Event recap: Locarno previews, Ottawa retrospectives, virtual reality at SIGGRAPH and more

Event recap: Locarno previews, Ottawa retrospectives, virtual reality at SIGGRAPH and more

Qualification for the Oscar Locarno Film Festival, which will take place for the 74th year in the Italian-Swiss city from 4 to 14 August, will include bold animation in its broad spectrum of new and inspiring cinema, in the Pardi di Domani competition. (www.locarnofestival.ch)

  • Live action documentary love will be screened on August 6. The FAMU graduate film takes director Diana Cam Van Nguyen back to her childhood days, when her father sent her loving letters from prison. Through the letters, he remembers the mutual closeness, which however was interrupted when his father left for another family. Diana uses the film to respond to her father, accusing him of abandoning the family, but also trying to understand why. The issue of the importance of having a child touches on the conflict between Vietnamese tradition and European values.
  • Star of Slovenian animation Špela Čadezh returns to the festival circuit with his eighth film, Steak house (5 August with questions and answers on the director; second screenings on 6 and 7 August). Like its predecessor NighthawkSteak house uses the multiplane stop-motion cut-out technique to serve a slow-burning drama that simmers on the stove of personal pain as a social problem, topped with a darkly comical pay-off that sneaks up on the unsuspecting viewer. Franc has been marinating a steak for days to celebrate Liza's birthday. When her colleagues throw her a surprise party, she wonders if she'll be home in time to join him as he cooks in the kitchen with his eyes on the clock.
Kill him and leave this city

Il Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF), one of North America's first toon celebrations, detailed two intriguing retrospectives on prominent artists (who will also serve as jury members this year) that will be featured on the 2021 event schedule, presented online September 22 to 3 October. (www .animatefestival.ca)

  • This year's series of special screenings kicks off with a retrospective of the winner of the 2020 OIAF Grand Prix for Best Film, Mariusz Wilczynski. Through his work, Wilczyński draws audiences into a world of nostalgia, loss and mortality. The raw and honest feelings associated with these themes lead both casual viewers and film buffs to an uncomfortable crossroads; the one between letting go of the past and delving deeper into it to move forward. A self-taught artist who has been creating auteur animated films for over 20 years, Wilczyński's works include several short films (Times Have Passed, For My Mother and Me, Unfortunately, Kizi Mizi) and music videos ("Cheerful but not too much", "Death to Five"). His most recent work, Kill It and Leave This Town,, it took 11 years to complete.
The Great Bizarre
  • Acclaimed experimental animator Jodie Mack it is also in the light of this year's OIAF. Using recycled materials, Mack is a kind of Dr. Frankenstein, injecting life and energy into materials. Each of Mack's films embodies this approach to animation and is fueled by pure curiosity. It is through this curiosity and revitalization of materials that Mack explores the tensions between form and meaning, a topic we often shy away from in our daily lives. His films have screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, the Jeonju International Film Festival and the Viennale. She was a 2017/18 Radcliffe Fellow and a 2019 resident at the Headlands Center for the Arts. Mack currently teaches animation at Dartmouth College in the United States. His animated film, The Grand Bizarre, will be available at the end of July on Criterion's online streaming platform.
Penggantian (substitutions)

SIGGRAPH 2021 announced its immersive programming, including a world premiere experience, and jury-selected award winners for both the Immersive Pavilion and VR Theater. The live events of the virtual conference will take place from 9 to 13 August, with content available online and on-demand from 2 August to 29 October. Featured over 35 projects from more than 15 countries, 2021 content features work from the United States, Kenya, Ireland, Iran, and Taiwan, among others. (s2021.SIGGRAPH.org)

Highlights of all immersive programming include:

