Competition) - Kinoki, San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, 16-22 Nov 2020 (Itinerant Program GIFF 2020) - 33rd Exground Filmfest, Wiesbaden, Germany, 13-22 Nov 2020 (International Short Film Competition) - 6th Bit Bang Fest, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 9-20 Nov 2020 (Official Competition) - 44th CINANIMA International Animated Film Festival, Espinho, Portugal, 9-15 Nov 2020 (International Competition) - 36th Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, 6-8 Nov 2020 (German Competition) - 29th St. Louis International Film Festival, St. Louis, USA, 5-22 Nov 2020 - 34th Leeds International Film Festival, Leeds, UK, 3-19 Nov 2020 (World Animation Competition + Experimental Short Film Programme) - 32nd Girona Film Festival, Girona, Spain, 3-7 Nov 2020 - 10th KuanDu International Animation Festival, Taipei City, Taiwan, 1-7 Nov 2020 - Big Cartoon Festival, Moscow, Russia, 29 Oct - 9 Nov 2020 (International Competition) - Relentless Melt No. 18: Hong Kong Refractions, London, UK, Wed 28 Oct 2020, 19:00 (screening curated by Max Hattler, presented by London International Animation Festival) - Sweaty Eyeballs Animation Festival, Baltimore, USA, 23-30 Oct 2020 - 7th Cinetekton! International Film and Architecture Festival, Puebla, Mexico, 22-29 Oct 2020 - Fredrikstad Animation Festival, Fredrikstad, Norway, 22-25 Oct 2020 - Kaohsiung Film Festival, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 16 Oct - 1 Nov 2020 (International Short Film Competition) - ArchFilmLund: Lund International Architecture Film Festival, Lund, Sweden, 16-18 Oct 2020 - 18th shnit Worldwide Shortfilmfestival, multiple cities worldwide, 15-26 Oct 2020 (International Competition) - 8th Accessible Film Festival, Ankara, Turkey, 12-18 Oct 2020 - 24th International Video Festival Videomedeja, Novi Sad, Serbia, 8-10 Oct 2020 - 49th Festival du nouveau cinema, Montreal, Canada, 7-18 Oct 2020 (New Alchemists Competition) - Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 7-11 Oct 2020 - BIDEODROMO International Experimental Film and Video Festival, Bilbao, Spain, 6-22 Oct 2020 - Anifilm, Liberec, Czechia, 6-11 Oct 2020 (Abstract and Non-Narrative Animation Competition) - Animatou International Animation Film Festival, Geneva, Switzerland, 1-10 Oct 2020 (Lab Competition + Honorific Competition for Swiss Schools) - 23rd CinemAmbiente Environmental Film Festival, Torino, Italy, 1-4 Oct 2020 - Animafest, Zagreb, Croatia, 28 Sep - 3 Oct 2020 (World Panorama) - Facade Video Festival, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 25-27 Sep 2020 - Contemporary Animated Shorts, Towson University, Towson, Maryland, US, 24 Sep 2020 (Animation studies class led by Lynn Tomlinson) - 10th Mov'ilha, Ilha, Pombal, Portugal, 19 Sep 2020 - 23rd Guanajuato International Film Festival, Guanajuato, Mexico, 18-27 Sep 2020 (Experimental Category) - 16th Indie-AniFest, Seoul, Korea, 17-22 Sep 2020 (Asia Road Competition) - 12th Seoul International Extreme-Short Image & Film Festival, Seoul, Korea, 15-20 Sep 2020 (International Competition) - Move Cine Arch International Film Festival, Venice, Italy, 12 Sep 2020 - FICBUEU: Bueu International Short Film Festival, Bueu, Spain, 11-19 Sep 2020 (Experimental Competition) - Ars Electronica Festival, Linz, Austria, 9-13 Sep 2020 (CyberArts exhibition at OK Center for Contemporary Art, 9-15 Sep 2020, and various screenings in Deep Space 8K at Ars Electronica Center, as well as online) - Minikino Film Week 6, Bali International Short Film Festival, Bali, Indonesia, 4-12 Sep 2020 - LINOLEUM Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival, Ukraine, 2-6 Sep 2020 (Experimental Animation and Video Art Programme) - 26th L'Étrange Festival, Paris, France, 2-13 Sep 2020 (International Short Film Competition) - 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) - 17th Animation Block Party, Brooklyn, New York, US, 21-23 Aug 2020 (Program Three - Experimental, Graphic Design and Music Videos) - 31st Curta Kinoforum: Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 20-30 Aug 2020 (Limite) - 4th Festival Ecra, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 20-30 Aug 2020 - 18th Hiroshima