"Creative, dramatic and lovingly crafted. A must see for fans of animation...this fantastic pair of discs easily comes recommended." -Randy Miller III, DVDtalk

"I whole-heartedly recommend picking up Priestley's anthology. Either that, or encourage your local library to purchase a copy so you can borrow it (with the added benefit of allowing the rest of the community to see it, as well)." -Greg Singer, Animation Magazine

"Packed with high-quality transfers and fun bonus features, her unique animated films are full of compelling themes dealing with gender, love, aging, human rights and candy (!)."
-Jerry Beck, Cartoon Brew

"She tackles the cosmic questions with humor." Ted Mahar, The Oregonian

"Watching the nearly 20 different films assembled on these two DVDs is testament to the breadth of Priestley's talents. She is a comic storyteller and a conceptual painter, her work full of optimism but unafraid to confront the darkness." -Brian Libby, Willamette Week

"Ranging from hand sketched figures to digitally drawn landscapes, Priestley animated imaginative and personally inspired worlds." Therine Youngblood, Release Print

"...there always emerges a kind of warmth in the stories she shares. " -Greg Singer, Animation Magazine
"Joanna Priestley is one of the most interesting and adept personal animators and filmmakers. I have enjoyed her work for years. You have to see this." -Gus Van Sant

"I love Joanna's films. They're brilliant, inventive and amazing. She's the queen of independent animation." -Bill Plympton

"In Joanna Priestley's beautiful films, each frame is alive with invention, possibility and delight." -Richard Peña New York Film Festival, Program Director Film Society of Lincoln Center

“Joanna Priestley's amazing body of animated films have deservedly earned their place in the pantheon of contemporary international animators. Inventively visioned, superbly crafted, and rich with insight into the physical and spiritual dilemmas that confront us all, each new work provides an unexpected pleasure.” -Bill Foster, Director, Northwest Film Center

“Superb, contemporary animated film. Delightful!” -Marv Newland

“Imaginative, witty and energetic. Pure delight!” -Melinda Ward, Walker Art Center

Further Information:

Big Bonus Materials:

Relative Orbits - 13:30 documentary
A documentary tour of Priestley's studio and a look at the artwork from After the Fall and Hand Held.

Amazons and Ingenues - 12:00 documentary
A behind the scenes look at how Voices, She-Bop, Pro and Con and Grown Up were made.

Image and Reference Gallery
Everything you need in 14 fabulous pages!

A project of Creative Capital

Catalog Number: MC-387	Type: Shorts Compilation	Genre: Animation
Copyright: 2005	Length: 80 minutes	Format:  DVD  Region: 0 (All)
TV System: NTSC	ISBN:	UPC/EAN: 880198038791
Label: Priestley Motion Pictures

Wholesale Purchasing: Program MC-387 is available for wholesale from Microcinema DVD. Contact info[at]microcinema.com or call at +1-415-447-9750

Exhibition: Microcinema is not authorized to represent this title for exhibition. Write us for this contact information.

Films In Compilation

2006-09-29  Willamette Weekly By Brian Libby Relative Orbits, focuses on older works, although, sadly, her enjoyable video to Tears For Fears' song "Sowing the Seeds of Love" is missing. The hand-drawn Voices (1985) is a surprisingly personal account of the filmmaker's phobias. Candyjam (1988) was co-directed with another Portland animation legend, Joan Gratz, and is a collaborative affair featuring the work of 10 filmmakers from four countries portraying various sugary confections. Priestley and Gratz also collaborated on Pro and Con, a rare animated work with a social conscience that explores people on both sides of the bars in America's prison system. Another more personal effort, All My Relations from 1990, takes the viewer through the peaks and valleys of Priestley's romantic life. Watching the nearly 20 different films assembled on these two DVDs is a testament to the breadth of Priestley's talents, for she has employed virtually every type of animation, be it primitive or state-of-the-art. She is a comic storyteller and a conceptual painter, her work full of optimism but unafraid to confront the darkness. Because short films never make it to the multiplex, Priestley may never be a household name to most mainstream moviegoers. But as she enters her third decade of animated filmmaking, one can't help but look forward to seeing her work continue to evolve.

