Film Program: SHORT FILMS
SHORT FILMS
Fashion Cave!
by Tristian Goik
USA
0:59
Join Scarlet Envy and Daphne Sumtimez on an urban adventure of massive magnitude and dripping danger.
No artist biography.
Departure
by Aoífe Doyle
Ireland
9:15
An Irish grandmothers unexpected departure from her lonely life.
Aoífe Doyle is the creative director and co-founder of Pink Kong Studios. The studio’s new short film “Departure” is funded by the Irish Film Board and RTÉ. She is directing the TV series “Urban Tails”, which has been developed into an international series where young people learn about different Urban Animals around the globe. Her short film “Nana’s Strawberry Preserve” was chosen to represent Irish Animation in the “focus on Ireland” in Annecy2012.
MODERNWORLD
by Mario Guitar
Canada
10:33
France Leroy, is a member of the resistance movement, against MODERNWORLD ‘s oppressive state regime. She is uncovered by a spy and sent to a prison camp until the war is declared. A science-fiction/drama, original puppet animation, silent film.
MARIO GUITAR, film director, artist, musician, self taught. Born in Sept-Iles city, province of Quebec, Canada. .After art school, I began my career as a background artist in an animated film studio in Montreal in 1997. I also worked for several years in the film industry as a model maker. As well, I produced an animated film with puppets, and a documentary about five survivors of the Holocaust.
DAM! The Story of Kit the Beaver
by Kjell Boersma
Canada
12:16
DAM! is an animated film that’s not about your average beaver. It’s the tale of Kit, a very independent (and easily distracted) young beaver who loves to explore the sounds of the forest she lives in. While Kit is busy discovering the world, her clan is busy building a dam. Kit tries hard to fit in and to help with the dam’s construction by gathering wood from the forest, but each time she starts off on a new task, she winds up feeling like a failure. During her adventures, Kit teaches her clan about the value of working with others and she learns that progress can come in many forms. Through generosity and compassion, we can build relationships that strengthen and grow in ways that we could never imagine.
Writer and Director Kjell Boersma and Producer Josh Clavir joined forces with Seneca College, working directly with select students to develop and animate this project with artistic direction from Julie Flett, an acclaimed Cree-Metis children’s illustrator and author.
As a graduate of Ryerson University’s Film Studies program, Kjell Boersma has since worked on broadcast animation and feature documentaries, as well as a plethora of music videos, experimental modern dance films, and more commercial endeavours. In 2010 he moved to Gallup, in the Navajo Nation. Over the next four years, Kjell worked with local artists and cultural organizations to co-found the arts council gallupARTS. Kjell now a filmmaker and animator residing in Toronto, Canada, where he lives with two cats and one human.
One Hell of a Party
by Austen Payne
Canada
8:08
Roommates Sam and Lin are throwing a house party to try and up their social status during their first year at college. When Sam accidentally summons a demon while fooling around with some glitter glue, their party plans turn into a race against time to secure a pure soul for the demon they summoned… or risk getting taken to hell themselves. But when everyone they talk to at their party turn out to be huge jerks, they become desperate.
Austen Payne is a recent Seneca Animation graduate, living and working as a Storyboard Artist in Toronto. With a deep love of film and storytelling, Austen spends a lot of time thinking up ridiculous stories and then tricking people into thinking it’s a good idea to make them with her!
The Bridge Over the River
by Jadwiga
Switzerland
5:45
A man on a bridge, separated from the love of his life. Wanting to be with her one last time, he decides to go and seek her in the hereafter.
Born 1982 in Bern CH, Polish & Swiss citizenship. Jadwiga is an independent animation filmmaker and illustrator based in Switzerland. She studied at HSLU Lucerne (Animation/Illustration) and ASP Krako´w (Animation). In 2009 she received the Swiss Film Award for “To^t ou tard” (Best Animation Film). Since 2009 she’s working above all on her own short animated films and children’s books. Besides that she’s very ireguelary guest lecturer at different Art Schools.
Let Loose!
by Leo Leung
Canada
2:17
Love blossoms as two young adults dance their hearts away in the foot-tapping tale : Let Loose!
I am a recent graduate from the Dawson 3D Animation and CGI program. My story is a snippet into the life of these characters as they are coming of age and gain more confidence in life. They are letting go off insecurities and find romance. These are things that are close to my mindset about life that I have mixed with my background in dance.
Purple Dreams
by Murat Sayginer
Turkey
2:14
A short animated film about the transition from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius.
Murat Sayginer is a self-taught artist who works in the fields of photography and digital art, also known as a filmmaker and composer. Born in Prague in 1989, Murat Sayginer studied in Paris during his childhood and graduated from Lycee Charles De Gaulle high school in Ankara. He got involved with photography in 2007 and won several international awards. In 2008 his works were selected for ”IPA BEST OF SHOW” exhibition in New York. In 2010 he was awarded Emerging Talent of the Year in the Worldwide Photography Gala Awards. He has written, directed and produced several animated short films since 2013.
Bartleby
by Laura Naylor
USA
11:25
An unassuming Wall Street lawyer finds himself beset by a new employee, Bartleby, who refuses to work – in an ongoing act of passive refusal, he simply ‘prefers not to.’ A quiet, dogged battle of wills ensues in this stop-motion reimagining of a Melville classic.
Laura Naylor fell for images, moving and not-so-mobile, while studying art at Columbia. Her directorial debut, Duck Beach — a feature doc about Mormon singles trying to tie the knot — premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival and aired on BBC 3 in the UK. Her second feature, The Fix, premiered at AFI Docs, won the jury prize for Best Documentary at SIFF, and was pegged a “poignant portrait of life in recovery” by The Hollywood Reporter.
The Flying Dutchman
by Taylor Stanton & Bec Sloane
USA
10:55
When a tuba player messes up her big solo, she begins to imagine that the ghost of the piece’s composer – Richard Wagner – is haunting her. She must struggle to redeem herself while holding onto her sanity.
Bec Sloane is an animator and builder, with her roots in The Jim Henson Company and having since been commissioned for
projects with Mattel, LG, Radio City, and others. Her puppets are built and sewn by hand using entirely repurposed material, promoting eco-friendly practices.
