Montauzier 2007 – A Look Back pt. I
It was the best and worst of festivals at Angoulême this year. On the one hand, it was logistically chaotic because the exhibitor’s space had been moved to the suburb of Montauzier, a half-hour walk away from the city centre, with no restaurants, no cash machine, no trashcans, and no soul. Most of the debit for this bizarre attempt to have it both ways can be laid squarely at the doorsteps of City Hall. The same people who are obliterating one of the town’s two central squares with a butt-ugly shopping mall.
On the other hand, the festival was a triumph for comics as an art form, credit for which can pretty much totally be laid at the feet of this year’s president, Lewis Trondheim. He reformed the awards and contributed to giving them to a selection of high-quality comics, he decided to give us a gorgeous Jim Woodring-exhibition instead of the traditional retrospective normally accorded to the president (we would also have liked to see that…), he was a constant, animating presence at the festival, day and night, and it was on his watch that José Muñoz was finally awarded the Grand Prix.
I have just learned that photographer Didier Lefêvre has 
Nå, jeg kan se at vores nye format har vakt opmærksomhed ovre i 
It is about time. The Grand Prix winner of the Angoulême festival is the Argentine master José Muñoz (born 1942 in Buenos Aires). As the artist of a series of classic books written by his compatriot Carlos Sampayo : notably the noir character-driven series Alack Sinner, the masterful short story cycle set around “Joe’s Bar”, and the touching memoir Sudor Sudaca : Muñoz was one of the most important innovators of European comics in the 80s.
Just attended the on-stage interview with Charles Burns, conducted by two nincompoops. Why is it that, when French interviewers talk to American cartoonists, they always – always – have to spend precious time talking about superheroes, even when it’s completely irrelevant to the artist’s work? And why is it that they always – always – have to spend more time trying to extract the names of European cartoonists that may or may not have been influential to the artist? And why is it, when somebody – in this case Burns – has said they like Tintin, they always – always – have to spend ages discussing it? How about getting into the meat of the matter? Burns is a thoughtful and perfectly articulate guy – how about asking him some more questions about, say…Black Hole?
In time for the festival, Thierry Groensteen, Director of the national comics centre (CNBDI) here in Angoulême, and one of France’s preeminent comics historians, -theorists, has put out a collection of essays charting the cultural reception of the comics medium in France over the last half century or so. Half history book, half timely, critical commentary. It simultaneously surveys the development of publishing, amateur culture, comics criticism, curatorship and government support for comics culture, and comments on the current state of comics in French culture.
