online catalogueAccompanying film programme

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Magda Guidi | Italy | 2000 | 3 min

In her debut film, Magda Guidi combines drawing with acrylic painting on paper. In the film, the viewers concurrently watch a tightrope walker balancing between street lamps and a girl sitting at a piano. What do their worlds have in common and are they really separated? Suggestive animation draws the audience into a whirlwind of peculiar images.

That’s the Time

Magda Guidi | Italy | 2004 | 4 min

This captivating film shows an indirect meeting of two characters. A girl goes roller-skating and her friend is watching her. When the wind rises, it brings a strange atmosphere filled with dizziness and insecurity. It seems that the wind is playing not only with hair and skirts, but also with passing time and an entire stage of life.

Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti: New Identity

Magda Guidi | Italy | 2003 | 5 min

This music video for the band Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti is an unrestrained choreography of dance and circus acrobatics. Using a montage, the author draws us into a space where all of her characters are in constant movement, both on the ground and in the air.

Via Curiel 8

Mara Cerri, Magda Guidi | Italy, France | 2011 | 10 min

A painful separation. A distance too big to be bridged, in the life of Emma and Dario. The need to distort the memory, to imagine a meeting that never happened, maybe, but keep it as true. Winner of the Torino Film Festival, short section, and awarded a Special Mention at the National Festival du film d’animation Bruz.

St. Laszlo vs St. Mary from Egypt

Magda Guidi | Italy | 2014 | 3 min

In this film, Magda Guidi abandoned her typical combination of drawing with acrylic painting in favour of marker-coloured drawing. But she remained faithful to her characteristic fluid animated ride and so this battle amongst hungry monsters is as suggestive as her previous films. It only replaces the nostalgic poetics of her previous films with rather harsh images.

Lupi del Bosco Orientale: Guardami o non guardarmi

Magda Guidi | Italy | 2014 | 2 min

This music video for the acoustic song by Lupi del Bosco Orientale concentrates the issues of love, loneliness and sexual orientation into a single 90-second shot. In a simple but captivating style, the author manages to express the insecurity felt by people in relationships.

Dalila

Magda Guidi | Italy | 2015 | 6 min

A girl is swimming. Some images emerge from the dense darkness surrounding her. A little girl is in a church, on the day of her First Holy Communion. For a moment, adult Dalila and child Dalila can see each other. The girl hesitates during the time of her communion. A doubt, a new awareness of the world of adults and their impositions. Dalila the adult looks Dalila the child in the eyes again...

The Child’s Curve

Magda Guidi | Italy | 2016 | 2 min

Magda Guidi’s latest work is actually a film experiment. She decided to try animation on a single sheet of paper using drawing and erasing. This short film premiered last year at the Mostra Internazionale del Nuovo Cinema festival in Pesaro, Italy.

Arithmetic

Dalila Rovazzani, Giovanni Munari | Italy | 2010 | 4 min

Tic, tic, tic... Who’s afraid of Arithmetic? A bored boy is struggling with his maths homework and falls into a nightmare. The film is based on a fragment from Ravel’s opera The Child and the Spells. The film won many awards at festivals e.g. in Berlin, Ljubljana and Lisbon. It also won the grand prize at the SICAF Festival in Korea.

On My Doorstep

Daniele Baiardini, Giulia Sara Bellunato, Mauro Ciocia, Clyo Parecchini | Italy | 2010 | 9 min

Turin, winter 2009: three Torinese live in difficult circumstances. This animated documentary looks at the different hidden lives on our doorsteps and is based on three interviews with three people about their dreams, ambitions, beliefs and frustrations. The film uses a combination of two animation techniques and won, among other awards, the KLIK! Award for Best Political Animated Short.

Ahab

Antonio Deiana, Lorenzo Lodovichi, Fiorella Pierini, Serena Tripepi | Italy | 2011 | 8 min

Captain Ahab survives the last battle with the white whale. Shipwrecked on a desert island, old and alone he struggles to overcome the hardships; however the ingrained hatred smoulders – the obsession with Moby Dick has not disappeared. An unfortunate fishing expedition begins his day and in a fit of rage he breaks his harpoon.

Dance of the Little Spider

Giacinto Compagnone, Aurora Febo, Lucia Rotelli, Emma Vasile | Italy | 2012 | 6 min

The Tarantella dance is part of an ancient ritual of southern Italy, particularly Apulia. The belief is that only that ritual of music and dance will heal the victims of the tarantula wolf spider’s bite. The film, made with a combination of hand drawing and computer animation, won several awards at various European festivals including the prestigious Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.

Mamma mia

Milena Tipaldo, Francesca Marinelli | Italy | 2013 | 8 min

In two personal episodes (Like Mother Like Daughter and Mommy Triceratops) the authors tell us, with humour and tenderness, about their mothers and the weight of their indisputable legacy. The film was a success not only in Europe but also on another continents – at Anima Mundi in Brazil and at the Hiroshima festival.

The Age of Rust

Francesco Aber, Alessandro Mattei | Italy | 2014 | 8 min

Vtipný fiktivní dokument o vzácném zvířecím druhu, který přesto, že je celý z kovu a šroubů, obývá prostředí překrásných Alp. Dozvíme se, jaký je jeho životní cyklus, jak se rozmnožuje a jaký vztah má k lidem. Tvůrci dovedli absurditu zobrazovaného až do závěrečných titulků.

Imperium Vacui

Massimo Ottoni, Linda Kelvink | Italy | 2014 | 6 min

In a dystopian future, a man fights against a regime where all traces of humanity have been lost, but his act of rebellion seems entrenched in the System. Even someone who opposes it, can’t do anything other than play his role in the empty game of power. This puppet film was screened at prestigious festivals such as Annecy and Hiroshima.

Office Kingdom

Salvatore Centoducati, Eleonora Bertolucci, Giulio De Toma, Ruben Pirito | Italy | 2014 | 7 min

What the heck is the clerk of a public office doing, when she disappears for hours behind the counter with your urgent document in her hands? In a typical public office a customer waits for the approval of his document, but for the clerk to get it stamped will not be an easy task. A look at bureaucracy from a different angle.

