{"id":19238,"date":"2024-09-07T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-07T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/?p=19238"},"modified":"2024-09-07T07:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-07T07:30:00","slug":"theres-nothing-cartoonish-about-moldovas-love-of-animation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/?p=19238","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s nothing cartoonish about Moldova\u2019s love of animation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From start-ups using animation to teach young people new languages to one of the world\u2019s biggest anime brands, Moldova is home to an increasingly dynamic animation sector. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not how you would imagine Moldova’s capital. We are standing on a rooftop in the middle of Chi\u0219in\u0103u, and the wind plays with our hair. Below us are the offices of Crunchyroll, the ultimate brand for all things anime with roots in the US, which chose Moldova as one of its 16 offices around the globe. Its Chi\u0219in\u0103u operation is Crunchyroll\u2019s second largest outside of the US, and one of the most fun places in the country to work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnimation will make Moldova better,\u201d says Igor Canonic, Crunchyroll’s art director. \u201cIt’s really fun!\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It does feel like a lot of fun here. In Canonic’s view, animation tests your limits, teaches you how to solve problems and keeps young people off the streets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Igor Canonic, Crunchyroll’s art director<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So is Moldova the next promised land for moving pictures? It\u2019s ironic, given that Moldova didn’t even have any animation programmes two years ago. That clearly wasn’t an obstacle.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Moldova, people do a lot of stuff by themselves,\u201d Canonic explains. \u201cThey learn everything on YouTube.\u201d That’s how Canonic himself studied animation. \u201cI didn’t have any other choice,\u201d he explains, spreading his hands. In his view, there aren’t many opportunities in Moldova to be creative. \u201cAnimation is one way for Moldovans to express themselves.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changing how we learn<\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

At Tekwill, near Chi\u0219in\u0103u\u2019s Technological University on the city\u2019s outskirts, another group of animation lovers is working on a web application. Langly teaches English using Oxford methodology so that what you learn on the app can be integrated into the education system. Students can assess whether they have A1 or C3 levels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The application’s cornerstone is animation. To keep around 90,000 users engaged, \u201cwe want to differ, to make it memorable,\u201d Langly’s co-founder Natalia Sleptov says.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She proudly explains how an actual artist\u2014and not AI\u2014create their characters. \u201cWe make it with soul,\u201d she says with a broad smile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do they make this heartfelt animation? They, too, use Google and YouTube to learn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Sleptov’s view, animation is on the up in Moldova. The war next door has boosted the sector even further as Ukrainian specialists crossed the border, seeking refuge and bringing their know-how. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Langly uses animation to make learning languages more fun<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The new wave is on its way<\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would call it a new rise of the animation industry,\u201d says Lev Voloshin, one of the leading forces behind Moldova’s new wave of animation. He explains that during the Soviet occupation, Moldovans would study animation in Moscow and return with their knowledge. The industry was thriving. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the collapse of the Soviet Union the sector held on, running purely on enthusiasm, until smaller animation studios opened. These studios ran their own in-house training. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his studies at the Academy of Art, Lovoshin spent his mornings studying and evenings working at Simpals, an animation studio. He learned everything about traditional animation from his Turkmen mentor, Serdar Djumaev. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In-house animation training can be inefficient, however. It takes a lot of time and effort. In 2021, with the support of the Ministry of Education, the United States International Development Agency (USAID) founded a Future Professions project to support university programmes in animation, the gaming industry, and multimedia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Crazy, scary\u2019<\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Voloshin was invited to create the study programmes and be part of creating Moldova’s first animation faculties for three universities: the Technical University of Moldova, Ion Creanga Pedagogical University, and Moldova’s Academy of Music, Theater, and Fine Arts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a crazy, scary, and hard time,\u201d he remembers. Each programme differs: Ion Creanga’s programme is more for those interested in advertisements or teaching animation, while the Technical University emphasizes animated movies and the game industry more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/em>Animation director and teacher Lev Voloshin is hopeful about Moldovan animation<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In his view, the hardest part of teaching is not technical. The programmes and tools are constantly changing; anyone can learn them online. The real challenge is storytelling and understanding the, \u201cphysics of the drama,\u201d as Lev calls it. \u201cWe have the passion for animation but not enough people,\u201d Voloshin says. \u201cThat’s why we need to focus on creativity and storytelling.