Taylor Stanton comes from a documentary and cinematography background, but has also shot over a dozen stop-motion projects for a range of clients. Recently, FILMSHOP (a collective for emerging filmmakers) named his documentary one of their four
“Breakthrough Films of 2016”.
Focus on Turkish Animation: ONE MOONLESS NIGHT ( Turkey 2016 , 3’25’ )
Turkish name : Aysız bir gece
Dir: Pelin Kırca
SYNOPSİS: One moonless night is inspired from the mystical poem of the birds speaking at the assembly in Mantiq ut-Tayr, the sufic work by Farid ud-Din Attar. The seven valleys cross through rooms opening onto one another; there are walls, windows and a poppy hanging in the air…
About the director:
Pelin works, wonders and dreams in Istanbul.
She Holds a MFA in Design from the School of Visual Arts, New York
and a BFA degree in Graphic Design from Bilkent University, Ankara.
Focus on Turkish Animation: THE HEAD (Turkey 2014, 8’21’’)
Turkish Name: Kafa
Dir: Koray Sevindi
SYNOPSİS: The head is the story of an ‘’Other’’. Nuri is one of those people who can only hold their heads staraight with the aid of a string attached to the crown.When events conspire to work Nuri’s string loose, he becomes different of other people. As he tries to live with the situation, he grows lonelier by the day.
About the director:
Koray Sevindi worked as an assistant director on various short films, documentaries and ads. After having studied Mechanical Engineering, he went on to study film directing at New York Film Academy.
Focus on Turkish Animation: MERCURE (Turkey , 2015, 5’23’’ )
Turkish name: Merkür
Director: Melis Balcı, Ege Okal
SYNOPSIS: A young artist who works as an assistant at a gallery goes to a fancy dinner with her boss -the owner of the gallery- after an art fair. Galery owner’s friends; a collectioner, an art institution director and a curator also join to the same table. At this dinner with the important figures of the art World, the young artist observes the table. Every attempt of her joining the dialogues ends up in disappointment.
About the directors:
Melis Balcı and Ege Okal live and work in Istanbul. Mercure is the first independent film of the duo.
Focus on Turkish Animation: CLEAVER (Turkey , 2015, 6’23’’ )
Turkish name: Satır
Director: Mehmet Cengelci
SYNOPSIS: Many men in the village want to marry the young girl who lives under the strict authority of her father. He has to decide what to do.
About the director:
Born in 1987, he started in 2010 his cinema school studies at the ) Eylul University. He is continuing to produce short animations.
At-issue
by Drew Roper
United Kingdom
10:00
Desperately trying to achieve his dream job…Bartholomew changes his appearance…facing disastrous consequences.
Drew is a multi-award winning animation director/producer whose experiences span from Hollywood blockbusters such as Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (2009) Walt Disney/Tim Burton’s “Frankenweenie” (2012) to Children’s TV Series such as the infamous “Shaun The Sheep” (2012) by Aardman Animations. In 2012, Drew successfully acquired the support from leading British Broadcasters, Sky, as apart of their Sky Arts Scholarships scheme to create “At-issue” (2015).
During this time, Drew founded Yamination Studios, an animation company situated in Birmingham, UK, specialising in stop frame animation.
Yamination Studios strives to inspire with a real focus on innovative projects, short films, TV commercials and promo’s. It’s recent credits include Cravendale’s TV commercial “Barry The Biscuit Boy” (2014) Coca-Cola’s commercial “Building” (2014), broadcasting short “At-issue” (2015) and Wonderfruit Arts Festival promo “Wonderfruit” (2015).
T.B.P.
by Dave Bundtzen
USA
5:48
T.B.P. is a heart felt, action packed thrill ride, fairy tale. T.B.P. is a fully animated short film about a teddy bear TEDDY that protects his sleeping owner JENNY from a evil MONSTER. T.B.P. is a classic hero story. Teddy our hero must endure many trials and tribulations to protect Jenny. The Monster wants to take Jenny. The Monster is very powerful and can create fireballs at will. These fireballs can destroy anything. But Teddy stands defiantly in his way.
Dave Bundtzen has been making films since the age of 10. He is an award winning Director, Producer and Writer. Telling stories is his passion. Every film is a learning experience and a journey. He has one goal, which is to create the best film possible.
Vibrato
by Sébastien Laudenbach
France
7:02
In this animation film, Sébastien LAUDENBACH revisits the Palais Garnier throughout the architect Charles Garnier’s widow sensuality. She tells about her intimate past in the golden and velvet palace’s backstage.
Sébastien Laudenbach is a film maker and illustrator and he competed in the most prestigious festivals through its past achievements : Diary, (1998, Youth award in Clermont-Ferrand), Cuddles in the kitchen (2004, preselection Césars 2005), Looking at Oana (2009, Selections Annecy, Clermont-Ferrand), Vasco (2010, Critics’Week Cannes 2010, preselection Césars 2012) and Daphne or the natural beauty, codirected with Sylvain Derosne (2015 Prix Emile Reynaud). The Girl Without Hands is his first feature film, adapted from the short story by the Brothers Grimm.
Ceci n’est pas une animation
by Federico Kempke
Canada
5:14
A group of pretentious animators are followed through the process of creating the “ultimate animated film”. But do they really have the skills to back up their claims?
Federico Kempke – Animator, designer, illustrator and amateur movie critic. Sheridan Animation graduate.
Creamers
by Hilary Moses
Canada
14:36
Ester works all day painting creamers. When an all-nighter threatens her creative spirit her fantasies begin to take over her reality.
Hilary Moses is an animator and designer who, for the past 25 years, has juggled her time between independent and commercial animation projects. Collaborative and commissioned projects have ranged from National Film Board documentaries, feature animation, interactives, video games and award winning TV Specials. Her first job in animation was as an inbetweener on the Oscar winning director Richard Williams’ feature film ‘The Thief and the Cobbler’. The experience working at Richard Williams Studio was the inspiration for her 15 minute 2D animated short ‘Creamers’. Hilary is also an animation educator in Vancouver and has been teaching at Emily Carr University and Capilano University for the past 5 years.
REFLECTION
by Maria Tomskaia
Canada
1:20
Past and present worlds collide through a brief glance into a mirror in an experimental stop-motion student short.