Cosmoetico

Martina Scarpelli | Italy | 2015 | 5 min

What was it like, before the birth of the universe? Does reality exist just because we are able to perceive it? A girl tries to answer the big questions. In doing this, she imagines she can empty the universe to get to the very first portion of the cosmos. And so she finds herself alone, as the smallest part of the universe – just a point.

Lace and Powder

Riccardo di Mario, Lilia Miceli, Anna Peronetto, Sara Tarquini | Italy | 2016 | 8 min

A little boy from the eighteenth century, adorned with face powder and lace, is found in our world and discovers the hard way that, nowadays, his tastes and habits only belong to the female gender. Divided between hairdresser and barber, then lost among the shelves of a toy store, our boy stands up, with graceful ingenuity, against stereotypes and gender bias.

Arzena Velenifera

Ludovica Ottaviani, Anna Sireci, Maria Testa | Italy | 2016 | 5 min

In a ballroom, a woman, initially overwhelmed by uncontrollable jealousy and then by furious rage, kills all her annoying or unfaithful lovers, to the relentless beat of a tango. Inspired by the mysterious story of the serial killer Vera Renczi, this short mixes dance, black humour and style.

Merlot

Marta Gennari, Giulia Martinelli | Italy | 2016 | 6 min

In a fairy-tale forest, a grumpy old lady loses a bottle of wine. This sets off a chain of events where all the characters – an old lady, a naughty little girl, a cowardly mushroom seeker, a stupid wolf, a flock of birds – play their role, in a funny repartee between the film frames, leading to an unexpected development.

Kashtanka

Václav Bedřich | Czechoslovakia | 1976 | 12 min

The first animated film on which Jiří Šalamoun worked as a graphic artist was an adaptation of a story by A. P. Chekhov. A stray dog is taken in by a circus artist who teaches him various tricks. But its original owners recognize the dog during a performance, putting an end to its career. In collaboration with director Václav Bedřich, Jiří Šalamoun was preparing a parody on an American detective story, but another dog came barking.

Looove!

Jiří Brdečka | Czechoslovakia | 1978 | 7 min

This iconic film unfortunately represents the only collaboration between the two Jiřís. With kind irony and humour taken to the next level by Miroslav Horníček’s brilliant narration, the film portrays a strange friendship between an old writer and his spider. But this unlikely symbiosis ends when the spring comes along with a new acquaintance who isn’t particularly fond of spiders.

Little Cousins

Václav Mergl | Czechoslovakia | 1988 | 8 min

In this atypical film based on a script by his wife Pavla, Václav Mergl used Jiří Šalamoun as a graphic artist. The authors deliberately set this horror story, in which a woman seduces men in order to prey on them, in the period of normalization. Their story is in fact pointing a finger at the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

Story of the Tabby Cat

Jaroslav Boček | Czechoslovakia | 1977 | 16 min

A story about a cat who can hunt the white mice seen by alcoholics. In the magazine Film a doba, Jiří Šalamoun said: “In his films, Václav Bedřich emphasized visuality. Boček focused on making a literary script which, in this case, was a morality tale. I personally thought it was a bit slow, I would have preferred a slightly faster tempo. It was a very demanding cut-out film.” The film is narrated by Petr Nárožný.

Four Times Bull’s Eye

Bohumil Šejda | Czechoslovakia | 1978 | 5 min

A less-known collaboration of four renowned graphic artists connected by cartoons and the Dikobraz magazine. The film was commissioned as an environmental project and each author created his own short contribution – Miroslav Barták Three Blows for a Crown, Vladimír Jiránek Everything for the Trees, Stanislav Holý Can, and Jiří Šalamoun Birdie.

Maxipes Fík Shoots a Film

Václav Bedřich | Czechoslovakia | 1978 | 11 min

This TV special was first broadcast during Czech Television’s New Year’s Eve Special. It differs from the original series already in the opening sequence, which is actually a parody on the original one. Other funny moments stem from Fík’s work for a typically grumpy director in what is actually a satirical comment on the film industry.

The Portrait

Lucie Sunková | Czech Republic | 2002 | 8 min

Lucie Sunková’s student film The Portrait is based on a story by N. V. Gogol. This ambitious film made using the paint-on-glass animation technique tells the story of a poor painter in need. He is pursued by his landlady demanding the rent and also a strange dream about a painting come-to-life that can save him.

Geranium

Lucie Sunková | Czech Republic | 2004 | 12 min

In a bar called Pygmalion a man and woman fall in love. They decide to live a beautiful life together gardening outside a town and growing flowers – geraniums. But their predestined fates stand in their way and both of them make mistakes which end their hopes.

New Goodness

Lucie Sunková | Czech Republic | 2013 | 1 min

Short, suggestive film by Lucie Sunková New Goodness, based on a poem by French poet Aimé Césaire, was created as part of a series of minute-long films inspired by Césaire’s poetry to commemorate centenary of his birth. We immerse into the poetic world of malleable painting, which resonates with one of the main themes of this year’s Anifilm – total animation.

Mobile Hospice The Homecoming

Lucie Sunková | Czech Republic | 2016 | 1 min

This one-minute spot takes us into a hospice. At first it seems that a dying woman we see is there all by herself. Her memories mingle with distant sounds she hears from the outside. But then it turns out that even in the hardest of times, people don’t have to be alone. The spot is atypical for its emotional atmosphere, which is enhanced by various details.

The Tree

Lucie Sunková | Czech Republic, France | 2015 | 15 min

The Tree, a captivating film made with the animation technique of paint-on-glass, is a metaphor about the similarities between people's lives and trees. It can also be perceived as a lyrical poem about birth and death, about the flow of time for people and nature, and a parable of parenthood and crossing the boundaries of a single life. There is an extraordinary resonance between the technique employed and the method of narration, giving the film a touch of wistfulness.

