134 - Centenary of André Martin – Thierry Steff tells us: The Man Who Spoke to Pixels.
Passionate about animation, Thierry Steff, creator of "Banc-Titre" (a pioneering magazine on animation and precursor to Blink-Blank), and co-founder of "Dreamland Éditions"—which notably published Bernard Clarens’ volume on André Martin—honors us with his testimony about André Martin in an article marking the events surrounding the centenary of André Martin’s birth.
Discovering André Martin
In 1969, as a young enthusiast and newcomer to the world of animation, I discovered André Martin—just like many others—through his writings in Cahiers du Cinéma and numerous other magazines. These publications praised the "seventh art’s lesser-known cousin" with as much passion as erudition. The man knew his field inside out and shared it with fervor. My first revelation came when I realized that animation didn’t begin and end with a certain Walt D. Across the globe, there were creators like John Hubley, John Halas, Jiří Trnka, Norman McLaren, Paul Grimault, Berthold Bartosch, Chuck Jones, and countless others who had been working in their own corners for decades, deserving far more than a passing glance.
André Martin was inexhaustible. He passed on his passion and culture with such fervor—this is what I loved about him. It’s what sent me wandering for hours through secondhand bookshops, hunting down his texts.
Annecy 77: A Prescient “Off” Screening
In May 1977, I had my second encounter with André Martin, this time “live.” It took place during the RICA (Rencontres internationales du cinéma d’animation, held in Annecy in even-numbered years), at the Vox cinema, just a stone’s throw from the old casino—some may remember it. It was a very late screening, around 11 p.m., an “off” screening, presenting, in a selection made by André Martin, who was then a member of the festival jury, a large number of short films that had been rejected by the official selection. They had been deemed incompatible with the established and widely accepted dogmas of frame-by-frame filmmaking.
That evening, André Martin presented the selection and explained his choices, arguing that this was the future of animation: that its future lay in the analysis of the image, even down to the grain (we were still working with film), and soon, the pixel, as computers were beginning to make their way into frame-by-frame filmmaking.
Visionary, without a doubt, he was. And standing before the passionate and well-informed enthusiast I had become (as a member of AFCA, I had had the opportunity to get to know his colleague Michel Boschet), he opened my eyes to new possibilities for filmmaking and creative work. This vision of the future was bold and risky—and very poorly received, because within the industry, the most established professionals were doing everything they could to resist it.
This perspective became a taboo and was dismissed with contempt: “Snow White will never come out of a computer.” And yet…
That evening featured all kinds of films, few of them computer-generated because the technology was still far too expensive at the time. Films that could have been classified as experimental, random, exploratory, or even downright careless… Haha! What a programme it was, nonetheless.
The finger was firmly placed on the question that made people uncomfortable: “What is animation? What is an image?”
Only André Martin could have dared to shake up the anthill like that—and he knew it. He relished it…
Like a disciple of a new creed, he seemed to be spreading the word, convinced that his vision belonged to a future far closer than anyone could imagine. His open-mindedness and visionary spirit profoundly unsettled me, yet ultimately won me over. Time has shown that he was far from wrong about the future.
GAMCA Animation note: In the late 1970s, André Martin published a lengthy article on computer-generated imagery, retracing the history and state of the art of computer imagery, both analog and digital. (1)
A Trip to Quebec—and a Poster!
September 1977. I had a second encounter with A. Martin—an immaterial one this time—during a trip to Quebec organized by AFCA and OFQG (2).
The trip was filled with all kinds of encounters and discoveries, including a meeting with Norman McLaren at the NFB. I was completely immersed in happiness.
But another particular encounter also left its mark on the trip: a visit to the Cinémathèque québécoise, where I met its director, Louise Baudet. A wonderful, open-minded and passionate woman, with whom I immediately connected, and with whom I would go on to form a friendship—and, above all, a deep mutual respect.
But the icing on the cake was what I brought home from that visit: a remarkable poster entitled “The Genealogy of the Origins of American Animated Film,” a synoptic chart designed by André Martin several years earlier for the World’s Fair in Montreal.
A unique masterpiece of synthesis by a historian.
Three years later, I would reproduce my own version of it in my magazine Banc-Titre, No. 5–6.
Later, he would turn down my idea of creating a version devoted to French cinema. A pity, but I understand: André Martin had other things on his mind and could not go back over the past. It would be up to me to take up the baton, if I felt so inclined…
A Forum for the New Images
Animation was changing at breakneck speed; it was evolving. In 1981, digital animation got its own festival in Monte-Carlo, created by André Martin, which became "Imagina" in 1986.
My magazine "Banc-Titre" had already covered the event when the organizers of Imagina (the International Festival of New Images) asked the magazine to devote a substantial report to the festival—almost the entire issue. We published these reports for two consecutive years.
It was on these occasions that I first met André Martin in person: I saw him, greeted him, and shook his hand for the first time. And once again, I found myself confirmed in my view of a man who, to me, remains one of the most remarkable figures in animated cinema.
His passion, enthusiasm, curiosity, energy, and breadth of knowledge were all still very much alive. It was a lesson for me, and I remember it with great emotion…
A Book for Passing It On
Eventually, after becoming a publisher of books on cinema and animation, Bernard Clarens suggested that I publish, in 2000, a book devoted to André's writings, six years after his untimely death. I could not turn down the opportunity.
It remains one of my favorite books. A second volume was planned (3), but Dreamland was forced to close…
My magazine "Banc-Titre" had already covered the event when the organizers of Imagina (the International Festival of New Images) asked the magazine to devote a substantial report to the festival—almost the entire issue. We published these reports for two consecutive years.
It was on these occasions that I first met André Martin in person: I saw him, greeted him, and shook his hand for the first time. And once again, I found myself confirmed in my view of a man who, to me, remains one of the most remarkable figures in animated cinema.
His passion, enthusiasm, curiosity, energy, and breadth of knowledge were all still very much alive. It was a lesson for me, and I remember it with great emotion…
Thierry Steff, June 7, 2026.
(1) GAMCA Animation note:
André Martin’s article traces the creative journey that led to animation and digital imagery. There are certainly elements in this article that were previewed in that "premonitory off" program, as André Martin had a deep, comprehensive grasp of the ongoing artistic movement—its historical roots, contemporary creations, and future trajectory. Two articles on gamca.info are available in french :
16 Naissance-du-cinéma-informatique-1ère-partie Des pionnières et des pionniers https://clementmartin75.wixsite.com/cinemadanimation/post/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.
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