I am recent graduate from the Bachelor of Animation program at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario. I am an avid creator and first time filmmaker specializing in stop-motion. I love where the animation industry is going and I am very excited to become a part of it.
Dear Mr. Ernest
by Miguel Lopez
Spain
10:00
Mr. Ernest is a miserly, lonely old man who lives in a mansion world far away from the world. In the past, if he were able to do harm, he would. However, before it is too late, he decides to turn his life around and become a model citizen, deservedly remembered for his goodwill.
Miguel Lopez – Graduate in Audiovisual Communication 2002. During his degree he makes his first animated short film: the award-winning El hombre del laberinto (The Labyrinth man) After graduating from University, he follows a Master’s degree in animation. In 2008 he completed his academic project: Villa Olvidada The Forgotten Village, winner of many awards. He also worked as inbetweener in cartoon series broadcasted on TV and in the acclaimed film Arrugas (winner of two Goya awards). In 2009 he founded the audiovisual production company Nexo AV in Granada (Spain), where he has developed his latest short film “Dear Mr. Ernest”.
Just a Few Words
by Laszlo Csaki
Hungary
8:22
“… it might not have been a question of right and wrong. Which is to say that wrong choices can produce right results, and vice versa.” –Murakami Haruki
No artist biography.
Vika’s Dream
by Alton (Felipe Machado & Tiago Marcondes)
Netherlands
1:50
Vika’s Dream is based on a true story, Vika is a young girl that lives in Jakarta – Indonesia, where she faces a lot of problems with the city floods, today she is part of a group from Unicef called the Power for Youth, a group that empowers young people on poor communities to fulfill their dreams. Vika dreams with the possibility of becoming the president of her country so that she can overcome the challenges that affects herself and her community.
We are Alton, a directors duo based in São Paulo Brazil, formed by Felipe Machado and Tiago Marcondes. Our focus is on animation films, especially mixed techniques such as Stop-Motion, 3D, Motion Graphics and Mixed Media. We are currently associated with the brazilian production House called Santa Transmedia, where we’ve being directing Ad commercials for about two years now.
Sophia
by Zsofia Opra-Szabo
Canada
10:54
The short film Sophia, is a modern fairy tale of sorts. Presented as intriguing puppet animation with a sweeping sound scape, it conveys the universal story of how easy it is to become a prisoner of one’s own illusion.
Originally from Hungary, Budapest, Zsofia is interested in crossing the boundaries between theatre, film and puppetry. Her stop-motion animation SHORT film was influenced by her original experimental art project. For her project “Sophia”, Zsofia has received funding from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts as well as Edmonton Arts council and FAVA- Film and Video Society, Alberta. Currently, Zsofia is working as a stop motion animation filmmaker and teaching theatre design at University of Alberta.
The Kite
by Vladimer Sulakvelidze
Georgia
15:00
The main character of the film is an old lady who goes on to recall her past life. Her childhood, her father’s departure to battlefield, totalitarian regime, her first love and disappointment. But there’s also a sparkling memory – a kite which in the end serves a salvation for the lady.
Vladimer Sulakvelidze: 1976-1981 Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film Georgia State University, Department of Animation
1981 The Portrait – Screenplay, Director (Animation)
1983 Earth Demands its Own – Screenplay, Director (Animation)
1984 The Big Wave and the Small Wave – Director (Animation)
1985 The King and the Bird – Screenplay, Director (Animation)
1986 Ochokochi – Screenplay, Director (Animation)
1988 Coming – Screenplay, Director (Animation)
1990 David the Great’s Chain Mail – Screenplay, Director (Animation)
2007 Angalo – Screenplay, Director (Animation)
2007 How the Moon Appeared – Screenplay, Director (Animation)
2007 A Legend about Wine – Screenplay, Director (Animation)
2007 Goldfish – Screenplay, Director (Animation)
Kapkappi
by Keyur Dekate
India
8:08
Based in 1970s, India. ‘Kapkappi’ is story of a bandit and his rivalry with the cold water during the winter season. The film is an experimental take on the 70s Indian Cinema.
Keyur Dekate is an animator and film director based in Mumbai, India. His latest 3D animated short film “Kapkappi” is an experimental take on 70s Bollywood cinema giving the animation an original Indian visual style. His work got international recognition with the animated short film “WISH” , which has been screened at several film festivals including the nomination for Golden slipper award at 54th Zlin Film festival.
Light at the End of the Tunnel
by Irwin Miller
USA
3:00
A music video featuring the 3 person band, Bel Heir, portrayed as animal characters who travel through forests, western towns, aboard trains on a search for the West Coast and the light at the end of the tunnel. Along the way leave the woods behind and find their way to the Southwest, along railway rides through the the snow-capped Sierra Nevada Mountains, the San Gabriel Mountains and finally they reach the West Coast just off Malibu, California. The light at the end of the tunnel is the journey, the glowing sun that follows them along the way – and the final arrival at the Pacific Ocean.
Irwin Miller is a designer, illustrator and filmmaker who lives in Los Angeles. He studied painting at The Museum School Honors Program, Boston University School of Fine Arts and then received a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design. After RISD, he went on to study at Harvard Graduate School of Design. Irwin has lived extensively in Europe. He has a lifelong interest in etching, photogravure and layered printing processes and they are being realized in his first children’s book, Franco the Bunny. He works in stop-motion animation using hand-painted paper cutout puppets and films the sequences on a custom built multiplane table in his studio.
Cigare
by Tom Tassel
Canada
5:40
A drop of water meets a drop of oil and they start dancing. They shape into continuously morphing characters, and build up a choreography alternating elegant and gracious moves with grotesque and surreal contortions. Set to music with no dialogue.
No artist biography.
Journey Through Creativity – TVPaint 25th Anniversary
by Tévy Dubray
France
2:30
Story of a young girl who discovers animation.
To celebrate the its 25th anniversary, TVPaint Développement produced this short film. The piece was single-handedly designed, animated, and directed by Tévy Dubray, a twenty-two-year-old French-Cambodian animator. Tévy’s work came to our attention when she participated in a summer internship at the company in 2014. Her animation is paired with the music of Louis Warynski (aka Chapelier Fou), an electronic musician from our hometown of Metz, France.
