Sadly, we've come to the last day of the festival...
By Lia Abbate
Greetings from freezing Ottawa, cyber-festers ~
So we’ve come to the last day. Time to bid farewell to our new “festival friends” and exchange cards and good wishes for safe journeys home. The organizers programmed the Awards Ceremony on Saturday night for the first time this year, which is completely understandable. On Sunday, many of the participants are packing up and making their way back home, making it a tad melancholy to watch the crowds slim as the festival winds down.
Best of the Festival
For those who stay, the Best of the Festival screening is really a treat, a chance to review what you loved, hated and to go meta become your one jury of one judging the work of the official ones. Because the films in Ottawa are more challenging, the second viewings bring more of an appreciation for the works to wrap up and cement the experience in a surprisingly satisfying way. These films demand that you study them and so really stay with you.
Back in reality, just brushing my teeth or taking a step, I’ve noticed the switch has been turned up on the intensity of my attention. Every little sound now, the ones I make, the ones that just happen, take on an importance. And I have become keenly aware of the movement around me. I quiz myself on how one would recreate that on a screen. Must be a good time to download the McLaren’s Workshop app.
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.