Saturday

September 30, 2023

Animation Preview

GVSU Visual and Media Arts animation and new media students share their explorations of various forms and mediums, including rotoscoping, Stop Motion and 3D pre-visualization. This reel will precede each feature.

Drawn Together: Comics, Diversity, and Stereotypes

2018 [52min]

With a lively backdrop of superheroes, comic books, and animated comics, DRAWN TOGETHER brings together three talented artists—a Sikh, a woman, and an African American—who are challenging the racist stereotyping currently endemic in America through their work.

The documentary provides the rare opportunity to explore the subjects of race, gender, and religion stereotyping through the universally popular medium of comic books and cartoons. DRAWN TOGETHER boldly encourages viewers to unlearn stereotyping, look beyond the obvious, and confront media prejudices—all through an uncommon and inherently engaging everyday source.

11:00 a.m.

LIB Lab 001

Funny Ladies: A Portrait of Women Cartoonists

1991 [46min]

Why are so few women in the comics pages? That question becomes even more provocative as we watch four smart and witty role models -- Cathy Guisewite, Nicole Hollander, Lynda Barry and "Brenda Starr's" Dale Messick -- share their creative process. Viewers will find themselves looking at the comics, and the world, in a new way.

12 Noon

LIB Lab 001

My Comic Shop Country

2019 [1hr 25min]

Comic book characters are box office gold, but why do comic book stores struggle to survive? In MY COMIC SHOP COUNTRY, filmmaker Anthony Desiato sets out on a quest to explore the culture, business, and fandom of comic shops across America. Venturing behind the scenes in stores from coast to coast, he reveals an industry in transition as shops strive to remain relevant to the growing hordes of fans of movies, online gaming and mega-conventions. The film is a heartfelt exploration of the power of comic shops to build a community that honors the original form of the superhero: the comic book. 

1:00 p.m.

LIB Lab 001

Dear Mr. Watterson

2013 [1hr 30min]

Calvin & Hobbes dominated the Sunday comics in thousands of newspapers for over 10 years, having a profound effect on millions of readers across the globe. When the strip’s creator, Bill Watterson, retired the strip on New Year’s Eve in 1995, devoted readers everywhere felt the void left by the departure of Calvin, Hobbes, and Watterson’s other cast of characters, and many fans would never find a satisfactory replacement.

Mr. Watterson has inspired and influenced millions of people through Calvin & Hobbes. Newspaper readership and book sales can be tracked and recorded, but the human impact he has had and the value of his art are perhaps impossible to measure.

3:00 p.m.

LIB Lab 001