Inaugural edition of the GLAS Animation Festival to spotlight filmmakers Paul Vester, Sara Gunnarsdottír, Hisko Hulsing, Satoshi Kon and more.
2016 marks the launch of the first annual GLAS Animation Festival. Running March 3-6 in Berkeley, California, the festival aims to expand the scope of animation by bringing new voices, new talents, new themes, and a new generation of independent filmmakers and curators to the United States. The GLAS Animation Festival will highlight contemporary independent animation while curating special programs of the most significant periods of animation history that serve as an inspiration for the new generation of filmmakers.
The inaugural GLAS Animation Festival will feature a breadth of programs including international competition shorts, retrospectives, special curated programs, Q&As, behind the scene presentations, panels, and animation installations. Passes have gone on sale: Click here to register.
Competition categories include Best Narrative, NonNarrative, Undergraduate, Graduate, and Commissioned short films as well as Best Feature. In addition, to highlight the exceptional work of independent animators within the United States, GLAS is featuring a U.S. Competition and a U.S. Emerging Artist screening. Submissions close December 1st.
Los Angeles-based animator Kangmin Kim created the 2016 GLAS Animation Festival signal film featuring music by duo Pal & Drome. Kangmin combines elements of CG, 2D, and stop-motion animation to create a stunning video:
Organizers have announced the first round of special feature screenings and curated programs for the 2016 GLAS Animation Festival:
TRIBUTE TO SATOSHI KON
The inaugural edition of the festival will feature three works from one of the most pivotal and transformative animation directors of all time, the late Satoshi Kon. These modern masterpieces, which include Paprika, Perfect Blue, and Tokyo Godfathers, not only blur the lines between fantasy and reality but radically exploit the cinematic art form to tell wild stories, vast in scope and ambition. Kon had a strong interest in lead female characters, idolatry, and sociopolitical issues, making him a crucial influence on the perception of mainstream animation as a medium to address serious themes. His legacy has served and will continue to serve as an inspiration to animators and filmmakers of every sort.
'Perfect Blue'
COUNTRY IN FOCUS: THE NETHERLANDS
The Netherlands has had a long tradition of animated cinema with a strong reputation for the production of independent shorts. Postwar filmmakers such as Garrit Van Dijk, whose films often dealt with social issues, paved the path for the future generation of Dutch filmmakers. The Holland Animation Film Festival's Gerben Schermer has curated two special screenings of Dutch animation providing the 2016 GLAS Animation Festival with a comprehensive overview of Dutch animated films from past to present including a unique selection of Dutch animated films from the 1980s and a collection of the best Contemporary Dutch shorts.
Dutch animator Hisko Hulsing, director of the multiple award-winning film Junkyard, will be joining the festival on the professional shorts jury and to provide an in-depth look at the animation he directed in Montage of Heck, the only authorized documentary about Kurt Cobain, directed by Academy Award winning director Brett Morgen. This program is supported as part of the Dutch Culture USA program by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York.
'Montage of Heck'
2D ANIMATION IN LIVE-ACTION
In 2015, a number of major live-action directors have employed the art and vision of independent animators to further enhance the stories being told in their films. To celebrate this, the festival will spotlight two prominent examples -- Diary of a Teenage Girl and Montage of Heck. These two particular films highlight the strong aesthetic vision of animation directors Sara Gunnarsdottír and Hisko Hulsing. Each animation director will introduce their respective films and participate in Q&A’s following the screening, as well as provide attendees with behind the scenes presentations in each film.
FESTIVAL HONOREE PAUL VESTER
The 2016 GLAS Animation Festival honoree is British native Paul Vester, whose films Picnic, Sunbeam, In the Woods and Abductees embody a lifetime of dedication to independent filmmaking. His highly observational films carry a unique tone, often juxtaposing a playful use of the animated medium with serious critiques of war, violence, and the global political landscape. As an independent filmmaker, a pivotal figure in the Liquid TV generation, and as a longtime faculty member of the CalArts Experimental Animation Program, Vester’s contributions have made him an inspiration to the new generation of independent animators.
In addition to screening his animated films, The 2016 GLAS Animation Festival will be featuring Vester’s latest video projection, Clock 02, a hand-drawn clock animation installation that measures the passing of time by counting forward with cycles of random lengths. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with Vester led by Jason Sondhi
Source: GLAS Animation Festival
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