Making of: The Tree

Alexandr Vojta, Lucie Haladová | Czech Republic | 2017 | 10 min

In this documentary, we explore the technique used by Lucie Sunková to make her authorial and commissioned films. The paint-on-glass technique animates slow-drying oil paints on multi-layered sheets of glass directly in front of the camera and is known for being extremely demanding. The documentary focuses on the making of the director’s latest film, the 2015 Czech-French co-production The Tree.

Come Persone

Ursula Ferrara | Italy | 1995 | 2 min

From the early works of the author, who used 16mm film to film her pencil-drawn animations on white paper, we chose Come Persone. The film, accompanied by a temperamental string soundtrack, shows the life of ordinary people. Some of them are playing with their child, some getting out of bed etc. But everything seems to take place in a single and connected time and space.

Absent Minded

Roberto Catani | Italy | 2013 | 8 min

In a child’s fantasy, everyday school routines are transformed into a colourful world full of visualized sounds. This does not appeal to its strict teacher who decides to use cruel punishment to literally and permanently “cut off” the child’s fantasies. An imaginative, warm and mellow film that is characterized by fluid animation and a disturbing soundtrack.

The Criminal

Gianluigi Toccafondo | France | 1993 | 5 min

A prison study with a central motif of a prison break in all directions. The faces of individual prisoners and their victims are portrayed in a typical Toccafondian manner. The author uses motifs of fingerprints and prisoners’ numbers and challenges us to untangle gangster plots which show no clear indication of who shoots and who falls to the ground.

Hair-cut

Virginia Mori | Italy, France | 2015 | 7 min

A brand new film by the representative of the new wave of Italian animation characterized by its distinctive poetics and in particular by its elaborate graphic style. A dismal atmosphere emphasized by a grating soundtrack takes us to an empty classroom where a pupil straightens her stocking.

Resistant Soul

Simone Massi | Italy | 2013 | 5 min

The dreamlike scene of the film Resistant Soul is set in May 1944. As with his previous films, director Simone Massi uses suggestive and dramatic flights over the landscape and meticulous drawing. Playing with contrasts of black, white and red, he draws the audience into a fascinating visual journey.

Flood

Julia Gromskaya | Italy | 2012 | 6 min

In her unique style, Julia Gromskaya uses watercolour animation and acrylic paints which show individual strokes of the brush. The Flood combines passing of the seasons with a motif of a girl waiting for her lover. She sits in her room which metamorphoses into her memories. And, together with the film, we let them carry us through the flow of time in the rhythm of the seasonal waltz.

Dance Floor

Gianluigi Toccafondo | Italy | 1991 | 2 min

One of the earlier films of the famous graphic artist and filmmaker is The Dance Floor. Like most of his films, it is based on brilliantly animated live-action sequences. We watch a couple dancing the tango. Thanks to the author’s imagination, the couple contracts and expands. Even time and space is deformed as the dance floor of life stars peculiar protagonists. 

Mary Sconta and the Runaway Chicken

Stefano Ricci | Italy | 2011 | 6 min

Frosted Chocolate Mouse

Donato Sansone | Italy | 2011 | 3 min

This film offers a very strange surrealistic vision based on lively and graphic hand drawings. The world of lines and sketches allows for unusual metamorphoses of dreams. Figures connect with one another and become detached again and fall into the unknown. Exquisitely animated but hard to grasp events displayed in the images are a source of restlessness and unusual associations.

The Wait of May

Simone Massi | Italy | 2014 | 8 min

In one of the protagonists of this meditative film, we recognize its author Simone Massi who journeys through the past of his birthplace and memories. Apart from religious motifs, the fluid visions of the past are dominated by scenes from the Italian countryside and its people. We also descend deep into the dark world of miners. The author used rotoscoping to include himself in the film.

1998

Massimo Ottoni | Italy | 1998 | 2 min

A short film by one the younger representatives of the neo-pictorial movement is a showcase of precisely animated metamorphoses. On a white background, we observe constantly appearing and disappearing erotic motifs, parts of male and female bodies. Details and wholes fluidly transform in order to make way for more metamorphoses and symbols.

Little Russia

Gianluigi Toccafondo | France | 2004 | 16 min

Little Russia is one of Gianluigi Toccafondo’s most narrative and darkest films. It takes us to a small town by the seaside. We watch a boy destroyed by a trauma from his youth when his father killed a rabbit. He becomes a murderer. We can only suspect what he’s actually doing, but the film’s score gives it a chilling atmosphere.

Thugs With No Legend

Gianluigi Toccafondo | France | 2013 | 15 min

Dva ubozí a hloupí gangsteři vymáhají peníze od chudého farmáře a jeho ženy na venkově poblíž Rimini. Ale farmáři už mají dost hraní obětí, rozhodnou se tedy pro pomstu a vymyslí ďábelský plán, který bandity dostne do vězení. V nejnovějším autorově snímku je posíleno vyprávění, množství hrané akce a větší prostor získává i humor.

Quasi niente

Ursula Ferrara | Italy | 1997 | 3 min

Ursula Ferrari’s painted film is a typical representative of pictorial animation. Her film full of rich colours shows constantly changing but ordinary and pleasant moments from the life of a family. Individual scenes are indeed reminiscent of moving canvases by great masters. Occasional “pauses” in the movement always usher in new scenes.

The Tightrope Walker

Roberto Catani | Italy, France | 2002 | 6 min

The images of a life as seen through the eyes of a woman who, motionless in front of the sea, feels the need for some relief. People and things are freely floating through space and transforming. There are no laws of physics here. If we submerge into wondrous drawings on a black background, we can even start feeling a bit dizzy together with the tight rope walker.

The Tail

Gianluigi Toccafondo | Italy | 1989 | 2 min

The foundations of the Italian animation movement which indulges in pictorial perfection and light and sure transformations were laid by the leading persona of the “neo-pictorialists” Gianluigi Toccafondo in his very first film. It shows captivating surreal transformations starring characters from silent slapsticks who experience even goofier adventures.