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
by Robin Shaw & Joanna Harrison
United Kingdom
24:22
Based on the bestselling bedtime book, written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt follows the intrepid adventures of siblings Stan, Katie, Rosie, Max, the baby and Rufus the dog, who set off on an expedition in search of bears, determined to ‘catch a big one’.
Robin Shaw is an animator and illustrator with 15 years of experience designing and directing animated commercials, including Irn Bru’s ‘Phenomenal Christmas’ ad, a witty homage to Raymond Briggs’ ‘The Snowman’. His association with Briggs’ work flourished and as assistant director of the award-winning ‘The Snowman & The Snowdog’, he was responsible for the design of the film’s flying sequences.
After studying graphic design at St Martins’ School of Art and Goldsmiths, Joanna joined TVC as assistant animator to George Dunning. In 1982, working as principal staff animator at TVC, she developed the book ‘The Snowman’ by Raymond Briggs into a BAFTA-winning animation. Joanna continued to work closely with Briggs, going on to storyboard and art direct an award-winning adaptation of ‘The Bear’ and to co-write and art direct the children’s classic ‘The Snowman and the Snowdog’. Joanna has also written and illustrated several best-selling children’s books.
SCRATCHY
by Marv Newland
Canada
3:01
Twenty scenes from 4 or 5 unfinished animated motion pictures, carefully assembled, to an original music soundtrack.
Marv Newland made his first animated film, BAMBI MEETS GODZILLA, in 1969. He founded the animation production company International Rocketship Limited in Vancouver, Canada in 1975. At this studio he directed ANIJAM (1984), BLACK HULA (1988), PINK KOMKOMMER (1991), POSTALOLIO (2008) and other films. Newland has freelanced for other studios and has animated, directed and designed for tv shows, commercials and has also made animated films with the National Film Board of Canada.
Revelation – The City of Haze
by Mao Qichao
China
14:00
No film description.
Mao Qichao, born in Sichuan Province of China in 1983, is the director and screenwriter of Magic Animation Studio.
In 2009, he made his directorial debut animation short film <The Beauty>, which was accepted in the official comptitions of various international animation festivals such as SIGGRAPH, San Diego Animation Festival, Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival, China International Cartoon and Animation Festival, etc.
In 2011, he wrote and directed his second animation short film <Shoes>, which nominated for the Best Animation Short Film at CICAF (China International Cartoon and Animation Festival) in 2011, and also won the grand award at Belarus International Animation Festival in 2012. This film, Revelation – the City of Haze, was the third animation short film wrote and directed by Mao Qichao.
A War to End No Wars
by Ruth Coggins
United Kingdom
5:01
A War to End No Wars, is a stop-motion animated short following the life of a British Soldier called Tommy Atkins during his time in the trenches of the First World War.
Ruth Coggins is an animation and WW1 enthusiast. Animation and cartoons have always been a huge passion of Ruth’s and as such, she has spent many years researching and learning the craft as a hobby in her spare time. Ruth has had no training in the industry and due to this everything has been self-taught. A War to End No Wars, set for release in 2017, is her first animated short.
And The Moon Stands Still
by Yulia Ruditskaya
Belarus
10:43
The presence of the moon affects all under its glow. The film explores the lunar cycle and the energies invoked by its radiance.
Born in Minsk, Belarus. Lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
Graduated from the Design Department at BSU (Minsk) and School-Studio “SHAR” (Moscow). Since 2003, Yulia has worked as ? director, animator, illustrator and motion designer with her focus in the animated short film.
Mountains
by Laurie Berenhaus
USA
3:47
What happens when you look up? Take a leap and find where the lines between our everyday lives and the fantastical take flight. In mac/glidden’s psychedelic, awe-inspiring, and dance-filled music video “Mountains,” explore a new world that will leave you wanting more.
Laurie Berenhaus is a NYC based visual storyteller. Her professional career has spanned across the entertainment, fashion, and tech startup industry exploring technology’s impact on design and production. Her art has been covered by the Creators Project, Adafruit, and 3D World Magazine. A graduate of the University of the Arts (BFA, Sculpture 2010) and The Digital Animation and Visual Effects School (2013), she directs, animates, and teaches.
Space Scape
by Bruno Monteiro
Brazil
3:55
A space cadet finds himself trapped between the duty to fight or flee from monsters lurking the dungeon ahead.
Bruno Monteiro has 20 years of animation experience. Won Annecy’s Cristal Award 2014 best feature film as Animation Director for “Rio 2096”. Work as Animation Director at Zombie Studios, São Paulo, Lead Animator at LittleZoo Studios and owns OnFire online Animation School.
Lovestreams
by Sean Buckelew
USA
9:30
A story of net-cross’d lovers.
Sean Buckelew is an award-winning animator who received an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts in Experimental Animation and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His professional work includes directing a sequence for the Zac Efron film We Are Your Friends and working as a storyboard artist and animator on the Davis Guggenheim documentary He Named Me Malala. He is also a member of the online collective Late Night Work Club, and has worked with clients including MTV, Arctic Monkeys, VH1, Adult Swim and on the feature Consuming Spirits, in addition to screening his own work at the Slamdance Film Festival, Ottawa International Animation Festival, and others. He lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
VIBRATOR
by Chris Minz
Canada
2:37
A frustrated kitty cat finds a device more satisfying than her oblivious wolf guy. ANIMATED MUSIC VIDEO artist: The painted dogs. Directed/animated by DR. MINZ
Toronto born ARTIST. Dr Minz produces and directs feature films, paints, animates, sculpts and creates music. Compulsive and excessively creative.
To live!
by Igor Pisarenko
Russian Federation
11:00
The film is about how a common man defended the motherland under unimaginable conditions of his life.
Igor Pisarenko was born in 1979 in Yaroslavl, Russia. Graduated from Yaroslavl Art College in 2001.
