Vincent Paronnaud’s and Marjane Satrapi’s controversial animated feature Persepolis will be among the films competing at this year’s Ottawa Int’l Animation Festival (OIAF). The Cannes Jury Prize winner, which has caused protests at some festivals due to its depiction of the Iranian revolution, will compete in the feature film category with Christopher Nielsen’s Norway/U.K. co-production Free Jimmy and Bum-Jin Joe’s South Korean pic AAchi & SSipak.
Films in competition this year include 26 entries from the USA and 20 from the U.K. Other countries represented in the official selection include Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Russian Federation, Serbia, Spain, South Korea, Sweden and Taiwan.
Internationally known shorts competing for prizes include Chris Lavis’ and Maciek Szczerbowski’s Cannes winner Madame Tutli-Putli, Oscar-nominated Japanese animator Koji Yamamura’s Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor, Luis Cook’s Aardman Animations-produced Pearce Sisters and Don Hertzfeldt’s festival favorite Everything Will Be OK.
‘In past years, we’ve had a solid crop of films but often there are truthfully only a couple of real Grand Prix contenders,’ says OIAF artistic director Chris Robinson. ‘This year is unique in that there are as many as half a dozen films that could walk off with top honors. And, once again, traditional technologies continue to lead the way.’
The OIAF will be held Sept. 19-23 and will feature screenings, workshops, networking events and the Animarket Trade and Recruiting Fair. The event attracts approximately 1500 industry passholders and has a total attendance of more than 23,000. The Television Animation Conference (TAC) is a side event that features industry-focused panels, roundtables, pitch sessions and pre-arranged meetings. TAC runs all day Sept. 19 and 20, and brings together key players from North American and international markets and provides an intimate space for networking, information exchange and trade.
A total of 97 films representing 18 countries have been chosen for competition this year from a record breaking field of 2077 entries. Another 31 films will be presented in out-of-competition showcase screenings. A complete list of selected films can be found www.animationfestival.ca.
