Montreal – The fourth edition of the Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival has announced the release of its official program for 2012. This year, the Festival will be taking place on October 19th, 20th, and 21st in the J.A. de Sève Theater at Concordia University (1453 Mackay Street, Montreal).

The Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival is the “Ultimate Stop Motion Week-end.” The festival is the first in the world to showcase Stop Motion. The top-notch selection of exceptional films presented during this weekend-long event proves once again that a huge revival for Stop Motion animation is currently taking the animation world by storm.

This year's program has something for everyone. Along with the official film selection, talks, and guest artists, the festival is also offering two free family screenings, presented by Mega Bloks, and hands-on pods with the Stop Motion Pro software so that young animators can discover the magic of animation on site.

Opening Night: Special guest speaker MARK SHAPIRO
Friday, October 19 – 7:30 p.m.

The Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival is very pleased to announce that Mark Shapiro from LAIKA will be at this year’s Festival. Shapiro will be joining the Festival to talk about the “making of” the handcrafted stop-motion film ParaNorman and will provide a behind-the-scenes look at LAIKA's latest feature.

With time-lapse imagery and behind-the-scenes footage, Shapiro will describe the major undertaking involved in the making of this remarkable animated film.  And, as a special treat, Norman himself will be part of the visit alongside the famous Coraline. This is a great opportunity to see the meticulous work done inside LAIKA’s studios up close.

THE OFFICIAL FILM SELECTION

More than seventy Stop Motion films, from twenty countries, will be presented on the big screen. The jury will select a winner in each of the competitive categories:

Academic films 1:Saturday October 20 - 1:00 p.m.(PG-13)

Academic films 2:Sunday October 21 - 1:00 p.m.                (PG-13)

Independent films:Saturday October 20 - 4:00 p.m.(PG-13) Professional films:Sunday October 21 - 7:30 p.m. (PG-13)

The jury is composed of three members of the stop motion community: Mark Shapiro, Merlin Crossingham, and Chris Walsh. The winners will be announced on Sunday evening, the closing night of the festival.

OTHER ACTIVITIES NOT TO BE MISSED

Special presentation: MERLIN CROSSINGHAM, Creative Director of WALLACE AND GROMIT Saturday October 20 – 7:30 p.m.

It’s not every day that Wallace and Gromit cross the Atlantic and visit Montreal, but, with the help of their Creative Director Merlin Crossingham, the trip will be a lot easier as they land at the Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival.

Merlin will share about the highlights of his career in stop motion from how he got into it all the way to his work with top-flight studios.  And, he will also share his insight into Aardman Animations studio and how they adapt to work in different areas of animation production and on films of different lengths.

The highlight of the event is sure to be Merlin’s talk about how he creates character animations—from first concept to final performance.

And, to illustrate, he will be bringing along a selection of puppets, including Wallace and Gromit!

Seminar with CHRIS WALSH, Independent Animator and Teacher at SHERIDAN College Sunday  October 21 – 16:00 p.m.