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All About Animafest Zagreb 2019: Festival Highlights

All About Animafest Zagreb 2019: Festival Highlights

The 29th World Festival of Animated Film – Animafest Zagreb 2019  (3-8 June, Tuškanac, Kinoteka and Kaptol Boutique Cinema) lineup  comprises over 400 titles from 45 countries..

The experimental trend:  Daniel Šuljić gave a special emphasis on the more experimental and fresher poetics in the Student Competition and the attractive Grand Competition – Feature Film, in which Away and Buñuel in the Labyrinth of Turtles are joined by Another Day of Life. He also stressed that the World Panorama section features the latest films by animation celebrities like Dahee Jeong and Peter Millard.

Read Also: Animafest Zagreb 2019 Selection Results and Panorama Section

Apart from its compeition,  this year boasts the central theme programme focusing on the connection between animation and visual arts, a celebration of the 50th anniversary of man’s landing on the Moon, retrospectives and panoramas dedicated to international and Croatian classics (Suzan Pitt, Nedeljko Dragić and other big names of the Zagreb School), Portuguese cinema, open-airs and Animacycle, virtual reality, exhibitions and workshops and an event for animation professionals (Animafest PRO), as well as a comprehensive programme for children and adolescents.


Jury of the Grand Competition – Short Film: Boris Labbé (last year’s Animafest Grand Prix winner for the film La Chute), Ruth Lingford; Michaela Müller, designer of this year’s Animafest visual; Tünde Vollenbroek, Dutch producer, associate of Cartoon Brew, and a board member of the European animation award Émile; Chen Xi, a record-breaking Animafest Grand Competition entrant.
The Grand Competition – Feature Film jury: American producer and Emmy-winning animator Frank Gladstone; leading Russian critic and writer specialising in animation Dina Goder; and Dalibor Barić, a  Croatian author working along the line between animated and experimental film, the master of sci-fi and found footage.
The Student and Croatian Film Competition juries: Nikita Diakur, Vasco Sá, Bruno Razum (Croatia).
VR Competition: David Doutel,  Marc Bertrand (NFB), and Milan Gostimir (the founder of the first Croatian VR studio, Legame).

Masterclasses :

  • Portuguese Animation Today, 07/06 FRI Kulturno informativni centar (KIC) 12:30h. Vasco Sá and David Doutel are presenting ,along with Regina Pessoa, the contemporary Portuguese animation in this year’s focus on Portugal’s cinema. David Doutel will present his 2D animation studio. Regina Pessoa will talk about the process on working on the latest film, as well as how her personal stories affect creation.

Portugal In Focus:  Festival producer Matea Milić stated that the attraction of Portuguese animation, for example Between the Shadows and Augur, as well as the fact that the local animated cinema in many respects resembles the Croatian animation scene (a small environment with an extremely agile and internationally acclaimed, stylistically and genre-wise diverse production blossoming again since the late 1990s) were the initial motivation to put Portugal in focus, an event curated by the Short Film Agency (Agência da Curta Metragem), implemented in association with the Portuguese Embassy (3 programmes and 22 diverse film overall).

  Tale About The Cat and The Moon, Pedro Serrazina

  • Boris Labbé: Masterclass: 08/06 SAT Kulturno informativni centar (KIC) 11:00 h
  • José Luis Ágreda: Making of Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles, 07/06 FRI Kulturno informativni centar (KIC) 11:00h. osé Luis Ágreda, art director of Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles will share the story and art behind the film – character designing, colors, landscapes, costumes.
  • Gerta Xhelo: Ted-ED,  07/06 FRI Kulturno informativni centar (KIC) 10:00 h Presentation of TED-Ed Animations – a TED-Ed’s signature content: short, award-winning animated videos about ideas that spark the curiosity of learners everywhere
  • BEYOND REALITY 08/06 SAT Kulturno informativni centar (KIC) 10:00 h ,  What is the experience offered by medium that one wishes to employ? Marc Bertrand, NFB porducer, asks himself for each of his productions. The answers are becoming more complex. Uri Kranot, main tutor of AniDox:Lab will present recently established VR Awards at ANIDOX
  • THIS IS HOW I DO IT, 08/06 SUB Kulturno informativni centar (KIC) 12:30 h , NIKITA DIAKUR (UglyFest) MICHAEL FREI (Plug & PlayKids. Two authors of a distinct style in contemporary animation present their way of working on their critically acclaimed films.
  • Making of: Away / Area 52, 07/06 FRI Kulturno informativni centar (KIC) 14:00 h , Director and animator Gints Zilbalodis will share his experience of making an indie feature film all by himself, and experimental animator John Morena on the trials and triumphs of his epic year-long project.

 'Animation and Fine Arts": six short programmes and two feature films (The Painting, Miss Hokusai). The two sections focus on the works directly inspired by individual artists, styles or classical art in general, one with artists active in the gallery context, one with abstract films, one with architecture and animation and one with recent art-inspired titles. 

                                                                              None of that, Isabela Littger, Anna Paddock, Kriti Kaur 

Guests: Pole Tomasz Popakul, Swiss Michael Frei, Japanese artist Shunsaku Hayashi, the acknowledged anime master Saku Sakamoto, American John Morena, (with three Grand Competition titles), Latvian Gints Zilbalodis, (Away), the artistic director of the film Buñuel in the Labyrinth of Turtles and comic book artist José Luis Ágreda, Gerta Xhelo from TED-Ed, Nancy Denney-Phelps, Joni Männistö and many others.