About Killing the Pig

Simone Massi | Italy | 2011 | 7 min

This film captures a fraction of one January day’s events from the perspective of a pig about to be slaughtered. People arriving, the blue sky above them and flying birds – this is the moment stuck in the pig’s eyes. The film is about the everyday poetry in which every death has its own meaning and every life is treated with respect and humbleness.

La Quiete: Sulla differenza fra un sorriso e una risata

Blu | Italy | 2007 | 1 min

In one of the first animations of the Italian street artist who conceals his true identity under the name Blu, we can trace many of his favourite motifs which he kept on using in different variants later in his career. This black and white music video includes the motif of a ball (here it is a Ping-Pong ball) rolling and moving through space and also layered tanks and cars.

The Play of Silence

Virginia Mori | Italy | 2009 | 5 min

Virgina Mori žije a pracuje v Pesaru a v Miláně. Studovala animaci a design na Státním uměleckém institutu v Urbinu. Během studií si vypěstovala a zdokonalila svou osobitou uměleckou představivost. Její oblíbené nástroje zahrnují tužku, inkoust a propisku na papíře. V roce 2008 získala na festivalu v Annecy cenu pro nejlepší připravovaný projekt. Díky ní mohla natočit svůj první krátký film.

The Azure Soul

Julia Gromskaya | Italy | 2009 | 4 min

Invacca, uomo cane, uomo patata, la mia scimmia segreta

Stefano Ricci | Italy, Belgium, Germany | 2008 | 3 min

Like Ricci’s entire filmography, these four short sequences are characterised by their distinctive and captivating artistic style. We watch bizarre scenes starring peculiar protagonists with human and animal features. The author deliberately doesn’t conceal the production process, which he considers equally important to its result. That means that we can see for instance the numbers of individual phases.

Celebration

Roberto Catani | Italy | 1998 | 3 min

A journey by train brings back all sorts of memories like images from a feast full of dancing. These may be reminiscences of a past life. True to its name, the film is a dynamic ride of extraordinarily animated pastels in Catani’s style. The festive atmosphere is complemented by the film’s score.

The Match

Ursula Ferrara | Italy | 2002 | 4 min

A brilliantly portrayed atmosphere of a football match with all the details typical for a big match: screaming fans, goals… But soon, hidden worlds of some spectators start to appear. The author portrays them in a very original way and shows what’s happening under the people’s clothes – under a barrier protecting them from the others.

Comma in the Drawer

Marco Capellacci | Italy | 2016 | 7 min

This dreamy black and white film by Marco Capellacci is built on symbolic images and recurring motifs which include movements through mysterious openings in various spaces and also film equipment and the production process. Slowly treated images gradually reveal strange sexual secrets which are, however, left unexplained.

Pinocchio

Gianluigi Toccafondo | Italy | 1999 | 6 min

Unlike most adaptations, this one shows the darker sides of the popular story. The film uses sequences from Buster Keaton slapsticks. Even though the author follows certain motifs from the original story, he focuses on feeling rather than narration. That makes his film a series of escapes combined with nightmarish scenes.

Fiery Red

Simone Massi | Italy | 2011 | 10 min

In this film, Simone Massi, a great personality of contemporary Italian animation, was influenced by the literature and life of Jack London. That naturally shaped the visual style of the film, which is very realistic and simple compared to Massi’s other films. But it is a perfect fit for the story of a man and his dog lost somewhere in the snow.

Uncle

Adam Elliot | Australia | 1996 | 7 min

Uncle is the first part of Elliot’s trilogy about strange relatives. The film is a short bitter comedy about an ageing man who is not able to enjoy the little things in life. The author focuses on various details of his uncle’s life and, despite exaggeration and irony, uses them to authentically portray his personality and character.

Cousin

Adam Elliot | Australia | 1998 | 5 min

The middle film of Elliot’s trilogy, Cousin, picks up the threads of the first film both visually and by means of expressions. Only this time, Elliot focuses on his cousin who is a bit older than him. Once again, the author gave a true picture of the details and situation typical for his cousin and thus created a captivating and slightly sad story.

Brother

Adam Elliot | Australia | 1999 | 8 min

Brother concludes Elliot’s family trilogy about strange relatives and their peculiarities. Although the film is minimalistic in expression, its running time is almost twice as long as the previous ones and its story laced with cynicism is equally as captivating. In Brother, the author uses original claymation to explore his relation with his older brother.

Harvie Krumpet

Adam Elliot | Australia | 2003 | 23 min

The Academy Award winning biographical drama tells the story of yet another oddball from Elliot’s collection of clay anti-heroes. His challenging life takes the somewhat simple-minded Harvie Krumpet from Poland all the way to Australia. He brings along his collection of numbered “fakts” from his schizophrenic mother and, despite all the difficulties and obstacles he faces, Harvie doesn’t lose his will to live.

Ernie Biscuit

Adam Elliot | Australia | 2015 | 20 min

Another original claymation film by the famous author of the Academy Award winning feature film Mary and Max. Adam Elliot once again uses black humour, hyperbole and irony to focus on an outsider. This time, the hero is a hearing-impaired Parisian taxidermist who moves abroad to start a new life. But nothing turns out the way he pictured it...

O

Erick Oh | United States, South Korea | 2015 | 4 min

O is the latest independent film by the USA-based Korean director Erick Oh. He has a specific artistic and animation style based on contrasting black and white and the instability of metamorphosing shapes. His half-abstract elaborately animated films border on an experiment.

Love Games

Yumi Joung | South Korea | 2012 | 15 min

Distinct and artistically inventive black-and-white film Love Games explores a relationship between a man and a woman which is portrayed as some sort of a wicked game. The film, which works with various symbols, competed at, among other festivals, the 2013 Berlinale.

The Realm of Deepest Knowing

Seunghee Kim | South Korea | 2017 | 4 min

One digs beneath the surface of the other to reach the deepest place of his heart during struggles. It lightens up the darkness. They fulfill one another within the sense of oneness. This film portrays the process of spiritual deep connection in love by implication. The origami cube and painting on the cube means the relationship between body and soul.