What Price Freedom: The History of Apocalypse Cartoons
by Dean Packis
USA
29:55
Apocalypse Cartoons was the world’s most obscure and disturbing animation studio. It was both loved and loathed for vile creations such as ‘Rats on Cocaine’. Little is known about its rise and fall, or its reclusive founder, an inhuman illumination with questionable motives. For the first time, the story behind these mysterious animated productions is explored. Featuring exclusive clips of cartoons not seen in decades, from the initial silent films, conquering in color amidst a world at war, the struggles with television and shifting moralities, and ultimately its long-feared return via the internet. It’s the history of American animation itself, but from a perspective long ignored by historians. This is untold story of the very worst in cartooning.
Dean Packis does not literally exist.
Core
by Ioachim Stroe
Romania
11:00
A being in search of a companion, a partner or at least a minimum sign of life, crosses the arid surface of a distant planet. It is its only inhabitant, until the day a flower rises at his feet.
No artist biography.
The Servant
by Farnoosh Abedu
Islamic Republic of Iran
9:00
A bug becomes servant, servant becomes master.
Farnoosh Abedu: Born in Isfahan-Iran 1985. Graduated in theater from Art & Architecture University. Has been making animation since 2000. Directed more than 20 short animated films, 2 TV series, 2 documentary films and several commercials.
Nil: No Blood for Coffee
by James Turner
Canada
2:38
Based on characters from the 2005 satire, Nil: A Land Beyond Belief, the film follows Proun Nul from bed to absurdist battlefield, where the ultimate prize is a morning coffee.
James Turner has been working as a freelance illustrator, art director and writer for years and years, since even before there was Twitter. He has worked for a wide array of clients including The Wall Street Journal Elle WIRED Magazine IBM BASF The Milken Institute Review ING TD Bank In Character Reader’s Digest The Chicago Tribune The Globe and Mail Popular Science Red Herring Magazine MacWorld and dozens of other exceptional and remarkable publications he can’t remember.
The Owl and the Lemming
by Roselynn Akulukjuk
Canada
3:33
The oral history of Inuit is filled with many folktales, legends, and myths. In this traditional story, a young owl catches a lemming to eat. Inuit stories are often instructive, and with this fable, children quickly learn the value of being clever and humble, and why pride and arrogance are to be avoided. This short puppet film utilizes composited photographs and a set made with actual Arctic plants and lichen to create an authentic retelling of this ancient Arctic fable. This short film provides a glimpse of traditional Inuit values and beliefs.
Roselynn Akulukjuk was raised in Pangnirtung, Nunavut. In 2012, Roselynn moved to Toronto to pursue a career in film and attended the Toronto Film School, where she fell in love with being behind the camera. After her studies, Roselynn returned home to Nunavut, where she began working with Taqqut Productions, an Inuit-owned production company located in the capital of Nunavut, Iqaluit. Part of Roselynn’s love of filmmaking is the ability to interview elders, listen to their traditional stories, and share them with the world.
Ukaliq and Kalla Go Fishing
by Nadia Mike
Canada
5:01
Ukaliq and Kalla Go Fishing is a story of two unlikely friends–a lemming and an Arctic hare–that decide to spend the day together ice fishing. The lemming embodies the calm, thoughtful nature of traditional hunters and those that live in the Arctic. This is contrasted with the well-meaning, but impatient Arctic rabbit. This is a fun, educational story that shows how important it is to be kind, thoughtful, and prepared for whatever comes.
Nadia Mike is an Inuit educator, writer, and film director. Although Nadia has lived in many communities across the North, she considers Iqaluit, Nunavut, her home. Nadia has two daughters, Leah and Jaime, who constantly teach her to be less serious and enjoy every day. These two girls have also reminded Nadia the importance of children’s literature, and of having stories with settings, characters, and themes that show children that their lives and cultures are important enough to be in books and film. In 2016, she published her first picture book. Ukaliq and Kalla Go Fishing is her directorial debut.
Sore Eyes for Infinity
by Elli Vuorinen
Finland
11:30
An optician grows tired of seeing the world too clearly and her inevitable involvement in its defects.
Born 1985. Elli Vuorinen graduated from Animation department in Turku Arts Academy in 2011. Her first two school films Benigni (co-directed with Pinja Partanen and Jasmiini Ottelin in 2009) and The Tongueling have been widely noticed in the animation industry. Kielitiettyni has won this year the main prize in Tricky Women festival Best Student Animation award at Anifest in Czech Republic and the Special Prize in Tampere Film Festival. Benigni has been nominated to numerous awards and was chosen by Animatricks Animation Festival to represent Finland in the ANOBA (Award of Nordic and Baltic Animation Festival) competition in 2010. Her third and latest film Sock Skewer Street 8 (2013) started off as a graduation film, but was finished in “Animation Artist in Residence Tokyo 2012-2013”, part of the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs “International Invitation Program for Animation Artists 2013”.
CORKY
by Ty Primosch
USA
5:45
A corkscrew with a screw loose battles a giant glass bottle to uncork seven magical lightning bugs trapped inside. CORKY is my debut independent short animation. It was animated out of my apartment, over a 6 year period. While the short was generated with a computer, every object, sound, and surface was carefully created with imperfections to achieve a handcrafted style for a magical storybook feel. This handcrafted style was also woven into the original score where kitchen items were incorporated as instruments.
Ty Primosch is an animator/director, and holds a BFA in Film/Photography & an MFA in Animation. For the last 6 years, outside of the studio environment, Ty has been creating his debut independent animated short called CORKY. After building render farm in the spare bedroom and running up the electric bill, the short is finally complete.
Ginevra
by Tess Martin
Netherlands
3:42
Dawn is breaking and the owls are stirring. A young woman has been murdered, but is this truly the end? This short film is based on an unfinished poem by Percy Shelley published in 1824.
No artist biography
black enuf*
by Carrie Hawks
USA
22:16
A queer oddball seeks approval from black peers despite a serious lack of hip-hop credentials and a family that ‘talks white’. My quest for a Black Card (undeniable acceptance of my racial identity) takes me from Missouri, to New York, and halfway around the world. The film interweaves stories from my great-grandmother’s autobiography, interviews of family & friends, and my hand-drawn memories. We’re all on a quest for acceptance.
