The mascot of FFF 2004 is a cloth puppet, Discroll, holding two tiny children as if they were his eyes. Discroll, who may be the artist’s or the audience’s voice, says: “I have surrendered to their point of view, now I see like children”. An exhortation to recover astonishment, wonder and a sense of the fantastic.

Michael Dumontier (Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1974) has worked in partnership with Drue Langlois. Both were members from 1996 to 2008 of The Royal Art Lodge, a group that produces drawings, videos, music and a wide variety of other objects. Dumontier has recently exhibited at the Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New York; Perugi Artecontemporanea, Padua; Galeria Espacio Minimo, Madrid; Aliceday, Brussels and CCA Andratx, Mallorca.

“From a young age, animated cinema has had a profound and lasting influence on me. Lately, artists such as the great Hayao Miyazaki have given me hope that beauty still exists in the world.”

Michael Dumontier