BFI invests £ 900k + in 15 new animated short film projects
The BFI is investing £ 922.406 in new, bold and ambitious animation projects as it has announced 15 recipients of the Short Form Animation Fund (The fund for animated short films), which aims to support growth in the UK animation industry. Nine projects have received awards of up to £ 120.000 for production. Due to the quality of the applicants for this new fund, six other projects have been awarded up to £ 10.000 to support development.
The Short Form Animation Fund, which awards National Lottery funds, was launched in August 2019 to support projects that represent significant advancement in the work of UK animators, enable progression and open up new opportunities. National lottery players raise £ 30 million every week for good causes across the UK.
Supported short narrative projects, lasting up to 15 minutes, span a range of animated genres and techniques aimed at film, digital platforms and virtual reality. Each project benefits from the supervision of a BFI Film Fund executive and the support of a dedicated animation consultant.
The fund was developed with the support of Animation UK, Animation Alliance UK and Helen Brunsdon, director of the British Animation Awards, who consulted extensively with the animation industry.
“Animation is a unique and universal way of telling stories and communicating ideas. We were thrilled to see the breadth of creativity among our animators and reach across the UK, ”said Natascha Wharton, Senior Development & Production Executive for BFI's Film Fund. "This crucial National Lottery funding allows many of them to explore new ideas, develop their practice and we think these projects will delight and move audiences in equal measure."
Jez Stewart, Animation Curator at the BFI, said: “It has been a real privilege to be involved in the selection process for this vital new funding scheme which marks an exciting new chapter in the long history of quality animation production. Great Britain. I am thrilled that we can expect new films from some living legends in the world of animation and that the BFI not only supports award-winning animators but also provides a vital next step for some new and emerging talent. ”
The Short Form Animation Fund responds to the priorities established in BFI2022, BFI's five-year strategy, which identifies animation as an area of interest and a commitment to encourage continuous experimentation in the form and in which the public interacts with the content. The Fund will reopen for applications in early 2021.
The BFI continues to support animation talent BFI NETWORK with prizes of up to £ 15.000 per project available to directors in the early stages of their careers. Furthermore, the Fund for young audience content, run by the BFI, is a £ 57 million three-year pilot project supported by government funding. The Production and Development Awards support the creation of distinctive, high-quality content for audiences up to age 18 to show for free on television and online platforms, and support animation of all genres.
As part of a year of celebrating animation in cinemas across the country in 2018, the BFI was launched Animated Britain, an unprecedented collection of archival animations, demonstrating an incredibly rich centuries-old history of British animation. Ranging from early experiments to the latest pioneering contemporary films made by UK animation studios, Animated Britain features over 300 films and is available for free via the BFI Player.
Short Form Animation Fund Awards (in alphabetical order by title):
Financing of production:
Beware of trains - Pearly Oyster Productions Ltd., London
Writer / Director: Emma Calder | Producers: Dhiraj Mahey, Harriet Titlow (Assistant Producer)
Beware of trains explore today's voyeuristic culture of fear and uncertainty. A woman with extreme anxiety is devoured by four major concerns: the man she met by chance on a train, her dying father, the safety of her daughter, and the murder she dreams of committing.
The novice - Animate projects, Derby
Writer / Director: Elizabeth Hobbs | Producer: Abigail Addison
A tribute to the courage and spirit of the extraordinary British artist Leonora Carrington, whose story The novice features a young woman who rejects the life that was planned for her.
Sick and messy - Tyke Films Ltd, Sheffield
Writers: Andrew Kötting, Hattie Naylor | Director: Andrew Kötting in collaboration with Eden Kötting (Co-Creator and Artist) | Producer: Rebecca Mark-Lawson | Animators: Glenn Whiting and Isabel Skinner
The extraordinary drawings, paintings and collages of the neuro-diverse artist Eden Kötting come to life in a phantasmagorical extravaganza in which anything is possible. A world where the sick and the disordered could one day reign supreme.
