TALENT Surreal Sander Joon

SanderSurreal

Sander Joon’s short films Velodrool, Moulinet, and Sounds Good have all received multiple awards at different festivals. The young animator speaks about his latest work, Sierra, which premiered at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.

Watching Sierra, the first word that popped into my mind was “surreal”. How would you describe your style? I strive for surrealist absurdism, which Estonian animation is known for. It’s something I like to watch myself and it seems that the viewers enjoy it as well, since it is fun and interesting. I also focus on dynamics and rhythm. Sound is also very important to me – it should complement what you see, create a new sensation together with it. I mostly use sounds you don’t hear in real life, which is something that fascinates me about animation. someone must win. In a short format, it is very important to get the point across quickly, and most people already know the rules of sport. I don’t do or watch much sport myself, but it gets my ideas flowing creatively.

Will Sierra then be targeted at the fans of Ott Tänak (a famous Estonian rally driver – ed.)?

I was just about to ask, where your love of sports comes from, because your debut Velodrool is about cycling, and now Sierra is based on car racing. Haha. I hope that some of Tänak’s fans will discover the film, and will also get acquainted with Estonian animation. I hope they will not be disappointed.

Your films don’t adhere to logic or narrative in a strict sense. What does the creative process look like? I guess the closest parallel could be free writing. It is difficult for me to describe where an idea stems from. I do often end up on the topic of sport, although I don’t really know why. I suppose I like the fact that sport has its own set of rules, which I can then start breaking. There’s an end goal and a conflict, the film. It also ended up on a TV show on biking, so the topic itself took it in unexpected directions.

I think it’s mostly subconscious. Sport just provides a good ground for dynamics and absurdity. There is also the advantage of each sport having its own set of fans. Many people ride bikes and had a personal attachment to Velodrool. As it turned out, there are quite a few bike film festivals around the world, which screened

Where does the title come from?

Sander Joon’s rally-themed short animation Sierra pulls us into the surreal car racing world. Sierra is inspired by the relationship between me and my father. A red Ford Sierra was my first car, handed from person to person in our family. When I got the car for myself, it was a way of showing my father I had grown up and was finally ready to drive myself. Sierra also refers to mountains, and there is also a mountain in the film, symbolizing a sort of chasm between the parents and their son.

Joon’s first three films Velodrool (2015), Moulinet (2017), and Sounds Good (2018) have all been successful at international animation festivals.

“My inspiration comes from all over the place, partly from Estonia, partly from Europe, partly from America,” says Sander Joon. How much does the film reflect your relations to your father in real life? He has always loved motors, but when younger, he was also interested in making films. He mostly enjoys the technical process, which I have inherited from him. This is what brought me to animation. When I was growing up, my father mostly worked on cars, which I didn’t really connect with. Driving the Ford Sierra was a sort of initiation ritual – finally we had something to talk about. I guess many Estonian sons have similar experiences. The father might be a wonderful craftsman, but his child is interested in something else. I had a fear of not being cool enough for my father, but now I understand he respects what I do.

There is also some animation in Sierra which my father made when he was 16 years old in 1980, before I was even born. At the back of my mind I always had the idea of someday using it.

Animation is sometimes haunted by the expectation it’s mostly aimed at children. Do you have an age or a target group in mind for your films? I think I mostly make them for people my own age, so I can’t really say how older or younger audiences react to it. I do think children enjoy the spectacle, and I also try to avoid any characters dying, although it would be an easy route to achieve a dramatic impact.

Films are often evaluated either on viewing numbers, awards, or critical ratings. In that sense, you have put yourself in a doubly difficult position, since neither animation not marketed at children, nor short films, usually gain wider attention. How do you evaluate the success of the film? The most important aspect for me is if it makes it to the festivals, the programming decisions of which I respect. Getting to Clermont was already a big achievement for me. The reaction from the festival community and the animation community is something I am most looking forward to.

Speaking about international attention, you were involved in creating a clip for the series Rick and Morty. How did that come about? Oh, I almost fell off my chair when I got that email! I was thinking this can’t be for real.

Almost like a letter from a Nigerian prince leaving you a large sum of money? Exactly! I had just watched the show, which I still consider to be the best animated series in the world. The proposition came thanks to my student film Velodrool, which had been chosen as a staff pick on the Vimeo platform. The producer of Rick and Morty was searching for different indie-animators from there and found me. I was given the last frame of one animator and had to give my last frame to another. I was given no restrictions and they

Sierra

went with the idea I proposed. That was a wonderful collaboration.

Estonian film has gone through a generation change during the past decade or so. However, it hasn’t really been so with animation. The older wellknown generation – Priit Pärn, Mati Kütt, Heiki Ernits, Janno Põldma, Rao Heidmets – are mostly well into their sixties at least. Then there’s a long gap with only perhaps Kaspar Jancis, Priit Tender, and Ülo Pikkov standing out, and then it’s basically the generation in their early thirties starting out. Why is that? I have pondered the same question. On paper, we have ten or so animation directors graduating each year. They all get their driving license, but don’t end up driving. The technical side of things is the most difficult, and it’s not easy to stand out from the crowd. I am interested in technology, so I do as much as possible myself, even if no one helps me. I think in very practical terms, so as not get stuck behind technical barriers. It’s a mindset that needs to be nurtured in young people. I don’t think there is a lack of will or ideas, and there are quite a few interesting young animation artists coming through, but it’s mostly about technical courage. There is no such thing as an impossible idea. You basically have a tutorial for anything on YouTube.

Sierra

Estonian animation has had a very distinct style. It also seems to me it has hindered progress in some sense, with little technical innovation coming through, and computer animation being sometimes frowned upon. It’s a broader fear of animations looking too mainstream, reminiscent of a commercial. I don’t think everything has to be done by hand, computer animation provides so many new opportunities. At the same time, it has its own limitations that stop motion animation does not. Both have their own charm.

Your films seem to bridge a gap between the surrealist tradition of Estonian animation and current technological means.

Sander was involved in creating a clip for the series Rick and Morty. The proposition to take part in that seemed unreal to him at first, because he considers it to be the best animated series in the world. You are at a stage in your career where you have proved yourself with short films. The logical next step would be feature length format. What do you plan on doing next?

My inspiration comes from all over the place, partly from Estonia, partly from Europe, partly from America. I watch very different things and try to create something similar in some way. To differentiate myself, I seek out new possibilities rather than only sticking to hand drawn animation. I also try to create something that might have international appeal. On the other hand, Estonian stop motion animation has achieved such a high level due to it being consistently developed for a long time. Luckily, they are now incorporating new techniques, new styles and new artists such as Jonas Taul.

There is no such thing as an impossible idea. You basically have a tutorial for anything on YouTube.

I will not exclude the possibility of going feature length, but at the moment I’m not really sure that is the next step for me. I feel that what I like to do works best in a shorter format. A feature length film would require a stricter structure to keep the viewer’s attention. With short films I like the ability to experiment and try out things you wouldn’t hang a feature length film on.

Maybe a TV series then, Estonia’s own Rick and Morty? Haha, why not! It’s not a simpler solution as a season for TV runs for longer than a feature length film, but there are more opportunities to break the rules. EF