Prior to filmmaking, Carrie Hawks concentrated on visual art and design. Her work addresses gender, sexuality, and race. The medium ranges from paintings, drawings, dolls, to video. Carrie animated the opening sequence for Filmedia’s Winds of Al-Amal, a feature length documentary about Iraqi refugees. She also collaborated with Amniótica, a music and design studio, to create their promotional animated piece which aired on Colombian television. Their first animated documentary, Delilah, premiered at the Animation Block Party in 2012. The film was awarded “Best Experimental Film” (Reel Sisters of the Film Festival) in October of 2012.
Par Avion
by Liz Van Verth
USA
2:37
An old lady sorts through used postcards from the booksellers on the Seine. Upon returning home, the old lady reads the bits of text on the back and imagines experiencing the image on the postcard from the point of view of the writer. She first looks at a postcard of the Arc de Triomphe written in the 1800’s. The second postcard of the Eiffel Tower is from a lover after the end of World War II. Upon realizing that she is not imagining but truly entering the postcards, the old lady searches frantically through her pile. She finds one of Sacre Couer written by a little girl. She studies the postcard intently, is transformed into the little girl, and enters that world permanently.
Buffalo native Liz Van Verth’s work in New York includes reenactment and medical animation as well as freelance illustration and design. After receiving her MFA in Digital Arts at Pratt Institute, Liz taught for five years at Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City, Missouri. In 2012, she moved back to her hometown of Buffalo for the position of Executive Director at a small non-profit fine arts studio. Since 2014, Liz is back in academia as the Program Coordinator for the Animation Program at Niagara County Community College.
Maned & Macho
by Shiva Sadegh Asadi
Islamic Republic of Iran
10:49
A young girl’s repressed emotions and instincts are embodied in some animals that come out of her dreams. However, no one in her family is receptive to these animals.
Shiva Sadegh Asadi: Born in Tehran in 1983, I graduated with a Master’s degree in animation from University of Art, Tehran.
My short animated films have been screened in many festivals all over the world and have won some prizes.
Filmography: I was two, 2011
The Kitten, 2013
Grandfather, 2015
And my new film is: Maned & Macho
Gotcha!
by Matthew Grindlay
United Kingdom
1:00
A classic tale of cat and mouse, no make that scarecrow and rabbit, with a magic twist to finish!
The story for Gotcha was created by Matthew Grindlay, one of the winners in the 7-8 age category in the 2016 CITV Share-a-Story competition. This is the CharacterShop’s latest contribution to the BAFTA winning Share-A-Story series.
Hope
by Michael Scherrer
Switzerland
6:02
“Hope” tells the Story of a little boy, who is condemned to spend the time he has left in a prisoners’ camp. The memories of his mother are the only thing keeping him alive.
Michael Scherrer is the owner and founder of the Pixcube Animation Studio one of the leading AnimationStudios in Switzerland. He is a well known Director for commercials nationwide.
Pizza Face
by Justin Ulloa & Jamie Dwyer
USA
10:00
A self-absorbed pizza waitress unleashes devastating horror after downloading a sinister mobile app.
Justin Ulloa and Jamie Dwyer are a Brooklyn-based art and animation team. PIZZA FACE is their fourth movie. Justin, a writer, artist and creator of Snaxtime.com, graduated from NYU’s Tisch Film & TV and Cinema Studies programs. Jamie, an NYU Art/New Media graduate, is a creative director and founder of Electric Wonder, an art & innovation firm.
Wanderer
by Narae Kim
Republic of Korea
4:15
Wanderer is a short animation about a polar bear who moves to a city after losing his ice habitat. He is a dreamer who eagerly searches for an authentic life and a wanderer who struggles to adapt to his new life in a big city.
Narae Kim is from Seoul, Korea and currently working and living in Los Angeles. She has directed, designed, and produced prize winning short films in VR and Animation, including ‘Pippa’s Pan’ (Art Director), showcased at Cannes Film Festival 2017. Narae holds an MFA from CalArts where she studied Scenic Design and Animation.
Meeting MacGuffin
by Catya Plate
USA
9:58
In a post-apocalyptic future where humanity has fallen apart, a group of scientists and an animated sign complete the construction of a new human race and meet a groundhog climatologist who prepares them for their mission to restore balance to the decimated Earth.
Catya Plate is a Brooklyn based award winning filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist. Raised in Germany, she came to New York in 1987 through a Fulbright Scholarship for post-graduate Fine Arts studies at the School of Visual Arts. She has been exhibiting regularly and internationally since the mid-1980’s. Her work can be found in many public and private collections worldwide, including the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Modern Art Library in New York City. In 2009, she created Clothespin Freak Productions to bring her “Clothespin Freaks” characters to life through stop-motion animation short films. In 2012, her first film “The Reading”, was awarded Best Animated Film at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival. Her second film “Hanging By A Thread”, screened at over 22 film festivals in the US and abroad, like the Academy Award-qualifying St. Louis International Film Festival and won 9 awards. “Meeting MacGuffin”, the sequel of “Hanging By A Thread” and second in a trilogy of shorts was completed in February 2017. The script for “Meeting MacGuffin” made it into the Quarter Finals (Top 40 Shorts) at the renowned Cinequest Screenwriting Competition in 2015. “Speaking Of Freaks”, a short documentary about the making of “Meeting MacGuffin” directed by Hamad Altourah and produced by Catya Plate, was released in November 2016.
ETHNOPHOBIA
by Irida Zhonga
Albania
14:20
Survival, clash and symbiosis go side by side; all accompanied by bursts of joy and pain as a result of man’s internal need to find and exaggerate differences when similarities are obviously greater.
Irida Zhonga is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts of Albania. He’s worked in the film and TV industry as a director, art director and animator for numerous production companies and commercials. He currently works as a director for the national Greek broadcaster, ERT. Throughout his career he’s written and directed many short films some of which have been screened and awarded in the international film festivals of Annecy, Giffoni, Hiroshima, Gutenberg, New York, Prague, China, Drama and more.
A Day in a Life of an Angel at Her Home in Space
by Marisha Falkovich
USA
3:20
No film description.
Marisha Falkovich lives and works in New York City. She makes independent stop motion animations, works as a freelance animator and teaches animation in elementary schools.
