Hollywood in Ludwigsburg: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and the Academy of Performing Arts Baden-Württemberg welcome their new students

“This is a great opportunity to find out who you are and what you have to say.”

— Campus opening guest Henry Selick | renowned Stop Motion Director

“Radikale Töchter” kickoff the new academic year

— Workshops on action art: "Encouraging Dialogue"

 

Joint Press Release of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Animationsinstitut and the Academy of Performing Arts Baden-Württemberg

Ludwigsburg, 23 September 2024

 

 

Today marked the beginning of the new academic year 2024/25 at the Academy of Performing Arts Baden Württemberg (ADK), the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg (FABW) and its Animationsinstitut. This morning, Prof. Ludger Engels (Creative Director and CEO of ADK), Prof. Thomas Schadt (Director of FABW) and Dr. Jan Pinkava (Head of the Animationsinstitut) went on stage at ADK to welcome their new students. During campus opening week, the academies collaborate in joint workshops and events, strengthening the relationships between students of all disciplines. This creates connections that promote creative work and discourse and create space for innovation.

 

The ADK and FABW are delighted to welcome renowned Director Henry Selick to Ludwigsburg. Selick, who gave the campus opening speech today, is one of the leading creative talents of stop motion animated film, whose work has had an enthusiastic fan base for more than thirty years. Selick encouraged the new students in his speech: “This is your time to dive deep, experiment, learn, live and do great stuff.”. In addition, he presented a retrospective of some of his work and career and answered questions from the audience.

 

A “Hollywood outsider” with an uncompromising spirit, Henry Selick has repeatedly realised distinctive, original films over the course of his unorthodox career. His work is characterised by an unsentimental, sometimes disturbing, sensibility, often with rebellious, non-conformist protagonists. Henry Selick’s films appeal to a wide audience, while maintaining strong artistic integrity. His feature films include THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993), JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH (1996), CORALINE (2009) and WENDELL AND WILD (2022). The Filmakademie is looking forward to two days with Henry Selick, during which he will give the students further insights into his career and share his knowledge in lectures and mentoring sessions.

 

Over the following four days the new students at ADK and FABW will take part in a campus opening workshop, organised by the collective “Radikale Töchter” (Radical Daughters). After hosting a very successful workshop last year, they make a return to campus, revitalizing the urgent spirit of political action art with the students. This year’s workshop is led by Radical Daughters Josephin Haardt and Johanna Koetter and will deal with freedom of speech, tolerance of ambiguity and encouraging dialogue.

 

“Radikale Töchter” is well known for their effective and unusual form of political participation as well as their workshops on political action art, creative activism, aesthetics and impact. They focus on preserving the values of our democratic society and facing the ecological challenges of our time. The workshop’s results will be presented internally.