International Animation Festival, Hiroshima, Japan, 20-24 Aug 2020 (Best of the World) - Independent Film Festival Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti, MI, USA, 20-22 Aug 2020 - 13th Glasgow Short Film Festival, Glasgow, Scotland, GB, 17-23 Aug 2020 (Urban Palimpsests) - 19th Countryside Animafest Cyprus, Salamiou, Cyprus, 9-12 Aug 2020 (International Competition) - Besides the Screen Festival and Conference, Vitoria, Brazil, 6 Aug 2020 - EXiS: Experimental Film and Video Festival in Seoul, Korean Film Archive, Seoul, South Korea, 1-15 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 - Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Annecy, France, 15-30 Jun 2020 (Animation Off-Limits Competition) - 17th Vienna Shorts International Short Film Festival, 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, Lisbon, Portugal, 25-31 May 2020 (International Short Film Competition) - 8th Kinodot Experimental Film Festival, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 22-27 May 2020 (International Competition) - 22nd Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Athens, Greece, 21-31 May 2020 - 27th Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, Stuttgart, Germany, 5-10 May 2020 (International Competition) - 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 (Perspective screening) - 26th International Short Film Week Regensburg, Germany, 14-16 Mar 2020 (Window to Architecture) - 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 (Ordinary Heroes: Made In Hong Kong) - Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand, France, 13 Jan - 7 Feb 2020 (Click for Flicks) 2019 - 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 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 - Taichung International Animation Festival, Taichung, Taiwan, 11-20 Oct 2019 (Director in Focus 1) - 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') TV BROADCAST - Canal 9, Santa Cruz, Argentina, April 2020 (Screening of winning films of FIVA Festival Internacional de Videoarte 2019)	WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID "This film is the perfect mix between a conceptual essay and a rigorous mastering of craft and artistry. This experimental animation renders the overwhelming feelings of missing horizon views within megalopoles subjected to densification, while using a photographic technique to reveal the continuity in the buildings' facades. Sometimes the eyes are focusing on the pastel housing estates, sometimes they are glancing at the technical way of showing them as film strips. The meditative and anxiety-provoking trance is taking shape with the colours and windows that are creating a hypnotic pattern. It forces us to question our relationship to space and to our own way of living, whether it’s in a city, a suburb or the countryside. We never access the anchors of the buildings, so the only way to situate ourselves is when the sky is appearing quickly on screen, so we can finally breathe. In only nine minutes, ‘Serial Parallels’ is showing Hong Kong in a whole new and disorienting way." Émilie Poirier, Talking Shorts, 2021 "In Hongkong leben viele Menschen. Sehr viele Menschen auf sehr engem Raum. Wie Käfige sehen die kleinen Wohnungen aus, vor allem von außen, wenn man an den Hochhäusern entlangblickt. Der Filmemacher Max Hattler geht in seinem neunminütigen Experimentalfilm einen Schritte weiter und blickt nicht nur auf die Wohnungen, sondern an ihnen entlang. In rasanter Kamerafahrt geht es von unten nach oben immer weiter an der Fassade entlang, ohne dass man als Betrachterin aufgrund der scheinbar ewigen Repetition das Gefühl hätte, diese Fahrt mit den parallel arrangierten Bauten nehme jemals ein Ende. Nur kleine Anzeichen wie eine Wäscheleine, die aus dem Fenster ragt, oder ein geschlossener oder offener Vorhang offenbaren individuelle Züge. SERIAL PARALLELS ist auch eine Bebilderung der Gleichschaltung und der Trostlosigkeit von Leben, mit viel Platz für eigene Assoziationen. Untermalt werden diese Bilder von einer eindrucksvollen Geräuschkulisse, die an das Fahren eines Zugs erinnert und das stakkatohafte Tempo des Films bestimmt. Durch sein konsequentes Konzept und die Überwältigung