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Supernova Outdoor Digital Animation Festival Returns September 23rd

Ultimate international showcase for digital motion art returns to downtown Denver, CO with seven hours of digital animation and artworks presented simultaneously.

Digital animation makes a spectacular return for the second year in a row to the Denver Theatre District Saturday, September 23rd, proving an engaging outdoor experience like no other.

SUPERNOVA Outdoor Digital Animation Festival, presented free to the public by Denver Digerati and the Denver Theatre District, is the most extensive forum in the world that celebrates creative advances in digital animation in an outdoor, major urban-core setting. The festival is recognized as one of the most innovative platforms for visual arts in Denver, and a singular experience for residents and visitors to the city to encounter on an annual basis. SUPERNOVA’s programming for the second iteration of the festival refines the context with minor adjustments that will provide major impact. Fourteen straight hours of programming will be presented from 3-10pm on the massive LED screen located at 14th and Champa Street, as well as a large-format temporary LED installed with ample seating within the Denver Performing Arts Complex Galleria. Remaining LED screens in the Theatre District at 15th & Champa, 16th & Champa and 14th & Arapahoe will run SUPERNOVA content without sound throughout the duration of the festival, making the entire downtown core a moving visual feast.

SUPERNOVA’s robust slate of programs give an opportunity to dive deeply into what’s current within an ever expanding field of computer driven creativity and boundless imagination. Emerging artists shine alongside more advanced level and world renowned masters. Regional talent is intermixed with national artists as well as those from a wide variety of countries including the U.K., Canada, Australia, Russia, Iran, Italy, Korea, Germany, Switzerland, France, China, Denmark, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Taiwan, Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico, Bulgaria and Belarus. Programming is broken down into favorites such as Animation For All Ages, Abstraction Unbound and the ever popular Music Videos, all initiated in 2016.

Expanded views of select artists oeuvres will be highlighted, including select works by the festival’s three outstanding guest jurors Faiyaz Jafri (NYC), Raquel Meyers (Madrid, Spain) and Peter Burr (NYC), as well as the mega-talented NYC / Tokyo studio Hibanana. This year’s solo artist spotlight will feature the unparalleled artwork of NYC based contemporary artist Jeremy Couillard, with 14 of his short-form, video-game inspired works presented in an hour length block sure to please audiences of all types and ages. SUPERNOVA tests new boundaries with sections dedicated to Real-Life Alternate-Realities, Experimental Art Interludes, Radical Vision / Dark Dreams and the Un-Natural World.

SUPERNOVA’s centerpiece is a competition section highlighting top entries that have been submitted for consideration over the last four months by artists from across the globe. Selected works are chosen for their ground-breaking techniques, visionary approach in using digital tools, and diversity of content in order to create a well-rounded experience. Winning entries will be honored with significant cash awards by our distinguished guest jurors, all who have proven the caliber of their work on Digerati’s LED platform in past years, and are celebrated worldwide for their pioneering work within the fields of new media, contemporary art, performance and digital motion graphics.

With approximately 140 shorts, ranging in length from 90 seconds to 26 minutes, SUPERNOVA is a feast for the senses and a fascinating, forward thinking experience that defines one of the most engaging fields of art today.

SUPERNOVA will also feature an all-day educational forum with special presentations by guest jurors Jafri, Meyers and Burr, Festival Director Ivar Zeile, as well as additional guest artists participating in a panel discussion. The free forum will take place in a location central to Downtown Denver to be determined and announced in early September. In addition, the Denver Film Society will host an evening with Faiyaz Jafri on Thursday, September 21st at the Sie Film Center at 7:30 pm, where he’ll present Neo-Archetypes & Hyper-Unrealism, an exclusive view of his award winning short films from the last five years and intimate discussion about digital craft in film.

SUPERNOVA is presented by Denver Digerati with support from founding partners the Denver Theatre District and Denver Arts And Venues Next Stage NOW! CU Denver College of Arts and Media returns as the exclusive education sponsor. Community support new to the initiative in 2017 includes the Denver Museum of Natural and Science, the Denver Film Society, Culturehaus at the Denver Art Museum, and ATC DEN, along with continuing partner the Biennial of the Americas. Additional financial support comes from Orange Barrel Media, and L’Eagle. Use of the L.E.D. screens for SUPERNOVA is made possible by Branded Cities.

Source: Supernova Outdoor Digital Animation 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.