Chris Landreth's new 3D-animated short film, RYAN, will have three premieres this summer, screening at festivals in France, Canada and the U.S. The 14-minute film will have its world premiere at Cannes 43rd International Critic's Week (May 13-21, 2004). The Canadian premiere will take place at the World-wide Short Film Festival in Toronto (May 11-16). It will also screen in competition at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival (June 7-12) in France. The U.S. premiere will be at the SIGGRAPH 2004 Computer Animation Festival in Los Angeles (August 8-12).
RYAN is a highly imaginative, affectionate and humorous tribute to Canadian pioneer animator Ryan Larkin, who 30 years ago made some of the most influential animated films of his time, while working with Norman McLaren at the National Film Board's world-famous animation studio in Montreal. Today, Ryan lives on welfare, panhandling for spare change in downtown Montreal. Using an innovative approach and the latest in animation technology, Landreth challenges preconceived notions of documentary and animation in his search to understand how such a brilliant artistic genius ended up on the street.
Landreth's previous short works include the Oscar-nominated THE END and the Genie award-winning BINGO. With RYAN, Landreth characterizes his style as "psycho-realism," as he delves deeply into "pain, intensity, fear, mercy, shame and creativity."
RYAN is a co-production of Copper Heart Ent. and the NFB, in association with the Animation Arts Center of Seneca College. The producers are Steven Hoban, Marcy Page and Mark Smith.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