Events:Animacycle in Old Town this weekend, Gradec open air cinema, and Animafest’s favourite open-air in Zrinjevac park. Animacycling programme this Sunday is complemented with a play on the Hedgehog's Home performed by Tvornica lutaka and Eva Cvijanović’s film at Gradec cinema, as well as the films Together and On Youth directed by the student of Art Academy from Banja Luka, and animated music videos from Animafest’s section Cinema for the Ear. Animacycle traditionally takes place in association with the Art Academy from Banja Luka and follows the Old Town route and the Grič Tunnel, animating city’s facades and highlighting the connection between the city and the festival.

Open Air: The winners of last year’s Animafest – This Magnificent Cake! by Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels, Boris Labbé’s La Chute and Between the Shadows by Alice Guimarães and Mónica Santos.

Saturday, 8June (Tuškanac Open Air Cinema): Special programme ‘Take Me to the Moon’, dedicated to the 50th anniversary of man’s landing on the Moon. The titles include the revived original colour version of Méliès’s A Trip to the Moon, Vukotić’s Cow on the Moon, Wallace and Gromit and the fascinating recent title Solar Walk for all the lovers of contemplative science fiction.

Exhibition: 6 exhibitions  take place during the festival, the most attractive among them being a fashion event, related to the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Kranjčar Gallery will exhibit ten unique, hand-painted coats by Suzan Pitt, displayed in her boutique in New York’s 8th Street by Patricia Field – the costume designer, designer and stylist best known for her work on the TV series Sex & the City. Inspired by popular culture motifs like comic books, commercials, original prints and NYC graffiti, as well as psychology, sex, surrealism and watercolours of her animated films, Suzan Pitt’s coats stem from New York City and Los Angeles’s vibrant atmosphere (opens Tuesday, 4 June, 6pm).

  • Read Also: Suzan Pitt Receives the Animafest Zagreb Litetime Achievement Award

    Behind the Scenes Group exhibition: filmmakers whose films were selected for the Grand Competition – Short Film and were invited to exhibit their making-of drawings and other materials at KIC
    Miyu Production Exhibition, hosted by The French Institute Miyu.
    Becoming-animal (ULUPUH Gallery) by Boris Labbe
    (Re)Animation of Poetry exhibition by Pogon Jedinstvo:  art initiative of Božidar Trkulja and 50 contemporary Croatian artists.
    Masters of Animation:  Suzan Pitt, Nedeljko Dragić, as well as Borivoj Dovniković’sZagreb School in 1971.
    Because of a large number of outstanding projects, Animafest 2019 introduced a new competition with seven installations screened daily at the Grič Tunnel, from 10am to 8pm. Besides, the Grič Tunnel and the Šira Gallery are also hosting the exhibition #fuckreality by students and teachers of the Academy of Applies Arts from Vienna, leaning on immersive, virtual and expanded reality. Finally, every day at 1.30pm the Tunnel is hosting the performance Swarming Tunnel. The Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing is hosting the workshop of storyline development for video games, mentored by Emmanuel Corn, the developer of Event [0] and Endless Legend.

    Sixth International Symposium Animafest Scanner ( 4 and 5 June,  Balassi Institute):  Invited speaker Jayne Pilling and a presentation of a collection of papers from the previous editions, published by Bloomsbury, and KIC is hosting a series of masterclasses. All the Animafest PRO events are free of charge.

  • Read Also: Jayne Pilling to receive Outstanding Contribution to Animation Studies Award

    Children and Youth Programme (family pass starts at 100 Kuna, 1 child and 1 parent, Kinoteka): Among the highlights, the Feature films Birdhouse, narrated live by actor Filip Riđički, and  Gordon and Paddy, with Croatian voice over. The Family Programme also includes short theme selections dedicated to holiday magic, persistence and diversity and animals from the German Film Bilder studio.


Toofa and Poofa

Animation workshops ( French Institute, Mediatheque, mentored by Antonija Veljačić):  – a workshop familiarising children age 4+ with optical toys on Saturday 1 June and the weekly ‘Animate!’ workshop for schoolchildren, every day from 5pm to 7pm.

Animafest in Your Neighbourhood: free screenings from the festival programme at culture centres across different neighbourhoods in Zagreb: KUC Travno, Dubrava People’s University, Sesvete People’s University, Maksimir Centre for Culture and Information, Trešnjevka Centre for Culture and Peščenica Centre for Culture.  In collaboration with the as sociation Djeca susreću umjetnost, Animafest 2019 is organising screenings and Q&As with authors at paediatric wards of Zagreb’s hospitals.

Free of charge events (thanks to Zagrebačka banka) Student Competition, Nedeljko Dragić’s retrospective, Animafest in Your Neighbourhood, open-airs, Gradec open-air cinema line-up, retrospectives of animation schools (Gobelins and National Film and Television School) and SuzanPitt, Cinema for the Ear, films nominated for the European Emile Award, Central European talents etc.

The Hungarian Balassi Institute in Zagreb hosted the press conference ahead of the beginning of the festival. Jury members and guests of honour, Croatian films in international and Croatian competitions and details of attractive open-air and cinema programmes were presented by the festival’s artistic director Daniel Šuljić, producers Matea Milić and Paola Orlić, Nikola Stojadinović, Advisor for Film at the City of Zagreb Department of Culture, and authors of films in Animafest 2019’s Croatian and Student Competition Noemi Ribić, Stella Hartman, Martina Meštrović and Tanja Vujasinović.


ANIMAFEST ZAGREB FACTS:
400 Films from 45 Countries
240 Festival Guests
Croatian FIlm Competition: 20 Films
Animafest’s competition winners directly qualify directly for  the Academy Awards, European Animation Awards and Annie Awards.
Dates: 3-8 June 2019

The 29th World Festival of Animated Film – Animafest Zagreb 2019, taking place 3-8 June at cinemas Tuškanac, Kinoteka and Kaptol Boutique Cinema, as well as many other venues across the city.

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