Polar bear indoors - Gritty Realism Productions Limited, Cardiff
Writer: Jeanette Winterson (adapted from an article by) | Director: Gerald Conn | Producer: Naomi Jones
Polar bear indoors explores alternative human and animal perspectives on the implications of climate change using innovative sand animation to convey the poetic qualities of a piece of writing by acclaimed novelist Jeanette Winterson.
No ordinary Joe - Loose Moose Productions Ltd, Plaxtol
Writer / Director: Barry JC Purves | Producer / Writer: Glenn Holberton
Love comes in all dimensions. A touching, surreal and funny conversation between Marion Barbara “Joe” Carstairs and Lord Tod Wadley about their extraordinary life together and her love for him, a doll.
Red shoes - GiF Production, London
Writer / Director: Diyala Muir | Producer: Hayley Warren
Chaos descends on a secluded society when a pair of shoes is mysteriously given to them. A young member of the tribe, Zindy, craves shoes and is haunted by a menacing presence that causes her to steal them. Once inside, he can't take them off.
Cricket - Amphibian Husbandry Ltd, Northumberland
Writer / Director: Ainslie Henderson | Producer: Will Anderson
Three archetypal spirits explore the contrasting human drives of creativity, possessiveness and our desire for status.
CricketWild summoning - Sulkybunny, Bristol
Writer / Director: Karni Arieli, Saul Freed | Producers: Saul Freed, John Woolley
A natural history fantasy film that follows the dramatic life cycle of the salmon, from river to sea and back, while portraying fish in human form.
Your mountain awaits you - Strange Beast, London
Writer: Harriet Gillian | Director: Hannah Jacobs | Producer: Zoe Muslim
When we deny our instinctive, seemingly irrational decisions in life, our world closes and gets smaller and smaller. What would happen if we literally entered our intestines?
Funding for development:
Gardening - Hipster Films, London
Writer: Louisa Wood | Director: Sarah Beeby | Producer: Jo Lewis
In the aftermath of the sexual assault, a woman retreats to the garden of her mind. Searching for answers and struggling to do "the right thing", she realizes she must regain her voice and find new pathways to healing, before she and her garden are completely destroyed.
GardeningThe gigantic beard that was evil - Snafu Pictures Ltd, London
Writers: Omari McCarthy, Stephen Collins | Director: Simone Giampaolo | Producers: Paul Schleicher, Laura McAlister, Dan Dixon
On the neat island of “Here”, everything is neat, contained, standardized and, importantly, beardless. Or at least until one famous day, when Dave, bald but with only one hair, finds himself attacked by a terrifying and unstoppable bearded monster!
[the gigantic beard that was evil]
(Pemon) The land of many waters - Apropos Productions Ltd, London Director: Brandon Ra Pestano | Animation director: Elmaz Ekrem | Producer: Paul DuBois
A blend of documentary and animation film that explores the mystical folklore of the indigenous Pemón (South America) and their views on the current environmental crisis.
pemonThe Rumor Mill - Bridge Way Films, Hull Writer / Director: Bexie Bush | Producer: Chris Hees
Workers in a British garment factory try to solve the most pressing problem of the human race; man-made climate catastrophe as their debate comes to life with the beauty and tactility of stop frame animation.
The Wall Dog - High Tide Studio Ltd, Edinburgh
Writer / Director: Josephine Lohoar Self | Producer: Alex Porter-Smith
The Wall Dog tells the story of Dog 9, a hostile but loyal German Shepherd who guards the death strip inside the Berlin Wall. When Otto, an enthusiastic young dog handler joins his regiment, Dog 9 begins to question his beliefs. On a fateful night, things go wrong and Dog 9 has to decide whether or not to give up his loyalty.
Wind and shade - Out of Orbit in association with Enter Yes, Belfast
Writer / Director: Kris Kelly | Producers: Brian J. Falconer, Vicki Rock
Created by BAFTA nominees Here to fall writer / director, Kris Kelly. The wind and the shadow is a short animation that explores the emotional and physical impact of childhood cancer and its treatment on a six-year-old girl and her mother.
