How

The Tale of How is The Blackheart Gang's journey through the weirdly wonderful surrealistic Household, a world filled with cutesy creatures under the dominion of Otto, a monster who we learn was a mountain in a past realm and now wreaks havoc on the dodos as revenge for his unrequited love for a girl. The Household is completely powered by our old bath water which turns a giant cog in the centre of the universe. The Tale of How is the first installment in a trilogy of histories from The Household and will soon be followed by two more chapters. Stories of The Tale of How being the original work of an individual known only as Rooster Bear, and not the Blackheart Gang's abound…but I digress.

There is a sincerity and ingenuity to the work that dispels the bravado associated with the BHG. How has won several awards including the Special Distinction award at the Annency International Film Festival 2007, the Rolls Royce of animation festivals, as well as the Best Independent Film Award at the Bradford International Film Festival. In addition to this, The Tale of How won the Canal+ Award at Cleremont-Ferrand Film Festival and was included as the flagship piece on the Resfest roaster in 2006 among other achievements.

How, the exhibition, explores the process and development of The Household and it's histories. The exhibition is as much a hat tip to the achievements of The Tale of How on the international circuit as to the artistry and dedication that has gone into the creation of this piece. It consists of the animation The Tale of How, a short film named "The making of..." picture documentation in the form of prints, life sized wood carvings of various characters, poetry, manuscripts of histories and several field recordings all taken from the world in which The Tale of How exists. The gang will endeavor to recreate Rooster Bear's study, a dark room filled with ancient texts and artifacts, which will certainly give us more insight into their Realm.

Their hearts are black, I have seen it for myself... but an old hack like myself cannot stay away from any thing that promises a good story, more so if it has to do with The Household.

Awards

Special Distinction award at the Annency International Film Festival 2007,
Best Independent Film Award at the Bradford International Film Festival.
Canal+ Award at Cleremont-Ferrand Film Festival
Excellence Award Expose 3
Master Award Expose 4
Artistic Perfection Prize at International Festival of Animation, Saint Petersburg, Russia 2007
Grand Prix of the Festival ("Golden Peg Bar") Animanima, Cacak, Serbia
Best Video Creation Curtocircuito International Short Film Festival, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Third Prize Backup festival 2007, Weimar, Germany
Best Animation Short film FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE CORTOMETRAJES "LA BOCA DEL LOBO"
Best Film MNET EDIT, Johannesburg, South Africa 2007
Best Short Film, South African Film and Television Awards 2007.

About The Black Heart Gang

The Blackheart gang is a fantasy art collective consisting of three members, they are:

Ree Treweek - Ree is a girl with red hair, freckles and braces, she also has a very short temper, a ticking time bomb of sorts. She is the Illustrator and character developer for The BlackHeart Gang.

Jannes Hendrikz - Jannes, quietly confident. Only wears black. His gruff attitude is matched only by his stubble. He's the Compositor and Creative Director for The BlackHeart Gang.

Markus Smit (Wormstorm) - Markus is determined and strong, his heavy noble brow is set under a constant frown. He is Musician and writer for The BlackHeart Gang.

They live and work in Cape Town.

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Fairweather House, 176 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock, Cape Town, 7925
Phone: +27 (0)21 465 9108
Fax: +27 (0)21 423 3135
E-mail: info@bell-roberts.com