129 – Tribute to André Martin at the National Animation Film Festival
- Clément Martin
- Apr 16
- 7 min read
The 32nd National Animation Film Festival has now come to a close. After six days filled with short and feature-length films, exhibitions, pitches, conferences... and a tribute session dedicated to André Martin. For those who were unable to attend or wish to learn more, here are some key highlights from the session, along with... the trailer for the short films!
Clément Martin delivered a 30-minutes conference presenting his father’s career, supported by numerous archival images to illustrate André Martin’s prolific work. The presentation included an overview of the films screened, placing them within the chronological context.
This conference was followed by the screening of four films by André Martin:
Demain Paris (Tomorrow’s Paris) Michel BOSCHET, André MARTIN | France | Original French | 1959 | 16 min | Color | Produced by Les Films Roger Leenhardt
Commissioned by the French Ministry of Construction, this film traces the history of Paris’s development and the planned projects for the Île-de-France region. It offers a forward-looking vision of urbanization from that era.
Produced by Roger Leenhardt, the film already brought together the future team of Films Martin-Boschet—including René Foin, Michel Roudevitch, Julien Pappé, Jacques Leroux, and Manuel Otero. The animation style evokes that of UPA during its golden years in the early 1950s, before the shift to mass production for television.
The film reflects André Martin’s distinct interests:
His passion for history, art, and architecture;
His dedication to writing, as seen in the film’s verse texts;
His fascination with the future and foresight;
A lingering sense of humor.
Patamorphose ou le désespoir du peintre (Patamorphose, or The Painter’s Despair) André Martin and Michel Boschet | France | 1960 | 17 min | Music: Geneviève Martin
A painter in the Luxembourg Garden attempts to capture the palace on canvas. Played by Michel Boschet, the painter struggles—with comic difficulty—to complete his work.
Patamorphose presents a series of scenes showcasing various frame-by-frame filmmaking techniques, all delivered in a burlesque and entertaining style. The film underscores André Martin’s enduring passion for technique, whether in animation or all forms of image production.
André Martin collaborated with the RTF (French radio and television) Research Department from its inception by Pierre Schaeffer in late 1959. There, he gave lectures, produced experimental broadcasts, and created animated film. Extensive excerpts from "Patamorphose" were later featured in two television programs, "Le Septième Art Bis", produced by the Research Department and hosted by Michel Boschet and André Martin. These programs are a treasure, embodying the spirit of the "Journées du Cinéma", and we hope to screen them soon in this centennial year.
Mais où sont les neiges d'antan (Where Are the Snows of Yesteryear? ) Michel Boschet and André Martin | 1962 | 16 min | Music: Geneviève Martin
In the early 1960s, André Martin worked under the auspices of UNESCO on projects and conferences exploring folk and ethnographic music in cinema.
Where Are the Snows of Yesteryear? addresses copyright protection and cultural diversity, a theme he developed during his work with UNESCO.
This film was a co-production between the RTF (French radio and television) Research Department, Argos Films, and Films Martin-Boschet. It won the Émile Cohl Award in 1963.
An ethnographer travels to a small African village, where he records local sounds and music—only to exploit them for his own profit.
The film offers a forward-looking perspective (for its time) on the cultural and economic role of African music within global music.
This time, the graphic style evokes the work of Faith and John Hubley, particularly in its backgrounds, reminiscent of films like "Seven Lively Arts".
A Title Change
Where Are the Snows of Yesteryear? is a line from a 15th-century poem by François Villon, later quoted by Rabelais in the 16th century in "Pantagruel". But what does this have to do with a film about Sub-Saharan African folk music?
The answer is simple: it’s an inverted pun by André Martin. The film’s original title was "Mais où sont les nègres d'antan" ("Where Are the Blacks of Yesteryear?"). In french "nègre" and "neige" sounds nearly the same.
The word "nègre" is now considered racist, though this was not the case during the time of Aimé Césaire (1913–2008), the Martinican writer, former president of the Regional Council of Martinique, and advocate of "négritude"—a movement that affirmed a distinct cultural identity in opposition to the French culture imposed by colonization.
To avoid offending anyone and to prevent this beautiful film from being censored due to its title, the rights holders and Argos Films decided to reverse the pun in the title.
This reversal has an absurd, even pataphysical quality, something André Martin himself would likely have appreciated. It playfully nods to the challenges that sometimes arise when preserving a heritage that helps us better understand the present.
