The 13th Festival Stop Motion Montreal returns online from 10 to 19 September

Montreal Stop Motion Festival, the first festival in the world dedicated to stop-motion animation, will return for its 13th edition which will take place almost entirely online from 10 to 19 September. The 2021 programming will be accessible worldwide through Cinéma Public (cinemapublic.ca/en), a streaming platform based in Montreal.

The Festival has unveiled the official poster of this next edition, created by the master of plasticine Gianluca Maruotti, Italian stop-motion artist. (See other works by Maruotti on gianlucamaruotti. com.)

For 10 days, the Festival will present animated films with objects and puppets of all kinds and for all tastes: comedy, drama, poetry, political cinema, musicals, as well as a special program focused on documentaries. In addition to the regular programming for viewers of all ages, there will be a screening of short films for younger audiences and families, as well as an adult screening with more bizarre and daring content.

In total, 93 film starting from 31 countries were selected from 300 applications. They include comedy Waiting for Harold (Waiting for Harold), produced and directed by German Oscar-winning directors Christoph & Wolfgang Lauenstein, and the family film A Stone in the Shoe (A stone in the shoe) by Éric Montchaud (winner of the Festival Stop Motion Montréal 2014), screened at the recent Annecy International Animated Film Festival.

The selection also includes several films from Quebec: I, Barnabe (NFB) by Jean-François Lévesque, a short film that was the subject of a panel last year and which follows the spiritual search of a priest who meets a strange rooster. Quick Fix (Quick fix), by Alexandra Lemay (director who also participated in a previous edition of the Festival as a special guest of the conference) is a comedy about the impossible love between a disposable coffee cup and its user, a nod to the way we consume quickly objects and relationships. Mathieu Girard will present the colorful Monsieur Sachet as part of the adult program - features a retired clown confined to his apartment, bored, hungry, and trying to satisfy his various appetites, including some visceral urges.

A special discussion on the making of indigenous projects will take place online. Free complementary content such as the meeting with the directors will be offered on the festival's Facebook (/ montrealstopmotion) and Instagram (@stopmotionmontreal) pages.

Some professional laboratories (professional workshops) they will return in person this year, allowing the local community to get back together. Attendees will have the opportunity to develop their stop-motion animation skills and techniques directly from on-site experts in Montréal. International artists from around the world who may not be able to attend the workshops in person will be able to register for the workshops online.

www.stopmotionmontreal.com