Is there such a thing as too much festival? With five days of screenings, parties and schmoozing, it’s hard to have a bad time at OIAF. Producer/animator David Fine (right) gets ready to hit another screening. Festival images courtesy of OIAF.

It’s Christmas in September. That’s what the Ottawa International Animation Festival feels like. Is there such as thing as too much festival? We’ve just had five days of back-to-back screenings, workshops, panels, master classes and parties. Pack all that in with networking, pitching, trading, schmoozing... and you’d have to work very hard not to have a great time at this festival.

To give you a real taste of the Ottawa, I’m going to present this review like an OIAF workshop. I’ll moderate the views and comments of three attendees who come from very different backgrounds and are looking for, I think, very different things from this festival.

Joseph Beyer of the Sundance Film Festival and its online component was impressed by the international range of projects and artists.

Let’s begin with Joseph Beyer, associate programmer, Sundance Film Festival and manager of the Sundance Online Film Festival. Joseph Beyer attended this year’s festival for the first time. I wondered what he was doing at an animation festival. In Ottawa. Maybe he got lost on his way to Toronto?

Sharon Katz: Joseph, you work with live-action filmmakers. What brings you to the Ottawa International Animation Festival?

Joseph Beyer: [W]hat brought me to Ottawa was our desire to reconnect with the animation community and to scout for films for our festival... we are planning to include an animation sidebar program for 2006.

SK: So, what was your general impression of the festival and how does the OIAF compare to American film festivals?

JB: “... [W]hat was most appealing from my seat was the international range of projects and artists... it was clear that the focus of Ottawa seems to be the artistry and creation of the work versus the market and business that dominates other showcases. This was refreshing and, I think, gives Ottawa a unique identity.

SK: Edgey and artistic animation is hard to place in commercial venues. What do you think about the role that more artistic/experimental animation plays for those who come to a festival looking to pitch and network on commercial projects?

JB: I think it shouldn’t be marginalized, apologized for or distinguished as “non-commercial” in any way... this same experimental work, while certainly not likely to lead to a series based on it, can open doors and find audiences... In the panel on short film distribution, we talked a lot about new forms... Unique approaches always open doors, maybe not directly, but the business of animation seems (to me) very open to this, having taken a lot of chances especially in television over the years.

SK: What did you think of the venue — Ottawa? Was it easy to get here? Was the town what you expected?

JB: Nicest and most beautiful airport of recent memory, fairly easy for me to get there, yes. And as an overall venue I thought it was great, especially how the fest incorporated the top notch venues in town, such as the National Arts Centre and the National Gallery as well as the funky Bytowne and Saw Gallery.