The award-winning Madame Tutli-Putli opened the Festival of Animated Film Stuttgart '08. © 2007 National Film Board of Canada.

The 15th Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film took place May 1-6, attracting more films and visitors than ever before.

There were 1,700 animated films submitted this year, with 500 selected for screenings over the six festival days. Several well-established competitions form the main element of the festival, where 190 films compete for the prestigious awards that offer a total of €52,500 in prize money.

In addition to the main competitions, there were more supporting programs to see this year, reflecting an increasingly wide range of creative work produced within an expanding and innovative industry. All told, some 50,000 visitors attended the festival's main screenings, presentations, workshops and events, as well as the open-air screenings. Stuttgart has arguably become the second-largest animation festival in the world.

Opening Show
The festival commenced with the first competition program screening to a full house, including official guests, the filmmakers, accredited professionals and students. The crowd exceeded the cinema's capacity and those unable to find a seat were content to line the side aisles. The general feeling of excited anticipation was well rewarded by the opening film, the astonishing and much-honored Madame Tutli-Putli by Chris Lavis and Maciek Sczerbowski (Canada, 2007). This animation has already won numerous international awards including the Canal+ Award for Best Short Film at Cannes 2007, as well as the prestigious Golden Gate Award for best animated short at this year's San Francisco International Film Festival.

There is something unique and very startling about this puppet stop-motion animation, due to the innovative technique and special effect developed for the film. In collaboration with the portrait artist Jason Walker, the directors filmed human faces to match the puppets' motion and expressions. The live-action eyes were then combined with the animated figures using digital scaling, positioning, painting and retiming of the footage to achieve the proper nuances. The effect is unnerving because the human eyes give a soul, thought and emotion to the animated puppets that causes us to experience them as living beings.

The Grand Prix was awarded to Franz Kafka Inaka Isha (Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor) by Koji Yamamura. Unless noted, all images courtesy of The Stuttgart Festival.

Joanna Quinn Speaks
A few days into the festival, I had the opportunity to talk to U.K. animator Joanna Quinn, one of the five jury members for the International Competition. Quinn has made seven films and countless commercials, and received more than 90 awards including an Oscar nomination, three Emmys, four BAFTAs and the Leonardo da Vinci Award (1996) for her contribution to the art of animation. I asked Joanna about her impression of the festival and her opinion of the animated films this year. She spoke candidly, conveying a great sense of admiration for all the works of animation, and saying that Stuttgart is a favorite festival of hers because of the strong student presence and the festival's welcoming attitude toward them.

We had to nearly shout to hear each other, as our conversation took place at the start of the Young Animation Party, an event attended by a mix of students and professionals of all ages, held in a downtown venue that has a distinctly retro feel to its décor, with a left-wing edge. Anticipation was building, as attendees awaited the announcement of the 48H 3D Jam competition winners, as well as the appearance of the infamous VDJ Oof, the highlight live performance of the evening.

Joanna Quinn.

Sabrina Schmid: Why is this animation festival considered one of the best in Europe, or what makes it different from other festivals?

Joanna Quinn: I think what makes it special is that a lot of the filmmakers are here, and there's nothing better than being able to meet the filmmaker of a film that you like, or don't like. [laughs] And to find out a little bit about the background of why they did what they did. And that's not always the case at a lot of festivals. Sometimes it's a bit disappointing because the filmmakers aren't there. It's just an extra bonus, and it seems to be a festival where that extra effort is made.

Also, I love the way that the filmmakers go onto the stage... It takes a long time to make an animated film and to be able to stand on the stage and have people appreciate you and the work that you've put into it I think is incredibly civilized, and I wish more festivals did it! I've been to festivals where the filmmakers have been there, but they're not invited onto the stage or they're not even acknowledged in the screenings, and you know they'd just be jumped on if people knew they were there!