der Bilder ist SERIAL PARALLELS ist ein assoziativer filmisch-genialer Rausch." Pressemitteilung: FBW-Prädikate aktuell, Prädikat "besonders wertvoll", Deutsche Film- und Medienbewertung (FBW), Germany, 2021 "Hongkong. Wie im Fahrstuhl gleitet die Kamera an den Fassaden von Hochhäusern nach oben und nach unten. Der Rhythmus der Bilder passt sich absolut synchron dem Stakkato-Rhythmus der Tonspur an. Um die Flut der Eindrücke noch zu steigern, laufen die Bild- und Toncollagen auch noch parallel zu weiteren sich gleichenden, aber dann auch wieder sich ändernden Formen. Auf geradlinige folgen nun wieder runde Formen. Die Fassaden zeigen die Fenster und Balkone der kleinen Wohnungen. Stock um Stock gleichen sich diese oder variieren. Die Klimaklötze an den Fenstern jeder Wohnung steigen in den Rhythmus ein. Der Rausch der Geschwindigkeit wirkt dabei nie redundant, da die architektonische Vielfalt dies aufhebt. Ein faszinierendes Erlebnis, das an den Zuschauer auch die Frage richtet, wie wohl die Menschen in diesen Bienenwaben gleichenden Wohnblöcken leben mögen?" Jury-Begründung, Prädikat "besonders wertvoll", Deutsche Film- und Medienbewertung (FBW), Germany, 2021 "This captivating architectural animation draws a dizzying portrait of Hong Kong’s urban environment. Through the lens of the animated film, each floor or window corresponds to a film frame. The colors follow one another in a repetitive and rhythmic movement that plunges us into a meditative state that is both gentle and anxiety-provoking. A rhythmic escalation until the saturation of a space in which we finally lose our bearings. It is only when the sky appears to us that we can finally breathe the air we desperately miss as we climb the floors of these overcrowded towers. The experience is not unlike the one that the global situation has forced us all to apprehend individually from the windows of our respective habitats." Jury Statement, Honorary Mention (Computer Animation), Prix Ars Electronica, 2020 "Keine Menschen und doch überall Menschen. Beton, Fenster, Rohre - alles verschiebt sich gegeneinander. Der hypnotische nicht enden wollende Strom von Fassaden liest sich als kritischer Kommentar moderner urbaner Lebensbedingungen. Ein experimenteller Animationsfilm, dessen rhythmischer Schnitt, Sound und präzise Collagierung ästhetisch faszinieren." Jury Statement by Robert Löbel, Alexandra Gramatke and Mischa Leinkauf, DEFA Promotion Prize Animation, Filmfest Dresden, 2021 "In this marriage of technical prowess and poetic observation, the artist serialises Hong Kong’s urban landscape into an overpowering mega-creature. Following its claustrophobic visual pulse, thousands of raw photographs are mindfully reframed and sequenced into surprising compositions of concrete and glass cells, punctuated by fleeting traces of those who inhabit them." Jury Statement by Noel Palazzo and Ana Santos, Best Abstract Film Award, London International Animation Festival, 2020 "An abstract impression of the modern metropolis, Serial Parallels by Max Hattler is meticulous in its editing, harmonious in its soundscape and masterful in its timing. The artist's skillful juxtaposition of different but similar high-rise housing estates in Hong Kong succeeds to portray complexities of life inside them, without using a single image of its residents. This results in a strong video work that confirms its maker as one of the more exciting voices in the field." Jury Statement, Sphinx Award for Best Video, Videomedeja Festival, Serbia, 2020 "In the projector, the individual images combine along imaginary, parallel running perforation holes of the film to a staccato of shots and montages of urban tower blocks. Serial Parallels displays the connection of technical film history and serial architecture in an extremely austere formality which is frequently interrupted by the signs of inhabitants in individual frames." Jury Statement (Sabine Küchler, Irene von Alberti, Romeo Grünfelder), Special Mention (German Competition), Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg, Germany, 2020 "Due to the complexity of the animation, and the ability to offer a political speech through the juxtaposition of images without apparent narrative intention, a film that takes us into trance with architectural patterns, we believe it’s a good audiovisual experimental proposal." Jury Statement, Special Mention (Experimental), Guanajuato International Film Festival, Mexico, 2020 "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." 