2006-09-29  Animation World Magazine By Greg Singer The world does not want for creativity. People are inherently creative beings, whether as cooks, gardeners or artists. The limiting ingredient is, if not time or resourcefulness, most often money. The common perception is that big time animation has its center in Los Angeles — after all, that’s where the money is — and that indie animation has its fingers dug into the gritty scene of New York City. In the United States, Los Angeles and New York are the foci of the entertainment business, whether one is doing television, features, commercials or public service announcements. And yet, in the forgotten outposts of other cities and towns, the lamp of animation burns just as brightly. Paul Fierlinger comes to mind, having worked as an independent animator for the last 30 years in Philadelphia. And, with the recent release of her two-disc DVD anthology — Fighting Gravity and Relative Orbits — Portland animator Joanna Priestley also deserves a note of celebration for her 20 years of experimental film. Opening up the anthology, Priestley does not waste any time: a paper insert falls into your lap, and happily reports, “How to Make an Independent Animated Film.” The ideas and inspirations are a dime a dozen. But where is the magic genie to fund the project? For those willing to investigate and pursue fellowships and sponsorships, there is hope. Now, Priestley’s films are largely experimental in nature, meaning she is more concerned with the technique and process of creating her work than in remaining beholden to narrative expectations. So, switch your thinking caps. As she animates candy, meat, glass and sculpture, in addition to such mundane media as watercolor and pastel drawings, there always emerges a kind of warmth in the stories she shares. Priestley’s artistic origins were as a printmaker and painter, and her first film was made using rubber stamps. She says that she has been strongly influenced by the work of Canadian animator Norman McLaren whose films were each different, technically and thematically, covering everything from mathematics to dance. Since each short film (5-7 min.) takes upwards of two to five years to create, Priestley continually explores and challenges her own imagination through subject matter that is personally rewarding. The 16 short films and four mini-documentaries of the anthology comprise almost two-and-a-half hours of viewing. Relative Orbits has eight of Priestley’s earlier films, and Fighting Gravity has eight of her newer works. All My Relations (1990) utilizes drawings on index cards to satirize the pitfalls of romance, upward mobility and other dilemmas of buying into the American dream. As a characteristic of much of her work, Priestley likes to frame her animation within a pixilated milieu of found objects or the organic world. In part, this technique adds another layer of possible meaning to the animation, though, more simply, Priestley is interested in the boundaries of things, where realities meet and come together. Regardless, All My Relations leaves a knowing smile on one’s face. (The film was supported by a grant from the American Film Institute in association with the National Endowment for the Arts.) Pro and Con (1992) is an interesting collaboration with Joan Gratz, briefly discussing the world of our penitentiary system and the need for reform. A corrections officer offers her pro(fessional) perspective, and an inmate offers his con(vict) perspective. The film uses a variety of techniques including object animation, puppets, drawings on paper and clay, and includes self-portraits and contraband weapons and crafts confiscated from inmates. Some of the puppets were made out of gum wrappers and chunks of paint. (The film was funded through the Metropolitan Arts Commission of Multnomah County, Oregon.) Grown Up (1993) is also a highlight of Priestley’s compilation of classic films, humorously discussing the wonders and horrors of, egad, becoming middle-aged. At the ancient age of 40, issues of friendship, career and body are somehow more poignant, yet the narrator remarks at her relative amazement for how alive, comfortable and brave she feels in her autumn years. (The film was produced through a grant from the Independent Television Service, with additional funding through Western States Regional Media Arts Fellowship.)

	Animated Films by Karen Aqua (1954-2011) MC-1277, 2011 This collection of award-winning animated films was created by independent filmmaker Karen Aqua (1954-2011). Populated with figures “spawned from a mating between Matisse cutouts and carvings on Incan tombs,” these films explore transformation... more >	$US 16.96$US 19.95 Educational Sales Format: DVD, NTSC
	Avoid Eye Contact Volume II MC-519, 2005 New York City is a place of constant change, invention and chaos; Avoid Eye Contact sums up these urban qualities in animated terms. Avoid Eye Contact Volume 2 continues to explore the thriving contemporary independent scene going on in New... more >	$US 16.99$US 19.99 Educational Sales Format: DVD, NTSC
	Fighting Gravity MC-386, 2005 Brand New Films! Two Documentaries! "Creative, dramatic and lovingly crafted. A must see for fans of animation...this fantastic pair of discs easily comes recommended." -Randy Miller III, DVDtalk "I whole-heartedly recommend picking up... more >	$US 16.96$US 19.95 Educational Sales Format: DVD, NTSC

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