Deer Flower

Kim Kangmin | South Korea | 2015 | 8 min

In the summer of 1992, Dujung, an elementary student, goes to a farm in the suburbs with his parents. While his parents believe the expensive and rare specialty from the farm will strengthen their son’s body, Dujung suffers side effects.

My Father's Room

Nari Jang | South Korea | 2016 | 9 min

She was abused by her father during childhood. Since he left, the pain and anger had begun to fade. One day, unexpectedly, she was struck by a revelation about her father’s life that cast her feelings about him into confusion.

Afternoon Class

Seoro Oh | South Korea | 2015 | 4 min

The author describes his film which was  screened in the Annecy official selection, among other festivals, with the following words: Especially in the classroom when the drowsiness comes flocking during the afternoon lessons, my experience of trying to overcome drowsiness physically and mentally or this experience which everyone may have experienced has been drawn into a fantasy.

Before&After

Minji Kang | South Korea | 2016 | 8 min

We sculpt ourselves based on other people’s opinions. The heroine, who is in her mid twenties, is job hunting. She is on her way home after another tiring interview. There are lots of plastic surgery centres along the streets of Seoul, and many attractive men and women pass her by. 

Johnny Express

Kyungmin Woo | South Korea | 2014 | 6 min

This CGI film won the main prize at the Festival of Web Animation. Its young author, who studied visual design at the Hanyang University and worked as a graphic artist in the Alfred Imageworks studios, is already working on a feature film based on this short.

Defragmentation

Saebyul Hwangbo | South Korea | 2014 | 15 min

This work intends to depict a contradictory psychology known as ambivalence by metaphorically comparing a digital process called defragmentation to a human thinking process. A computer process resembles the human brain system. Paradoxically, however, man’s emphasis on efficiency creates an illusion that people are digitalized by the thinking style of the computer.

Man on the Chair

Dahee Jeong | France, South Korea | 2014 | 7 min

For a man who is tormented by doubts of his very existence, getting up from a chair may be an impossible task. Or at least it seems so to the protagonist of Man on the Chair, who is lost in his surreal imagination. But could it be real?

The Challenge to Death

Juan Pablo Zaramella | Argentina | 2011 | 4 min

Fahaki Ayunanda faces one of the biggest challenges in his life. This slapstick comedy depicts a cunning test of courage which seems rather outlandish in its oriental setting. The author took advantage of the possibilities of claymation and compressed the story into a single scene taking place within three minutes.

The Glove

Juan Pablo Zaramella | Argentina | 2001 | 10 min

When a man unexpectedly receives a leather glove, his uneventful life suddenly changes. After he puts the glove on, he loses control of himself and against his will takes part in an unknown scheme. This rather sad slapstick comedy about one’s personal freedom has a tragicomic end but also operates with exaggeration and specific humour.

Journey to Mars

Juan Pablo Zaramella | Argentina | 2004 | 16 min

In his imagination, little Antonio spends all his time on Mars. He would like to go there in real life and he’s lucky that his grandfather feels for him and, what’s more important, knows how to get there. This story about children’s dreams focuses on the relations between (grand)parents and children, whose worlds do not have to be as distant and different as they may seem.

Lapsus

Juan Pablo Zaramella | Argentina | 2007 | 4 min

Lapsus is an unbelievably ingenious depiction of a curious nun trying to venture into the dark part of the world. Once she sets out on her journey, it seems that there is no way back… The film’s author used the contrast of black and white and made maximum use of the principles of black light theatre. Like his other independent films, Lapsus won many awards at various international festivals.

At the Opera

Juan Pablo Zaramella | Argentina | 2010 | 1 min

This witty puppet slapstick with an unexpected ending takes place in the noble setting of an opera which is putting on a very moving performance. The story seems so touching that the audience may flood the theatre with their tears. Apart from its theme, the film stands out with excellent timing and a sense for the absurdity of the situation.

HotCorn!

Juan Pablo Zaramella | Argentina | 2011 | 1 min

This short and inventive film is an excellent example of perfect pixilation – a technique of animating live actors. We watch a performer on a stage doing tricks with a corn-cob. But sometimes things tend to get out of hand…which, however, does not diminish his success with the audience.

5 Elements (Water-Air-Earth-Fire-Creation)

Juan Pablo Zaramella | Argentina | 2011 | 8 min

An experimental work made in stop-motion technique using natural elements. Five short films with fire, air, water, earth and creation, use – in line with this year’s festival theme – everyday objects and materials and put them into various associations corresponding with the individual elements.

Luminaris

Juan Pablo Zaramella | Argentina | 2011 | 7 min

An ordinary clerk defies the system and with unexpected support from his colleague changes the course of his routine life. This pixilated love story set in a world where everything is controlled and timed by light, was a success at more than 300 festivals including Annecy (Audience Award). Luminaris has also won the prestigious Fipresci award.

Onion

Juan Pablo Zaramella | Argentina | 2017 | 22 min

In 22 minutes of running time, this daring comedy combines live action with various animation techniques and interjections. The main hero of the film is a girl called Jessica who is an assistant in an extraordinary yoga course. In this film, Zaramella used an unusual amount of live action, which he supplemented with animated special effects.

The Tiniest Man in the World

Juan Pablo Zaramella | Argentina, France | 2016 | 7 min

This animated TV series portrays the tiniest man in the world. His miniature size gets him into all sorts of bizarre, grotesque and adventurous situations and even into space. The author smoothly combines live action and animation.

Radiovision: About Slaves and Robots

Miloš Tomić | Serbia | 2016 | 2 min

Milos Tomić’s film About Slaves and Robots is a part of the Radiovision project. The author created an inventive visual spectacle to match Radivoj Kašanin’s radio broadcast on Radio Belgrade from 1968. The film mixes various animation techniques; stop-motion animation transforms into drawing and the other way round.