  • Garage: Particle GPU-based AR content for futuristic experiences | An AR project by Akatsuki Inc. based on its system for creating interactive AR content and experiences, which is capable of capturing real-world geometric and visual information and translating it into particle-based AR content.
  • People | Baobab Studios' latest project is a narrative poem that comes to life as an animated VR experience that follows a man's journey from birth to death.
  • Vermillion: Realistic Virtual Reality Oil Painting | A VR oil painting simulator created by The Aviary that offers the unmatched sense of accomplishment of creating something beautiful on canvas, without the messy living room, bringing the full analog joy of painting to the digital world.
  • Substitutions (penggantian) | Diversion cinema Substitutions depicts a Javanese family that habitually observes their neighborhood: day after day, generation after generation, substitution after substitution. It's a virtual reality story about roots, time and change.
  • Once Upon a Sea | A poetic and interactive XR documentary by Blimey, Holy City VR and Intuitive Pictures that tells the tragic story of the legendary Dead Sea. Through a physical exploration of the forbidden and lunar landscapes of the sea, up to intimate encounters with local characters, the user gets a rare glimpse into one of the most dangerous wonders of the world, soon on the verge of extinction.
  • She | A National Taiwan University of Science and Technology interactive film about a boy pursuing his gender identity. The boy has a magical lipstick that helps him discover feminine trends. As the boy goes through family confinement and social isolation, viewers stay with the boy's inner self and support him to regain his acceptance of himself.

Brussels is underwater in the Soul 2022 poster, designed by the comic artist Pieter De Poortere. The design features his character Dickie on top of the Flagey building, sunk under the sea, who does not notice the proliferation of a new underwater world populated by emblematic characters. The 41st edition takes place from 25 February to 6 March 2022 www.animafestival.be.

Soul 2022

Il Bucheon Int'l Animation Festival also recently unveiled its official poster for BIAF 2021. Entitled "The Eyes of the Summer," the illustration was created by famed Japanese director Ayumu Watanabe (Children of the sea). “Through her frame, the little girl remembers what happened in the past. We all see the world through a common frame… I have imbued these overlapping frames with hopes and dreams. I hope BIAF2021 is a great film festival, ”Watanabe says of space illustration. BIAF2021 is scheduled for October 22-26 in South Korea. Www.biaf.or.kr

Bucheon Int'l Animation Festival

Award winners:

  • REGARD festival (Quebec): The passerby by Pieter Coudyzer (Best Animated Film)
  • Press VR NOW (Germany): Kusunda - Talk to Awaken (Grand Prize / Best Immersive Cinema), H @ ly Sh1t! (Special Prize), Disconcerting places (Fun), Dark Bay (Technology), avatar (Industry)

Competition notices:

  • The 11 An image festival (October 12-17; Recife, Brazil) bans entries for the short film competition. Deadline: July 20, 2021.
  • Send your transmedia project to 360 cartoon (November 16-18). Deadline: September 27, 2021.
  • Point y Raya calls for abstract short films for its seventh regular festival (November; Vienna, Austria) and third Junior event (October; Wroclaw, Poland). Deadlines: 2 August and 13 September 2021.
  • the 13 STRANGE Market e 3D thread party (24 September 3 October; Segovia, Spain) requires animation, video game, transmedia, web series, board game and comic projects. Deadline: July 21, 2021.

Save the date:

  • The Trojan horse was a unicorn (THU) returns to its main event in Tróia, Portugal in 2021 after a two-year stay in Malta. The eighth edition takes place 20-25. www.trojan-unicorn.com/main-event
  • Qualification for the Oscar Holly Shorts Film Festival will hold its 17th edition in person 23-30 at TCL Chinese Theaters, with Award Gala on October 1st. hollyshorts.com
  • the 29 Stuttgart International Animated Film Festival (ITFS) will once again take place as a hybrid event from 3-8 May 2022. Swiss artist and teacher at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts François Chalet is creating the official trailer, “The Principles of Animation / Black Is Back”. itfs.de
  • Il Summit for children will return in person next year to the InterContinental in Miami, Florida from 14-17, 2022. summit.kidscreen.com

Go to the source of the article on www.animationmagazine.net