We see plenty of evidence of what George Lucas is up to now, but what's going on at the film school he went to in the 60s? What is now the Division of Animation and Digital Arts (in the School of Cinema-Television at the University of Southern California) sits poised at the intersection of Los Angeles' entertainment, multimedia, fine arts and cross-cultural communities. A program of historical and contemporary works from the school is being presented by dLux media arts at the 2000 Sydney Film Festival. The program, ranging from a gorgeous noir homage to the car in the city at night by the young George Lucas to the visual and technological experiments of today, has been selected by Susan Charlton (dLux Project Manager) for d.art 00, from a body of work proposed by the school.

I spoke to Vibeke Sorensen (Chair and Professor) and Mar Elepano (Production Supervisor and Adjunct Faculty) from the school about the California Dreaming program, their own role as artists and the place of the school in the life of LA.

VS The works in California Dreaming largely reflect the great diversity of Los Angeles, a major metropolis which is highly international and multicultural. USC is physically located in the very heart of Los Angeles, next to downtown in South Central LA where some of the worst rioting took place in 1992. The films represent an alternative to what is typically portrayed by Hollywood. But this is changing. The demographic realities of Los Angeles have become a major political and cultural force winding its way into the mainstream. Therefore our program is both an alternative to Hollywood and an incubator for its evolving identity.

The history of your own artwork, how is that playing itself out in your role at USC?

VS I have in many ways found a home at USC. This is quite odd, as it is the school most closely associated with Hollywood and my work is far from the norm. This 'comfort level' has to do with the support I have had here for shaping our program into one which is international and multicultural. This is due to the fact that I have been a cross-cultural misfit myself…going back and forth between Scandinavia and the US…being a woman in what has traditionally been a male dominated field (computer animation), an artist working with scientists (before it was considered cool to do so), and developing new forms such as networked, improvised visual-music performances, physical-digital installation art and stereoscopic animation/virtual reality, all of which are considered highly untraditional forms of animation. USC is a research university, and many of the processes I have engaged in my work over the years are research areas of interest to colleagues in different departments…the research feeds directly into my teaching and so students have a chance to work in these areas as well.

ME It was only after graduation from USC in the 70s and after I started working as the manager of the school's film processing facility that I started to realise the importance and value of personal expression…in my case filmmaking…using what people call animation.

What happened was, as I was put in charge of processing student films, I realised how painful and difficult filmmaking is, especially personal filmmaking. As I learned my technical craft as a film processing technician I ruined a lot of students' films. I tried to make up for this atrocity by trying to learn faster and working a lot of extra hours to help students out. I was charged with the passion of a political activist who had no specific ideology. At the same time, I started making short films using the techniques of experimental animation. I would do 2 a year. I ended up with a body of work from the late 70s to the mid 80s. I realised 'I am a filmmaker' and this was paralleled with my contacts with the serious filmmakers in the school whose films I was ruining less and less.

The next breakthrough was my introduction and association with Visual Communications. This is the first and oldest Asian American Media Arts organisation in the US. I began to appreciate not just the ideologies but also their commitment to the community and their use of the moving image to revitalise it. I was invited to do animation workshops and this was the start of my politicisation. The memorable aspects of this ongoing journey are the pieces I helped kids create about the LA Upheaval (others call it a riot) in 92. I now feel very lucky to have met and worked with all these people. The moving image has gone beyond entertainment for me. I now fully understand its power to give a voice.

Vibeke Sorensen and Mar Elepano are guests of the Sydney Film Festival. They will introduce 2 screenings of California Dreaming, June 12, 2.50pm & June 14, 3.15pm. Sorensen will also speak at the dLux media arts forum Being Digital, Dendy Martin Place, June 16, 2pm. An exhibition of California Dreaming digital prints and additional animations will be presented at Side On Gallery & Cinema, 83 Parramatta Road, Annandale, June 12 - July 1.

Kathy Smith is an Australian painter and animator who is artist in residence and lecturer at USC. She proposed and developed the California Dreaming program.