Maison Vole André Martin, Philippe Quéau | France | 1983 | 2 min | Color | Music: Geneviève Martin
A passionate advocate for "new digital images" at a time when animation professionals largely ignored them, André Martin, alongside the Institut National de l'Audiovisuel (INA) and Sogitec, created a demonstration film using 3D animation. Both narrative and poetic, the film was entirely synthetic (images and music), produced using a flight simulator for the visuals and the IRCAM’s 4X system for the music, composed by Geneviève Martin.
This film was created using the Sogitec flight simulator, which was not designed for animation production. With tools that would now be considered rudimentary compared to today’s technology, the Sogitec team managed to adapt the simulator to produce this film, leveraging André Martin’s directorial expertise to craft a feasible narrative.
André Martin was determined to demonstrate the potential of digital animation systems at a time when the winds were far from favorable. He founded the "Forum des Nouvelles Images" in Monte Carlo in 1981, which later became "Imagina". History has proven him right...
We can only wonder what he would have thought about the use of generative AI techniques in image creation. Don’t we need a new vision to integrate these tools into the creative process while preserving the unique value of human craftsmanship? It’s up to today’s creators to invent that vision... or not.
The legacy now belongs to the young.
Florentine Grelier, a filmmaker and animation teacher at Institut Sainte-Geneviève, presented the ongoing work of students at the institute, including a teaser for six animated shorts about André Martin’s career, which she edited. These shorts are currently in production with students, with post-production set to wrap up in May.
The students had to navigate chronological constraints, extensive documentation, multimedia elements, and the challenge of portraying an extraordinary figure to bring their project to life.
Thanks to them and their teachers, we can already enjoy this teaser while we wait for the six finished shorts!
Florentine Grelier then presented the stages of the students’ work during a screening of their video mapping projects. These projects, completed in the first term, explored the use of text in animation and were based on articles written by André Martin.
Acknowledgments
Behind these logos are the women and men who made this tribute to André Martin possible.GAMCA Animation warmly thanks:
The teams of AFCA, and in particular Isabelle Vanini and Jeanne Frommer, who made this tribute session possible;
The teaching teams of Institut Sainte-Geneviève (DNMADe ANIM-OBJET), and especially Florentine Grelier and Anne Le Tallec, for their commitment and camaraderie;
The second-year students of Institut Sainte-Geneviève (DNMADe Cinéma d'Animation au service du réel), for their creative work on André Martin’s career and archives;
Actress Pénélope Martin for voicing the teaser;
FRL Productions and Antoine Jezequel for the screening of "Demain Paris";
ARGOS Films and Ellen Schafer for the screenings of:
"Patamorphose ou le désespoir du peintre"
"Mais où sont les neiges d'Antan"
The use of an excerpt from "La Joconde ou l'histoire d'une obsession" by Henri Gruel in the teaser for the animated shorts;
Institut National de l'Audiovisuel (INA) and Sophie Le Goff for:
Providing and screening the digital copy of "Maison Vole";
The use of INA archive excerpts for the teaser and animated shorts;
Forum des Images for providing digital copies of:
"Demain Paris"
"Patamorphose ou le désespoir du peintre"
"Mais où sont les neiges d'Antan"
Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée (CNC) and Sophie Le Tétour for the restoration and digitization of "Poste en souffrance" and permission to use an excerpt in the teaser and animated shorts;
CITIA and Jean-Baptiste Garnero for permission to digitize and use "Poste en souffrance" in the animated shorts;
Jean-Baptiste Garnero for digitizing sound archives of Geneviève Martin and for his support and guidance in archival classification and enhancement over the past 10 years;
The heirs of Michel Boschet and André Martin for their trust and permission to use their parents’ and grandparents’ creations;
And, of course, Geneviève and André Martin, incredible parents, for the precious legacy they left us.
The work for the centenary of André Martin’s birth by GAMCA Animation is not yet complete. The association and its partners are preparing new surprises for you!
#andremartin #festivalnationaldufilmdanimation #institutsaintegenevieve #afca #frlproductions #argosfilms #cnc #ina #citia #genevievemartin #forumdesimages #gamcaanimation
More to read (in french)
(2) 62 Des journées patrimoniales particulières
(3) 16 naissance-du-cinéma-informatique-1ère-partie Des pionnières et des pionniers
23 Naissance du cinéma Informatique 2e partie : Les années 60 et les pionniers du numérique.
(4) 46 Maison Vole : L'envolée a 40 ans !
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