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 "Un travail exigeant explorant brillamment le rythme et l’uniformisation du système en cours pour déconstruire, malgré tout, la vie dans tout de ce qu’elle a de plus classique."* Jury Statement, Special Mention (Labo), Animatou Festival, 2020 "Si segnala Serial Parallels per la ricerca sul linguaggio audiovisivo. Cortometraggio granitico dove un paesaggio ossessivo sostituisce una umanità collassata nelle cose e dissolta nel digitale. Una città formicaio fatta di pellicole che scorrono come tempo indifferente, ma non impersonale, dove le persone non possono più ritrovarsi." Jury Statement, Special Mention (Experimental) MalatestaShort Film Festival, Italy, 2020 "Serial Parallels is the latest work by Max Hattler, surely one of the most innovative, acclaimed and screened digital moving-art makers in the world today. Serial Parallels has already screened at close to 100 festivals and shows no sign of letting up. Restless, in a laid back kind of way, Hattler seems capable of endlessly rethinking uses for the tools of his craft. The sheer breadth and volume of the construction of imagery in Serial Parallels is almost too much to contemplate. There are artists who toil with great skill and care to utilise a variant of this technique to create a single, complete photograph. Here Hattler has created thousands (if not tens of thousands) and stitched them together to create a relentless moving montage, seamless and apparently able to move through every axis. Utterly remarkable." Malcolm Turner, Co-Director, London International Animation 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) + MUBI, 2020 "Serial Parallels is nearly a flicker-film, with images that flit past so quickly it’s hard to find a balance. The dizzying heights of Hong Kong skyscrapers, tenements and condos become abstracted parallels (and perpendiculars!). At times it’s hard to tell if the camera is panning, or if the buildings themselves are ‘breathing’. Out of non-organic matter (architectural elements), Hattler creates strange and hypnotic movement as if the city were a living creature. Somewhere between a sewing machine and a construction site, the soundtrack of industrial machinery accompanies predominantly pink and blue hues. Anyone unfamiliar with Hong Kong might think the buildings have been digitally colorized, but those who have visited Hong Kong would recognize the pastel palette. A warning for those sensitive to flashing lights – this is a LOT of provocation for seizures. It is hyper-stimulating yet meditative if one is the type of person to find repetitive patterns soothing in some way." Daria Gamliel, Cinetalk.net, 2020 "the escalating urban anxiety of Max Hattler's Serial Parallels" Vassilis Kroustallis, Zippy Frames, 2020 "... Serial Parallels, remix(es) an abundance of imagery of Hong Kong flat blocks to construct new abstract impressions of urban architecture in the form of film strips. The film’s frenetic rhythm and visuals speak to both anonymity and a multitude of individual histories, while also containing the city’s potential." Glasgow Short Film Festival, 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 "Hong Kong's characteristic architecture of towering residential areas is being reimagined as parallel rows of film strips, in a composition in texture and color." Countryside Animafest Cyprus, 2020 "Photographic images of building facades are reimagined as strips of celluloid film. Experimental filmmaker Max Hattler subtly manipulates his photographs to produce mesmerizing patterns, moving collages and delightful colour palettes that represent Hong Kong high rise flats, stretching as far as the eye can see." Leeds International Film Festival, 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 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 "香港的城市景觀，總讓人感到擁擠。若想像，這些高聳如雲、遮住地平線的高樓大廈，變成了一串串垂直捲動的膠卷，那會是什麼感覺？