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Stuttgart Fest Announces 2015 Int’l Lineup

ITFS 2015 unveils films selected for the International Competition, Young Animation, and Tricks for Kids Shorts and Series categories.

May means springtime in Stuttgart -- and time for animated films! From May 5-10, 2015, the Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film takes place in its 22nd edition, representing the genre’s whole variety. World premieres, over 1,000 films and the stars of the animation industry -- here the world of animation in all its aspects, the latest trends and developments and the most exciting projects will be presented and discussed. The warm-up for ITFS kicks off on April 13 with screenings and exhibitions.

The jury members consist of animation experts like Ron Dyens (Sacrebleu, Frankreich), Viviane Vanfleteren (Vivi Film, Belgien), Gilles Ciment (long-term director of the comic festival of Angoulême), 13-time Emmy awardee Josh Selig, Mari-Liis Rebane (Filmfestival Animated Dreams, Estland) and the award-winning Spanish filmmakers Anna Solanas and Marc Riba. Production companies and animation studios like Vivi Film (The Triplets of Belleville) and LAIKA (Oscar-nominated The Boxtrolls) are expected.

The competition programs -- among them the International Competition and the student’s film competition Young Animation -- represent the current status of animated films with, among others, the Oscar-nominated British short movie, The Bigger Picture by Daisy Jacobs, as well as productions from Germany, USA, France, Japan, India, China, Estonia, Russia, Syria, Canada, and many other countries. The Stuttgart region is also well-represented with Nuggets by Andreas Hykade and Wrapped by Roman Kälin, Falko Paeper and Florian Wittmann.

Numerous World premieres like Raven and The Little Rascal – The Big Race will be screened.

Important industry prizes will be awarded: The Animated Com Award honors great work in the categories advertising, spatial communication and technology. Additionally the Daimler AG awards the Future needs Derivation – Mobility in a Digital World prize, and U.I. Lapp GmbH awards the Lapp Connected Award. The award show takes place at a glamorous gala at the Mercedes-Benz Museum, and will include the German Animation Screenplay Award, which aims to promote outstanding German-language screenplays for animated film.

The kid’s festival, Tricks for Kids, presents the most beautifully and most recent films and series for kids and families. Filmmakers will be attendance, talking about their movies and letting the young visitors in on their secrets. Additionally, a lot of workshops (in the Mercedes-Benz Museum and the Stuttgart Zoo Wilhelma) offer the opportunity for creative do-it-yourself projects.

A wide-ranging supporting program shows all facets of animated films. New Music & Animation focuses on music. The virtuoso interaction between music and animation will be showcased with outstanding international and national artists from the music and visual scene alike. The relationship between Comics and Animation will also be explored when curators Andreas Platthaus (FAZ, Frankfurt) and Harri Römpötti (Helsingin Sanomat, Helsinki) show highlights from the world of graphic novels.

2015 guest country Spain presents its most important films, production companies and industry experts. In the GameZone 2015 numerous workshops and presentations in the areas of games, transmedia and digital content are going to take place.

Early Bird tickets are available until March 15, 2105.

Learn which films will be show in the ITFS 2015 competition categories International Competition, Young Animation (Part 1 and Part 2) and Tricks for Kids Shorts and Series. Other competition categories will follow soon.

Source: ITFS 

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.