Out of a group of 76 films submitted, 7 were chosen to compete for the Grand Prize at the upcoming Ottawa International Animation Festival running September 21-25.
Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) has announced this year’s feature film competition selections. OIAF runs September 21-25 in Ottawa.
The selections are:
- Barber Westchester (Jonni Philips, United States)
- Dozens of Norths (Koji Yamamura, Japan)
- Khamsa - The Well of Oblivion (Vynom Vynom, Algeria)
- Perlimps (Alê Abreu, Brazil)
- Silver Bird and Rainbow Fish (Lei Lei, China, United States, Netherlands)
- The Island (Anca Damian, Romania, France, Belgium)
- Unicorn Wars (Alberto Váquez, Spain, France)
The selections were chosen from 76 submissions and represent diverse voices in animation.
“This year's feature finalists are stylistically, technically, thematically diverse, and oh so timely,” commented OIAF Artistic Director Chris Robinson. “We've got a musical film about refugees; a decidedly adult anti-war film featuring teddy bears and unicorns; a touching and comic memoir about a family's experience living under repressive regimes in China; an utterly hypnotic and mystifying beauty from past OIAF Grand Prize winner, Koji Yamamura; a lo-fi indie comedy from cult sensation and OIAF special guest, Jonni Philips; and a surprising work from Algeria about a boy with amnesia who embarks on a journey to restore his memory.”
Dozens of Norths, a story of fragmented memory, boasts awards from the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival (Excellence Award) and the 13th International Animation Film Festival - Golden Kuker Sofia (Best Feature Animated Film Award). The Island and Unicorn Wars were both recognized at this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival. This year also sees the debut feature for indie animator Phillips, Barber Westchester.
The Features category films will compete for the Grand Prize for Feature Animation, to be decided by the OIAF 2022 Features Jury. This year’s jurists are Pilar Newton-Katz, Marc Bertrand, and Hugo Covarrubias.
OIAF 2022 runs from September 21-25 in Ottawa. Additional information is available on the event’s website.
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
