The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) announced its roster of films in competition, including the controversial feature PERSEPOLIS. Included among the final contenders are 26 films from the U.S. and 20 films from the U.K. Other countries competing include Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Russian Federation, Serbia, Spain, South Korea, Sweden and Taiwan.
Cannes jury prize winner PERSEPOLIS, which has caused protests at some festivals due to its depiction of the Iranian revolution, will be in the animated features competition, as will FREE JIMMY, the film from the Netherlands about a heroin addicted elephant and the bizarre Korean film AACHI & SSIPAK. Outstanding new internationally-known shorts competing for prizes at this year's event include: Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski's Cannes winner MADAME TUTLI-PUTLI; FRANZ KAFKA'S A COUNTRY DOCTOR; the new film from Oscar-nominated Japanese animator Koji Yamamura, INAKA ISHA; Aardman Animation produced PEARCE SISTERS by Kelly Drum; and EVERYTHING WILL BE OK by Don Hertzfeldt.
"In past years," says OIAF's artistic director Chris Robinson, "we've had a solid crop of films but often there are truthfully only a couple of real Grand Prix contenders. This year is unique in that there are as many as half a dozen films that could walk off with top honors. And, once again, traditional technologies continue to lead the way. In particular, this year's finalists feature some outstanding stop-motion works, including Canada's MADAME TUTLI-PUTLI and PARADISE along with cameraless work like Stephanie Maxell's brilliant, ALL THAT REMAINS. Independent animators continue to show that hand-made, traditional animation is far from dead."
The OIAF will be held Sept. 19 - 23, 2007 and will feature screenings, workshops, networking events and the Animarket Trade and Recruiting Fair. The event attracts 1,500 industry passholders and has a total attendance of more than 23,000. The Television Animation Conference is a side event to the OIAF and features industry focused panels, roundtables, pitch sessions and pre-arranged meetings; TAC brings together key players from North American and international markets and provides an intimate space for networking, information exchange, and trade. TAC runs all day Sept. 19 and 20.
This year the festival received a record-breaking 2,077 entries, with 97 films representing 18 countries have been chosen for official competition. Another 31 films will be presented in out-of-competition showcase screenings.
The 2007 international jury features Bruce Alcock (Canada), Ruth Lingford (U.K.), Joanna Quinn (U.K.), Tomasz Bagiski (Poland), Albert Hanan Kaminski (Belgium/Israel) and Hrvoje Turkovic (Croatia).
Full list of films in competition and showcase:ottawa.awn.com/index.php?option=com_oiaf&task=showselections&Itemid=621
For more information, visit www.animationfestival.ca.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