Digital Romance
by Michael Helmuth Hansen
Denmark
10:47
One cold winter evening the computer game Brutal Bullet becomes infected by a destructive virus. Kane Skullhead, the main character of the game, can suddenly feel a beat inside his chest; a beat of life that activates the antivirus in the computer and starts a chase of life and death, which will eventually reach beyond his own world and have him collide with the world of a beautiful ballerina.
Director & Animator Michael Helmuth Hansen grew up on the north side of Copenhagen, surrounded by comic books in his parents’ kiosk. Michael has been Working on movies like “All Dogs Go to Heaven”, “Ferngully” and “Fuglekrige”’, and he has directed numerous episodes of the TV Series “NINJAGO: Masters of Spinjitzu.”“Digital Romance” is his first solo project, written and directed by himself and working together with a team at WIL FILM.
24 Days of Torture
by Vik&Nes Collective
United Kingdom
2:07
Christopher, an advent calendar tries to protect his beloved chocolates over the period of Christmas.
Victoria Jardine and Ines Pagniez are French independant animation directors. They first have met in secondary school. Then they both went studying at Supinfocom in Valenciennes in France, and made this first short film on they spare time.
Vienna Table Trip
by Virgil Widrich
Austria
1:22
An animated whirlwind cinematic tour through Vienna, staged with cups, saucers, plates, knives, forks, local specialties and products interspersed with different dimensions of Vienna’s contemporary urban life. Using stop-motion animation, Virgil Widrich’s team made 55,000 photos over five days to produce 2.7 terabytes of data. „We would have had enough material in the end to produce a 38-minute film taking a playing speed of 24 images per second,“ he says. It took weeks of work to compress the message into the film’s present length. You do not need to leave a Viennese coffee table to travel through the whole city! Commissioned by Vienna’s Staff Office International Strategy and Coordination. Winner of 15 international awards or honorable mentions!
Virgil Widrich, born 1967 in Salzburg, works on numerous multimedia and film productions. His first feature film is “Heller als der Mond” (“Brighter than the Moon”). His short film “Copy Shop” won 35 international awards and was nominated for the Oscar. “Fast Film” premiered in Cannes 2003 and won 36 awards until today. His newest feature film is “Night of a 1000 Hours” to be released end of 2016. Virgil Widrich lives in Vienna/Austria.
Nutag-Homeland
by Alisi Telengut
Canada
6:00
A visual poem and surrealist requiem for the Kalmyk people that were mass-deported by USSR from 1943-1957 and half of them died before they were allowed to return home. The film manifests itself as an archetype with frame by frame hand painted imagery, bringing back a slice of human history on the eternal theme of diaspora and the loss of homeland, but more importantly, by referencing to the past and the lost, it poses a critical resistance to the current social political situations in the world.
Alisi Telengut (1989), is a visual artist, animator, and filmmaker currently based in Montreal. She creates animation frame by frame under the camera, with painting as the medium, to generate movement and explore hand-made and painterly visuals for her films. Her recent films received awards at the 24th Stockholm Film Festival, the 36th and the 37th Montreal World Film Festival and Canada International Film Festival. In addition to being screened at Sundance, Slamdance, Edinburgh Film Festival, ZINEBI, Talent tout court at Cannes Film Festival, and various worldwide film venues and exhibitions as animation and moving image artworks, these films have also contributed to enthnographic and ethnocultural research archives.
Lights in the Attic
by Cynthia Osaseri
USA
2:35
Thrown in the attic, a place for the things old and forgotten, these little toys decide to break the rules, and throw a dance party unbeknownst to the posh attendees just below the floorboards. But their reckless actions may end up ruining the night for everyone, if not for the illuminating presence of one broken chandelier. Told visually through silhouettes, “Lights in the Attic” is an 2D animated film that follows Dolly and her fellow rag dolls as try to make their humble space into exciting new home.
Cynthia Osaseri was born in Benin, Nigeria. She currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, working in animation, illustration and writing.Through the world of animation, she continues a passion for exploratory storytelling and the world’s little odd things.
LA COSTA DORADA
by Noémi Gruner
France
10:31
In order to help her parents affected by the crisis, Erika leaves for a job on the Costa Dorada coast in Spain. She will sing for tourists while in Madrid a crucial demonstration of the “Indignados” movement is about to take place. In an empty city, she will be confronted even more brutally with the crisis.
Noémi Gruner is a French director, born in Paris. Freshly graduated from the EMCA School in Angoulême in 2015, she directed her first animated short film La Costa Dorada. The film was produced by Perspective films (France) and Need Productions (Belgium), purchased by France Televisions, and the screenplay had been awarded in several cinema festivals (Lille, Aubagne, Paris). Noémi has created many short films using many different techniques during her studies, among which Tatie Tango, which was awarded with the Gulli public prize at the Annecy festival in 2014.
Au revoir Balthazar
by Rafael Sommerhalder
Switzerland
9:30
A scarecrow, a storm, a broken leg. The resonant sound of a sea shell. Leaving forever.
Born in Switzerland in 1974, Rafael Sommerhalder studied Film Direction at ECAL in Lausanne and Animation at the Royal College of Art in London. He lives and works as an animator/filmmaker in Zurich, Switzerland.
HIVE
by Adam Ciolfi
Canada
10:30
The desperate survivors of a dying world search for meaning in their final hours.
Adam Ciolfi’s lifelong fascination with stop motion animation began in 1975 when at age ten he discovered the work of Ray Harryhausen. In 1977 he attempted his first film with a lump of plasticine and a Regular 8 camera. By 1985 he and his brothers and sister had produced 26 short films. Adam completed his first professional film (ATTIC IN THE BLUE, 1991) after graduating from film school. It would win 4 awards for Best Animated Short during its festival run before being sold for broadcast.
In 1996, after a series of live action shorts, he began work on a stop motion feature film. THE LADY OF NAMES (2011) would take 15 years to complete and would go on to win Best Animated Feature awards at 9 North American film festivals. He followed that up with the multi-award winning and critically acclaimed short BROKEN (2014). HIVE (2016) is his latest film.
CEASE GAME
by Walter Tournier
Uruguay
7:00
In the middle of a war, a boy and a dog try to protect themselves . A nothing innocent game.
