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International without fuss | Raoul Servais (ASIFA president, 1988-93) |
Many international associations began as local organisations which grew first to a national level and then, when their activities and reputations flowed across their national borders, to their legally constituted international identities. ASIFA, however was founded without these developmental steps. It was born in France, but from the very beginning, artists from east and west, from America, Europe and Asia were involved in this first attempt to create a organisation dedicated to the art of the animated film. It was not a kind of academic society with high-brow members but rather a group of enthusiastic animation filmmakers gathering together to create the possibilities for mutual understanding, for sharing experiences and exchanging information, for possible collaboration and for coming up with the formulae which could promote the art of animation around the world.
Raoul Servais
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Independence
- moral power,
a price to pay |
Michel Ocelot (ASIFA president, 1994-1999) |
The fundamental internationalism of ASIFA
goes with a total independence. The association was formed by free individuals,
with no intervention by governments, super national bodies, commercial
enterprises. It remained this way and is free from any tie with politics
and commercialism. Its main income derive from the members' fees. Nobody
is payed within ASIFA. Its Board of Directors is elected through universal
suffrage by all members. This independence permits ASIFA to have access
to the most diverse countries, including the most antagonistic. Its moral
authority has opened many doors and eased many difficulties.
Michel Ocelot
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