Trailer for old student film Voice of Life

Miloš Tomić | Serbia | 2015 | 3 min

This fictitious trailer for the non-existent film Voice of Life is a brilliant example of a parody on mainstream films and their trailers. The author parodies several film genres but mainly romantic comedies and psychological dramas. During post-production, Tomić spiced up the trailer with animated features.

Amara Amor Amor

Miloš Tomić | Serbia | 2016 | 3 min

In his film from last year Amara amor amor, Milos Tomić once again balances on the border between experiment, live-action film and animation. The initial situation is a bit curious: a girl meets her boyfriend but all of a sudden the scene starts crowding with other girls who are here for the same reason. This unusual choreography is supplemented by pixilation and other stop-motion animated sequences which also play a role in the opening credits.

Warming Up for Animators (doc. from workshop)

Miloš Tomić | Czech Republic | 2 min

Warming Up for Animators is a speeded up recording of a non-traditional animation workshop. It offers insight into techniques of drawing and animation as well as examples of the workshop results. An important role is played by the element of chance and deliberate imperfection which both lead to interesting visual experiments.

Disobedient Citizen

Miloš Tomić | Serbia | 2016 | 4 min

This rhythmical music video was made by animating cutouts from period magazines. The author focuses on elements of fashion designs known to his parents’ generation. In this film, the designs are brought to life and become part of an original animation complemented by drawing.

Annual Musical Report

Miloš Tomić | Serbia | 2013 | 5 min

This visual collage named Annual Musical Report combines elements of home video, video art and film docu-experiment. The author works with a split screen, rhythmical editing and unexpected associations. As always, the music and the sound organically complement the film’s visuals.

October Salon!

Miloš Tomić | Serbia | 2009

“October Salon” is a manifest of Serbian modern art. In an accelerated sung documentary, or rather in its part, you will see the author play with film genres, blur the line between fiction and reality and combine live action with various elements of animation and time-lapse.

Jarboli: Podrška je važna aka Support is important

Miloš Tomić | Serbia | 2009 | 3 min

The author conceived this playful music video for the song Podrška je važna by Serbian alternative band Jarboli as a dance film. A couple is engaged in a temperament dance and the video, illuminated by light effects, also animates various embroidered fabrics.  The single was voted the fourteenth best single and fifth best music video of the year 2009 according to the critics of the webzine Popboks.

Spitted by Kiss

Miloš Tomić | Serbia | 2007 | 10 min

Milost Tomić made this ten-minute-film during his studies at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. It tells the story of a young man who wakes up on the street one morning lying in a sewer and has no recollection of last night’s events. The author used pixilation and stop-motion animation to animate various objects, including hair.

Plastic Bags

Miloš Tomić | Serbia | 2007

This film is an original, apparently random choreography of plastic bags floating in the wind above grass. Some may find this seemingly ordinary spectacle a late response to or a parody of the live action film American Beauty (1999).

Evening with Radio

Miloš Tomić | Serbia | 2016 | 10 min

During the last years, Milos Tomić has been slowly shifting from combining animation with live action towards video art with elements of home video. That is the case in this musical diary called Evening with Radio. The author’s characteristic style with photocollages and magazine cutout animation can be seen in the opening credits.

Klopka za Pionira: Why Are You Looking at Me?!

Miloš Tomić | Serbia | 2016 | 3 min

In this slightly disturbing musical film, the author animated (among other things) pictures and photographs from period magazines. The film is based on the destruction of individual layers of images which reveal something new underneath them. It is again a visual mix of animation and live action.

Music Traumas from Childhood

Miloš Tomić | Serbia | 2017 | 13 min

This captivating anidoc focuses on the testimonies of people who have to deal with specific traumas in their lives. As children, they were forced to spend all their time practicing to play musical instruments without any regard for whether they had talent or were interested in music. The author again combines various animation techniques, including his favourite collage and photocollage.

Ridina Ahmetovska: Hair

Miloš Tomić | Czech Republic | 2005 | 3 min

For this short film accompanied by a pleasant melody, Milos Tomić chose a very unusual material to animate. A predominant part of the animation is made using human hair – not only strands, but also individual hairs in great detail. And so while a girl sleeps, her hair is brought to life.

Alike

Daniel Martínez Lara, Rafa Cano Méndez | Spain | 2015 | 9 min

It is very hard to find something poetic in today’s hectic world swarming with busy people. Copi tries to teach the right way to his young son. But one day, events unfold in such a way that both the father and the son start to doubt their way of life.

Machine

Sunit Parekh | Denmark | 2015 | 20 min

A couple struggles to cope with tragedy, while living in the midst of a massive reconstruction in a small village by the sea. Machine is Sunit Parekh-Gaihede’s debut fiction film. The film has screened at many prestigious festivals, including the Annecy Film Festival.

Peripheria

David Coquard Dassault | France | 2015 | 13 min

The unusually atmospheric film Peripheria explores the life of an abandoned French suburb that gradually changes into an urban wasteland roamed by packs of stray dogs. The film reflects on the current hopeless situation of desolate French housing estates decaying on the outskirts of big cities.

Under Your Fingers

Marie-Christine Courtès | France | 2014 | 13 min

V den, kdy je zpopelněna její babička, se mladá asijská míšenka Emilie ponoří do babiččiných vzpomínek. Poznává indočínský svět etnické skupiny Hoa, prožívá babiččin románek s plukovníkem Jacquesem, narození své matky a tragický odjezd do Francie v roce 1956. Mezi vzpomínkami, tancem, vztekem a tradičními rituály se Emilie učí vyrovnat se se svým dědictvím…

Yùl and the Snake

Gabriel Harel | France | 2015 | 14 min

Yùl, a thirteen-year-old boy, joins his big brother to conclude a deal with a thug who is escorted by his Argentinean mastiff. When things go wrong, a mysterious snake appears. An unusually serious depiction of growing up, the film has a very intense atmosphere.