\u201d Moldova couldn’t compete with the vast number of specialists coming up in Asia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I joined Voloshin during one session with three second-year animation students. Sitting around the table in a modern grey room at a creative media technology hub, Mediacor, the students show Voloshin what they’ve created. Some were nervously twitching their fingers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis year was quite hard and nerve-wracking,\u201d Valeria, one of Moldova\u2019s first animation students, says. \u201cBut we have a great group of students.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They tell me their professors learned animation by themselves or studied abroad. Ana was ready to move abroad, too, but she heard about the new animation faculty at the Technical University of Moldova. She stayed but is worried about the competition in the animation field once she graduates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here come the awards<\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The first awards are coming in already. In May this year, Moldovan director Oleg Condrea won the Cannes 7th Art Awards for the best script for a dramatic short film, Tangled Tails, about a wise dog who faces serious problems.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Moldova, animation is more accessible than making movies,\u201d Condrea tells me. \u201cNo need for actors or studios, high mountaintops, or the ocean. A great idea is enough. And if you make it in English, it can become an international movie.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople who make [live action] movies in Moldova have difficulty going international, especially if it’s very specific and cultural. With animation, anyone can empathise with a character no matter where they live.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt opens the stage for the market and a bigger arena for the audience,\u201d Condrea adds. \u201cYou have more tools to connect with people.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Award-winning director Oleg Condrea showcasing his work at Animest, an animation festival. Photo: Animest<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Growing up in Moldova, with limited opportunities, young people had to find ways to get creative. Condrea was a skateboarder, but there were no skateparks in Moldova\u2019s capital when he grew up. So he and his friends used to build obstacles or use stairs and anything they found in the city to do sports.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo when I came into animation, I did the same: just used what I could,\u201d he says. He was learning on his own and from mentors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hard, or easy?<\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Condrea says that animation is either \u201creally hard\u201d or \u201creally easy\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnyone with a vision can express themselves. It’s not all craftsmanship. Sometimes it’s just the visual. Or the tempo of the movie that attracts you. Sometimes it’s the feeling. Animation is easy if you stay true to yourself and your voice. It could also be hard because you must believe that what you want to say is valuable. You constantly change and make your ideas better.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd yet, you must pretend they are already good when you show them to the audience. If you can walk on those two extremes, you can find peace. If something feels hard, I ask myself if it’s natural to me. Forcing something upon yourself and wondering why you fail is part of the problem.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Condrea says that the appeal of animation in Moldova is the opportunity it offers to create world and characters. “Do you want to travel the world, show what you’ve dreamed of, and put it on the screen?\u201d Animation, he suggests, does that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A teacher of animation for two years, Condrea says that in his classrooms he sees people who are, \u201cmuch smarter than I was at their age\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt forces me to think better. Sometimes, I tell them about my achievements, and they tell me it’s a good starting point. That’s amazing! They will be the future of animation in Moldova or the world. They can answer questions about social dilemmas, morality, and the technical part of drawing,\u201d Condrea says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everybody loves animation<\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

In animation, Condrea suggests, you have to be creative; your idea has to be worth it.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI cannot invent a character that sits on a chair for 20 minutes. I struggle to make scenes dramatic sometimes. How do you make a scene with someone sitting on a chair dramatic? In animation, a composition or a physical movement does more than a facial expression.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSometimes, it\u2019s just how you move the camera or the light. But it\u2019s rewarding. It’s like knowing many different languages at once. But the bottom line is, if you have already caught the audience’s attention, you have to say something valuable.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lev Voloshin believes that if his country\u2019s passion for animation can be turned into great stories, then one day, Moldova could become, \u201cthe Moldovawood of animation.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s his secret dream. Why? \u201cBecause everybody loves animation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Unlike many news and information platforms, Emerging Europe<\/em> is free to read, and always will be. There is no paywall here. We are independent, not affiliated with nor representing any political party or business organisation. We want the very best for emerging Europe, nothing more, nothing less. Your support will help us continue to spread the word about this amazing region.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can contribute here<\/a>. Thank you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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