導演以擅長的停格動畫，讓香港密集的住宅大樓產生如瀑布般的流動風景，提供我們重新思索環境與自然之間的關係。" Kaohsiung Film Festival, 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 "With hypnotic images, Max Hattler captures the endlessly fascinating patterns of the many gigantic residential towers of Hong Kong." Lantaren Venster, 2020 "Another exhilarating rollercoaster ride that feels like a (pleasant) attack to your senses. Like jumping off a cliff but instead of free-falling, you’re flying high above the skyscrapers in Hong Kong. Dizzying, alienating and intense—I mean this as a good thing. 8/10 stars." Alejandro Meroi, Art House Street, 2020 "Essa linguagem de remix também se faz presente em Serial Parallels, de Max Hattler, que inventivamente transforma a uniformidade dura da arquitetura de Hong Kong no melhor cinema experimental que associa os prédios à película cinematográfica em movimento. Neste filme concretista que flerta diretamente com o cinema de instalação, o movimento dos prédios ganha ritmo, musicalidade, o concreto sobe e desce, os ideogramas dançam. O cinema enquanto resultado do movimento do celuloide que sobe e desce, reproduzido na reimaginação de formas estáticas. O filme olha para si mesmo em espelhos digitais, e estas formas que sufocam o céu respiram." David Terao, Blog do Crítica Curta, 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 "Der Kurzfilm "Serial Parallels" von Max Hattler [...] zeigt schwindelerregend schöne Serienaufnahmen großer Wohnkomplexe in Hongkong, die durch ihre Nähe und Menschenleere zu abstrakten Kunstwerken mutieren." Degginger, 2021 "Hongkong – Stadt der Wohnsiedlungen, die sich dem Horizont entgegenstrecken. Die Umdeutung der für die Stadt charakteristischen Architektur zu parallelen Filmstreifen – Serial Parallels. Die Annäherung an Hongkong passiert über die Technik der analogen Fotografie. Das Gestern trifft auf das Heute." Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg, 2020 "Hochhäuser einer Stadt ähneln in ihrer Form dem analogen Filmstreifen. Eine experimentelle Reise durch Hongkong, gespickt mit Parallelen zwischen dem urbanen Leben und der Mechanik der filmischen Welt." Filmingo, 2020 "Serial Parallels toma edifícios de Hong Kong como matéria-prima e recorre à linguagem das colagens plásticas que transfiguram imagens realistas em abstrações geométricas." Revista Piaui, 2020 "Max Hatter dans Serial Parallels, 2019, a brillamment transféré la nouvelle esthétique écrasante de la société des mégapoles avec ses logements à l'horizon effrayant à travers la perspective conceptuelle du film celluloïd, en appliquant la technique spéciale de l'animation à l'image photographique. Max et ses vecteurs rendent visible l'immatérialité qui nous entoure. Cette immatérialité n'est pas dans le vent, le vent est le protagoniste, les vecteurs protagonists sont l'organisme vivant entier qu'est la ville et ses victimes affectives, dans son film le tout est autour, la totalité est d'être vivant. Tant que nous sommes en vie, nous sommes liés par des expériences, quelle importance a ce qui va arriver? Ce qui importe, c'est que nous soyons vivants dans ce que nous comprenons comme le monde. Alors d'autres nous regarderont et sentiront le vent tourner, antagoniste, complémentaire et nécessaire aux interactions affectives." Jury Statement, Honourable Mention (Professional Jury), Videoformes Festival, 2020
CREDITS English title: Serial Parallels Chinese title: 序列平行 Director: Max Hattler Production: Max Hattler Animation: Zhang Riwen, Iresa Cho, Max Hattler 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 Country: Germany, Hong Kong Length: 9’00” Year: 2019 This work was supported by Relentless Melt with a project grant from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, and by an ECS grant from the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (Project No. 21609017). Additional support by the School of Creative Media at City University of Hong Kong, Goethe-Institut Hong Kong and File Under Pictures. Special thanks to Tamas Waliczky, Jean-Gabriel Becker, Marin Dumard, Eduardo Noya, Di Wu, Yasmin Rai, Queenie Li, Liao Jiaming, Almuth Meyer-Zollitsch, and Harald Kraemer.
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