Animocje Festival 2022: 'Co-Exist' Highlights

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 The 11th edition of the precious Animocje International Animated Film Festival (Bydgoszcz, Poland, 3-9 April 2022) is centered around co-existence, at a time where the (possible?) end of the pandemic coincides with the beginning of an invasion and a war.

'When we decided to use the last summer' artistic director Weronika Placzek tells Zippy Frames, 'right after the ending of the 10th edition of the Festival, the world around us was completely different. Today, we still believe in the coexistence of worlds (dimensions), species, people with different preferences, statuses and personality traits. We believe such coexistence is possible – our curator shows will concentrate on proving exactly that. And we know that  we know despite the obvious tragedy we are dealing with at this time, we cannot lose ourselves in sadness. We must act. We must have hope'.

Act and hope is ingrained in the festival programme. Starting from its competition section, an impressive number of 105 animation shorts compete for this year's top honours 

The Hangman at Home, Michelle & Uri Kranot

A well-placed Ukrainian animation tribute (03.04., Sunday, Orzeł Cinema,7 PM, free of charge), includes films created as part of the Linoleum Festival's campaign, by filmmakers living daily (or even currently) in Ukraine and those living and studying in Poland

Refugees also feature in Animocje's feature film proposal (paint-on-glass) 'The Crossing' by Florence Miailhe, which won the special jury mention at Annecy Festival 2021

Animocje also gladly features the Polish premiere of the new Ari Folman (Waltz with Bashir, The Congress) film, 'What is Anne Frank?'  in its closing ceremony (9/4,7:30 pm,  Orzeł Cinema).

T‍hree curated programmes by Aneta Ozorek (Kaboom Animation Festival), Olga Bobrowska (StopTrik Festival) and our own Vassilis Kroustallis bring the co-existence connection into the short animation focus.

1. Being queer together (curator: Aneta Ozorek)

It unovers the beauty of love in all its forms and shapes. Sometimes deadly serious, sometimes nostalgic, and often with a characteristic absurd and black sense of humor.

Between Us Two,Wei Keong Tan

‍Relationship Status: The kin (curator: Olga Bobrowska)

 The kin, a relationship which binds human kind and other species existing on Earth, assumes cohabitation, specific cooperation, and “being together”. However, it is not a utopian vision of harmonious coexistence of humans, animals, and nature. An accelerating climate catastrophe with all its implications, everyday becomes a more and more observable and perceptible fact. Therefore, the endurance of the species is not a constructive project of the future but rather a strategy of facing the present  

In A Pig's Eye, Atsushi Wada

3. Animating the Old, Animating the Youth (curator: Vassilis Kroustallis) 

There is never an old age in itself -but only in comparison to what you were (young), what you might be (old), with an always interesting relational story to be told. The animation shorts here materialize and visualize this in spades.

Cerulia, Sofia Carillo

Don't miss the masterlcass Scriptwriting - creating an original story about difficult topics by Alexandre Siqueira, director of the awarded 'Purpleboy'. '

During 5 years I worked on the writing and development of my animated short film Purpleboy. A lot of people told me that I took too long in this process. Over the years, I became convinced that it took the necessary time, as my intention was to explore a language that distanced itself from conventional writing. And furthermore, to dive deeply into a theme that was completely unknown to me' - Alexandre Siqueira

The free of charge video and music event is “Młyn” room, second floor.  "Low Voltage Dynamo" is a study of repetitive mechanical motion and its interaction with continuous motion, natural human movements and still images. The presentative images from 30’s to 70’s American and Ukrainian found footage material are collided with abstraction in order to create a new visual language. Live music by you. Guru.

"Low Voltage Dynamo" is a digitally recorded, originally analogical multi-projection performance using film, slide and overhead projection techniques.

The full festival statement of Weronika Placzek

The 11th edition of the Animocje festival is just around the corner. After two pandemic years, we have been looking forward to this one as an apparent return to normal life. Unfortunately, it is difficult to speak of normality when Ukraine, our closest eastern neighbor, faces Russian aggression. In the context of current events, the motto of this year's festival - COEXIST - takes on a new, broader significance. When we decided to use it last summer, right after the ending of the 10th edition of the Festival, the world around us was completely different. Today, we still believe in the coexistence of worlds (dimensions), species, people with different preferences, statuses and personality traits. We believe such coexistence is possible – our curator shows will concentrate on proving exactly that.


Moreover, we know that despite the obvious tragedy we are dealing with at this time, we cannot lose ourselves in sadness. We must act. We must have hope. We cannot give up. We believe that art helps us survive unfortunate moments, while animation, like no other field of the arts, is able to show us new, unlimited worlds as well as help us understand the incomprehensible, tame the unknown and get to know a different point of view. Myself, I believe that this year's festival program will take audiences on a trip to such realms. We will let you discover places where boundaries between the world of the artist and his works become blurred (Bob Spit - We Do Not Like People); where the past meets the future (Where is Anne Frank?); where love is a feeling as well as a multidimensional concept (a set of films prepared by Aneta Ozorek). I could go on and on for much longer, as almost every item in this year's program is based on the experience of some kind of coexistence. The Crossing, a movie telling the story of siblings fleeing the war, has become even more relevant today. While I am convinced that one should be aware of what is happening around us, one also ought to seek tranquility. Our intention is to try to encourage our viewers, our festival audience, to draw strength from the world of animation: A world where happy endings truly happen - Weronika Placzek, artistic director, Animocje Festival

Watch the 11th Animocje Festival Trailer:

The 11th International Animocje Animated Film Festival takes place 3-9 April 2022 in Bydgoszcz, Poland (with early Play-Off sections starting from 24 March).

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