7:30 PM                Ladislaw Starewitch.  A rare screening of 35mm archival prints of short films by the influential surrealistic stop-motion pioneer played to live music. Polish-born Starewitch lived most of his life in Paris, creating fantastical, sophisticated and entertaining narrative films featuring strange insect and animal characters. The compilation screening will include such titles such as L'Epouvantail (The Scarecrow), Amour Noir et Blanc (Love in Black and White), La Reine des Papillons (Queen of the Butterflies), and Les Yeux du Dragon (Eyes of the Dragon).

10:00 PM             Best of World Student Animation. Screening of selections from Annecy 2012 representing a broad spectrum of schools from all over the world.  The program will include such award-winning student films as I’m Fine Thanks, directed by Eamonn O’Neill and The Making of Longbird, directed by Will Anderson.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27^th

12:00 PM             Streaming: A Conversation About Animators on the Web. Panel discussion to help answer the questions that today’s animators today face, considering the bewildering array of options and platforms for getting their work out to an audience: Should they put it out on the web, and if so, which site? Should they give it away for free or can they make money? Should they invite comments? Should they hold off and try to get into festivals? Will they miss the boat? Panelists include Jason Sondhi (Vimeo), among others. Moderated by Aaron Simpson (Mondo Media).

2:00 PM                Preview of Disney’s Paperman. Special screening followed by a panel discussion with director John Kahrs, art director Jeff Turley, and animation supervisor Patrick Osborne. Applying a technique that seamlessly merges computer-generated and hand-drawn animation techniques, first-time director John Kahrs takes the art of animation in a bold new direction in this short film.

Junkyard by Hisko Hulsing (Annecy Highlights)

4:30 PM                Best of World Animation. Screening of selections from Annecy 2012. Films include Michaela Pavlátová’s Grand Pix winner Tram (2012) and experimental artist Stephen Irwin’s Ottawa Grand Prix-winner Moxie (2011). Other award-winning films include Hisko Helsing’s Junkyard (2012), which just won the Nelvana Grand Prize for Best Independent Short Animation at the 2012 Ottawa International Animation Festival, and Oh, Willy (2011) by Emma de Swaef and Marc James Roels, which has won Best European Animation Short Film at Cartoon D’or and Grand Prix for Shorts at the Holland Animation Film Festival this year.

The Deep, PES

7:00 PM                PES: A Retrospective. Special presentation. The director and animator of numerous witty short stop-motion films and commercials, PES has a huge following at festivals and on the Internet. PES will screen and discuss a selection of his work including his renowned The Deep (2011).

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28^th