Walter Tournier: Montevideo,1944. Animator,animation director, teacher, and craftsman. The target audience of his films is general audiences, especially children. In 1998, he started his own production company Tournier Animation, specialising in the animation technique known as Stop Motion. His work and career have earned him international honours in Germany, Argentina, Cuba, Spain France, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. His short film “Nuestro Pequeño Paraíso” (Our Little Paradise) was selected, together with another 84 films, as one of the animated films of the twentieth century for the programme One Hundred Years of Cinema Animation (The tour de l’animation) by the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France in 2000.
Some of his most significant productions are the series “Los Tatitos” (aired on Uruguayan and Argentinian television), “El Jefe y el Carpintero” (The Boss and the Carpenter) and “Navidad Caribeña” (Caribbean Christmas) for Welsh TV and Discovery Kids, “A pesar de todo” (In Spite of Everything), the series “Los Derechos del Niño”(The Rights of the Child – OAS) and “Tonky”.
His first feature film “Selkirk el Verdadero Robinson Crusoe” (Selkirk the Real Robinson Crusoe) was premiered in 2012.
Drifting Away
by Cyprien Clément-Delmas
Spain
14:27
Paul dreams to go sailing with his father one day. But his father tumbles into a depression and literally dissolves right before his eyes. The film is pervaded with a sense of melancholy, but also hope, as the son helps his father along the elder’s journey, thus pulling the entire family out of its lethargy.
Cyprien Clément-Delmas (born April 6, 1986 in Paris) works as photographer and filmmaker. He studied at film school ESCAC in Barcelona. Lives and works in Paris. His first photography exhibition was in Paris 2006. Cyprien works regularly for social projects, like the documentary film workshop “Audiovisuales sin Fronteras“ for prisoners. In 2012, 2013 and 2016 he teaches photography for young students in the suburbs of Thokoza in Johannesburg (South Africa). As a director and filmmaker he did several short films, music videos and documentaries. “Luciano” (2011) he co-directed with Dani de la Orden, won several film prizes in Europe.
Aftermath
by Layla
United Kingdom
2:30
An adaptation of a war poem by Siegfried Sassoon. “Aftermath” was broadcast on every Armistice Day for many years after the war.
Layla is a graduate of the Royal College of Art and a founder of Trunk Animation.
2016 – Aftermath
2014 – Golly Golly Go Buddy
2010 – Nasty Habits (series)
2005 – Stealth Lunch
2005 – The Whistler
2000 – Hop Squad
1999 – Love On Ice
1997 – People Say
Tempo
by Arjan Brentjes
Netherlands
1:00
A man tries to relax on a bench in the park, but he’s constantly bothered by the latest innovations. As his life slows down, technology speeds up. And that whole story wrapped in exactly one minute.
Arjan Brentjes often takes the viewer back to a movie style from the past, to look at our future from there. Thereby wittily commenting on the development of our technological society. ‘Tempo’ is his first fully animated film, a complete solo project from script to final edit.
Ferus
by Heather Langley
USA
4:49
Deep within a dark coniferous forest, a woman struggles to separate herself from her wild environment—in denial of the fact that she, too, is wild.
With degrees in English literature, fine art, and creative writing, it’s filmmaking that combines Heather’s many interests into one medium. It is her goal to make humorous, thoughtful animated films that promote awareness of current social, educational, and environmental issues. Her first student film, Tree Hugger, was recently named a CINE Golden Eagle Award Finalist and has screened at environmental festivals within the US and internationally. When not in front of her computer, you can generally find Heather outdoors, running, hiking, or climbing trees.
In my latest animated film FERUS (which means “wild” in Latin), I wanted to discuss the darker side of humanity’s relationship with nature. I feel that we sometimes fear the natural world around us, often viewing “wildness” as a threat. In an attempt to maintain a sense of power and control, we work constantly to separate nature from our daily lives. But should we?
Madagascar’s Scars
by Camille Wainer
USA
5:00
As an island nation of spectacular and unique biodiversity, Madagascar has over 80% of its animals and plants that are found nowhere else on Earth. Madagascar’s Scars attempts to inform the viewer of the environmental crisis involving illegal logging, deforestation and hunting of the critically endangered lemur which threatens the future of the island, as well as offer hopeful solutions to protect the biodiversity and improve the lives of the Malagasy.
Camille Wainer is an international artist, editorial illustrator and independent filmmaker. As a visual artist, her client list includes the American Museum of Natural History, Habitat for Humanities, The Washington Post and the New York Press. Ms Wainer is the founder and president of independent film production company Documinute Productions. She made her directorial debut in 2010 with the silent documentary Thou Art: Williamsburg featuring artists in the post 9/11 community of NYC.
Fish Mark & The Girl
by Kris Wang
Taiwan
14:38
A girl and a cat are bonded by a fish mark. Caring for each other helps them conquer the fear inside.
Kris Wang graduated from NYU film school with a MFA degree in 1992. He’s been making documentaries over 2 decades, and won the best director award in non fiction category of TV Golden Bell Award on 2004. Plus several nominations. He made a TV feature “Mother’s wish” for PTS on 2005 . “Un Sospiro Enchanted” won best fiction short award in IAFOR Osaka and shown in Montreal International Film Festival 2013.
The Mystery of the Deadly Smoke
by Ignatenko Andrei Borisovich
Russian Federation
10:53
How to tell your child about the dangers of smoking? Of course, go together with him in the extraordinary excursion in the human organism, to see with your own eyes what is happening in the body of the smoker.
Ignatenko Andrei Borisovich was born January 11, 1957. He started working on the “Soyuzmultfilm” in 1974. In 1986 he graduated from the courses of animators at the studio. As animator participated in the creation of more than 50 animated films. Since 1996 he works as a director on the domestic and foreign studios.
Fox And The Whale
by Robin Joseph
Canada
12:03
The tale of a curious fox who goes in search of an elusive whale. a journey of pursuit, longing and discovery.
Robin was born and raised in Kerala, India. He moved to Canada to pursue studying animation. He has worked as a freelance production designer and concept artist for animated films. Some of his past clients include Illumination , Pixar, Dreamworks, Bluesky and Sony. Fox and the Whale is his first short film. The project was independently produced and self financed. Robin lives and works out of Toronto, Canada.
English 
French