Around the World I.

různí / various | 55 min

Appropriate for children over 3

This year, the Anifilm festival asked experienced curator and festival organizer Aneta Ozorek to compile special programmes for children. And in that selection you’ll find charming films from the world’s best film festivals for children. You will have a chance to see the adventures of small dreamers, who fight for their fantasies, no matter what obstacle they have to overcome. There is a story of a scarecrow who wants to see the sea, a wolf who dreams about becoming a ballerina, and a hen who wants to fly. It’s much easier to make your dreams come true when you are surrounded by joy and that’s why this set of films is also filled with laughter and fun. We can cheerfully sing with a fire hydrant, to give a fox a flick on the nose or go sledging with a squirrel. Who wants to start dreaming and laughing with all of them? Are you ready for new remarkable encounters?

149th and Grand Concourse
Director Andy and Carolyn London, USA, 2016, 3 min

Au revoir Balthazar
Director Rafael Sommerhalder, Switzerland, 10 min
 

Groomed
Director Samantha Armiger, USA, 2016, 3 min
 

Miraimi kana unistus / Miriam’s Hen’s Dream
Director Andres Tenusaar, Estonia, 2016, 5 min
 

Aport
Director Denis Voronin, Russia, 2016, 1 min
 

La loi du plus fort / The Law of the Jungle
Director Pascale Hecquet, France, 2015, 6 min
 

Pocket Man
Director Ana Chubinidze, France, Switzerland, Georgia, 2016, 7 min
 

Wolf
Director Julia Ocker, Germany, 2015, 4 min

The Little Bird and the Caterpillar
Director Lena von Dohren, Switzerland, 4 min
 

Belchonok i sanki / The Sled
Director Olesya Shchukina, Russia, 2016, 4 min
 

Little Shimajiro
Director Isamu Hirabayashi, Japan, 2015, 8 min

New Talents

různí / various | 61 min

The New Talents project is intended for alternative promotion of the most talented young animation filmmakers from Central and Eastern Europe. Its aim is to present the 9 best films made by young and debuting artists and debuting artists in a given year to an international professional audience and for the general public. The selection of the films focuses on extraordinary talents whose work promises successful future careers. The project counts on the presentation of this compilation at selected film festivals to draw attention to new talents and bring them together with experienced foreign producers. In 2017 New Talents is also adding additional activities including cinema distribution in selected countries.

Projekt New Talents / Nové talenty je alternativní propagační kanál pro nejtalentovanější mladé animátory ze střední a východní Evropy. Klade si za cíl seznámit mezinárodní odborné i laické publikum s 9 nejlepšími filmy natočenými mladými a debutujícími umělci v daném roce. Výběr se zaměřuje na výjimečné talenty, jejichž práce je příslibem do budoucna. Spoléhá na promítání tohoto pásma na vybraných filmových festivalech, čímž přiláká pozornost k novým talentům a spojí je se zkušenými zahraničními producenty. V roce 2017 projekt také přidává další aktivity včetně kinodistribuce ve vybraných zemích.

Cipka / Pussy
Director Renata Gąsiorowska, Poland, 2016, 8 min

The Wild Boar
Director Bella Szederkényi, Germany, France, Hungary, 2016, 14 min

Zdarzenie plastyczne / Ink Meets Blank
Director Tymon Albrzykowski, Poland, 2016, 5 min

Chilli
Director Martina Mikušová, Slovakia, 2016, 8 min

Kut /Corner
Director Lucija Mrzljak, Croatia, Estonia, 2016

Vulkánsziget / Volcano Island
Director Anna Katalin Lovrity, Hungary, 2017, 9 min

Ciało obce / Foreign Body
Director Marta Magnuska, Poland, 2016, 7 min

Life in Patterns
Director Vojtěch Domlátil, Czech Republic, 2017, 2 min

Farewell
Director Leon Vidmar, Slovenia, 2016, 6 min

Ernest & Célestine

Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar, Stéphane Aubier | France, Belgium, Luxembourg | 2012 | 80 min

Appropriate for children over 8

Bears usually tend to be solitary sourpusses, but Ernest is different. He is a clown and a musician; he would like to be cheerful, but he often does not have anything to eat and has got empty pockets. One day, he catches a small mouse called Celestine, who has escaped from her underground rodent world. She naturally doesn’t want to be eaten by Ernest so she makes a deal with him. If he will not eat her, she will show him where he can get lots of chocolate and the best sweets. But neither of them really knows whose tracks they are actually following. Despite all their differences, the two become an unlikely duo which stands a chance of overcoming prejudice and uniting two different worlds. The intimate story is highlighted by dynamic hand animation and varicoloured refracted tones of watercolour paints.
The tender and also slightly wacky family film Ernest & Clementine was adapted by Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar and Benjamin Renner from a series of children’s books by Belgian writer Gabrielle Vincent. This Academy Award nominated original comedy about bears and mice won a number of awards from viewers and critics alike, including the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, César 2013 and a Special Mention in the section Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes festival.

Annie and Joey Strike

Michal Žabka | Czech Republic | 60 min

Apart from classic bedtime stories for smaller children, Czech Television for the first time presents its own animated series created primarily for children over eight years of age. It is based on popular comic books of the same name by Lucie Lomová.

Scandal in the Town
Two Sisters
At the Old Mice

VAF Animation Today: short films from V4+ region

různí / various | 89 min

Opening Ceremony of the festival

180 min

Sing

Gareth Jennings | United States | 2016 | 110 min

Appropriate for children over 7

An industrious koala bear called Buster Moon has a final chance to save the theatre he inherited from his father. He bets everything on one card, a grand singing competition the world has never seen before. And much like the competition participants themselves, their repertoire is varied – it ranges from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga. The authors behind Minions and The Secret Life of Pets set out to conquer theatres with a story that's good for your soul and ears alike.
Producer Chris Meledandri, the man behind the brilliant Minions, and director Garth Jennings agree that this story was brought to life thanks to their passion for music. The film is packed with music, you can hear over sixty hits including those currently at the top of the charts. “Music forms the personalities of individual protagonists and helps to put the pieces of their mini-stories together,” says Jennings. The Czech version stars the voice of brilliant singer Ewa Farna as one of the protagonists of the film (the punk-rock porcupine Ash).

