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Montreal Stop Motion Fest Announces 2013 Lineup

The Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival announces the lineup for the 2013 edition taking place October 18 – 20.

Montreal, Canada -- The fifth edition of the Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival announced the release of its official program for 2013. This year, the Festival will be taking place on October 18th, 19th, and 20th in the J.A. de Sève Theater at Concordia University (1453 Mackay Street, Montreal).

2013 is a very special year. Not only is it the 5th edition of the Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival, but it is also the 20th anniversary of the release of The Nightmare Before Christmas. In order to celebrate this landmark, we are opening the Festival with a special screening of the film on Friday October 18th. The event will also include Henry Selick, the film’s director and Anthony Scott, its animator.

This edition wouldn’t be complete without a visit from Joe and Joan Clokey, owners of the celebrated studio that created Gumby, one of the world’s most famous stop motion characters. We will also have a workshop with Jamie Caliri, filmmaker (The Shins: A Rifle Spiral) and creative director for Dragonframe!

We will honour the memory of one of the greatest Stop Motion artists, Ray Harryhausen, by presenting the documentary Ray Harryhausen: Special Effect Titan, which offers an in depth view into all the movies he worked on.

We will also have a retrospective of NUKUFILM, the famous stop motion animation studio from Estonia, which has been producing films for more than 50 years. They opened their vault and we picked the best of the best for this stellar presentation celebrating one of the busiest studios of Europe.

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 animation software so that young animators can discover the magic of animation on site

With more screenings and guest speakers than ever before, the Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival’s fifth edition promises to be the biggest and best yet.

20th Anniversary screening of The Nightmare before Christmas Friday October 18 at 7:00 p.m. The Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival is celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Director, Henry Selick, and animator, Anthony Scott, will be presenting the film. They will share stories and behind the scene tidbits from this landmark production and will then participate in a Q&A. There will also be a special appearance by Jack, and other surprises. All of this will be followed by the now famous festival cake.

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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 19 - 12:30 p.m. (PG-13)
  • Academic films 2: Sunday October 20 - 12:30 p.m. (PG-13)
  • Independent films: Saturday October 19 - 9:00 p.m. (PG-13)
  • Professional films 1: Sunday October 20 - 4:30 p.m. (PG-13)
  • Professional films 2: Sunday October 20 - 7:00 p.m. (PG-13)

The jury is composed of three members of the stop motion community: Henry Selick, Joe Clokey and Joan Rock Clokey. The winners will be announced on Sunday evening, the closing night of the festival. 

Other Activities Not to Be Missed A retrospective of Gumby! With Joe Clokey and Joan Rock Clokey Saturday October 19 at 7:00 p.m. Joe Clokey and Joan Rock Clokey will give a presentation on the impact of their family’s studio on the world of stop motion and the greater world of children's entertainment. Joe has put together a Gumby through the Years film that shows Art Clokey's early stop motion work and the groundbreaking clay animation pilot film Gumbasia, which launched the creation of Gumby.

A Talk with Jamie Caliri, Creative Director of Dragonframe Saturday October 19 at 2:30 p.m. During his presentation, Jamie Caliri will screen short works that include the title sequence from The United States of Tara and last year’s stop motion music video for the Shins. He will then walk us through the process of creating the Shins A Rifle’s Spiral from storyboards to colour correction. This talk will cover technical details as well as the collaborative process with production designer Alex Juhasz and animator Anthony Scott. There will also be time for a fun-filled Q&A.

Documentary to honour the memory of Ray Harryhausen Saturday October 19 at 4:30pm This year also marks the departure of one of the great masters of Stop Motion animation: Ray Harryhausen. He influenced many young animators with the fantastic characters he created for such classic films as: Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans. To honour his memory, we are presenting the documentary Ray Harryhausen: Special Effect Titan, which offers an in depth view of the movies he worked on.

Retrospective of NUKUFILM : animation studio from Estonia Sunday October 19 at 2:30pm Founded in 1957, NUKUFILM has been quite busy producing animated films using Stop motion animation. This special presentation will feature some of the studio’s best production and give us highlights from the eclectic style they have been developing over the years.

Free Screenings For The Whole Family Presented by Mega Bloks Saturday October 19 and Sunday October 20: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. The festival will be holding two free family screenings. The whole family will have the opportunity to enjoy stop motion animation from around the world. These films are selected from films in the official competitions.

Hands-On Sessions Saturday October 19 and Sunday October 20: 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. The festival will have “hands-on” sessions on Saturday and Sunday where animators and novices can get better acquainted with animation software while animating construction toys from Mega Bloks. Will have animators on site to guide artists and enthusiasts as they try their hands at stop motion animation.

Source: Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

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.

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