Live and Deep in Moss

Filip Pošivač, Barbora Valecká | Czech Republic | 50 min

Appropriate for children over 3

During Christmas 2015, Stream.cz premiered the charming 26-minute puppet film Deep in Moss, which was seven years in production. Its authors are graduates of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague who follow in the footsteps of the Czech puppet animation tradition. Not only the “old” tradition represented by Jiří Trnka and Břetislav Pojar, but also the newer one represented for instance by Jan Balej. Deep in Moss is set in a deep forest where forest elves Bertie and Josephine dwell. Their job is to look after the forest; Josephine sews hats for fashionable mushrooms and Bertie lights mushroom night lamps. But one day, Bertie’s special mushrooms are gone… The successful film was followed by the six-episode spin-off series Live from the Moss. In the film, Bertie meets a young forest fairy and helps her to become a presenter at the local forest radio station. And from her new position at the station, the fairy brings us six new short stories from the moss.

Deep in Moss

Rap, you Sissy!
Ghosts of the Forest Solitudes
The Truth about Mr. Willowisp
The Mole and Christmas Cookies
Hoarded Christmas
Shut up, the Fairy is here!

New Game

Aleš Brunclík | Czech Republic | 2017 | 63 min

According to a 2015 survey by ESA, there are about 1.8 billion gamers in the world. That means that the gaming industry is massive. The Czech Republic is an important producer of video games – as proven by famous titles such as Samorost 3 by Amanita Design characterized by its unique artistic style; and Space Engineers by Keen Software House. These two games are the focus of a time-lapse documentary by Aleš Brunclík who observed the developers very closely and captured their progress and some behind-the-scenes looks. The documentary follows four projects in total and uses them to demonstrate the aforementioned development of the games and their significance. It does not leave out new trends in computer technologies and so it includes a company called Dreadlocks, which is developing a new VR computer game – its characters will be played by real live actors and its locations will be modelled according to real places.

What Can Animation Bring to Life?

různí / various | Czechoslovakia | 66 min

Appropriate for children over 5

If we read the International Animated Film Association’s definition that “the art of animation is creating moving images in all ways except live action,” it will come as no surprise that one can animate any object (toys, glass balls, children’s clothing) and material (clay, pastry, puzzles). This showcase includes films that draw inspiration from these sources and can playfully develop the imagination of the youngest audiences.

The Little Umbrella
Director Břetislav Pojar, Czechoslovakia, 1957, 15 min

Words, Words, Words
Director Ludvík Kadleček, Czechoslovakia, 1988, 7 min

Cheeky Slingshot
Director Hermína Týrlová, Czechoslovakia, 1982, 9 min

The Little Marble
Director Hermína Týrlová, Czechoslovakia, 1963, 9 min

Why Does the Giraffe Cry?
Director Ludvík Kadleček, Czechoslovakia, 1960, 9 min

Lullaby
Director Hermína Týrlová, Czechoslovakia, 1979, 5 min

Tale of the Laundry Line
Director Hermína Týrlová, Czechoslovakia, 1986, 8 min

Crazy Techniques in Czech Animation II.

různí / various | 66 min

Also our showcase refl ecting the newer work by Czech animators who didn't settle for traditional techniques and materials, deliberately focuses on less known films. But we can still see some names that ring a bell.

The Water of Freshness
Director Zdeněk Smetana, Czechoslovakia, 1966, 14 min

The Backbiters
Director Josef Kluge, Czechoslovakia, 1967, 3 min

White Dreams
Director Blanka šperková, Czechoslovakia, 1987, 9 min

The Shooting Gallery
Director Miroslav Štěpánek, Czechoslovakia, 1969, 5 min

April Fools Day
Director Jana Olexová, Czechoslovakia, 1965, 3 min

The Clayman
Director Jaroslav Zahradník, Czechoslovakia, 1972, 4 min

A Ballad about Green Wood
Director Jiří Barta, Czechoslovakia, 1983, 10 min

Bloodthirsty Hugo – an Eastern
Director Aurel Klimt, Czech Republic, 1997, 5 min

Gilgamesh
Director Pavel Aujezský, Czechoslovakia, 1987, 13 min

The Amazing World of Gumball

Mic Graves | United States | 65 min

The Amazing World of Gumball, which was also broadcast by Czech Television, is one of Cartoon Network’s fan favourites.

Endless Possibilities of Animation I.

různí / various | 74 min

This programme brings you a preview of unusual animation techniques that have played their role in the history of animation. It was during the first decades of the 20th century that filmmakers were coming up with new innovative methods. For example the bizarre idea of animating a screen with tens of thousands of pins in it originates from the 1930s. And even though this programme focuses on films made from the 1980s until now, this rare, almost hundred-year-old technique, is represented by Canadian animator Jacques Drouin. Also the technique of animation without a camera – by scratching directly into the film stock – is quite old. Atypical techniques are often used by prominent authors (Will Vinton, Regina Pessoa and from our country e.g. Jan Švankmajer). The ideas of innovative animators often cross boundaries of traditional materials so you will have a chance to see sand animation, snow animation, two-dimensional claymation and a film shot using flipbooks.

Polska kronika non-camerowa nr. 6, 1983. Wydanie B
Director Julian Antonisz, Poland, 1983, 10 min

Traverser
Director Hugo Frassetto, France, 2009, 5 min

Tragic Story with Happy Ending
Director Regina Pessoa, Portugal, 2007, 8 min

Bitzbutz
Director Gil Alkabetz, Israel, 1984, 3 min

The Black Dog’s Progress
Director Stephen Irwin, UK, 2008, 3 min

The Great Cognito
Director Will Vinton, USA, 1983, 4 min

The End
Director Ülo Pikkov, Estonia, 2013, 6 min

The Landscape Painter
Director Jacques Drouin, Canada, 1976, 8 min

Bottle
Director Kirsten Lepore, USA, 2011, 5 min

Johann Sebastian Bach: Fantasia G-moll
Director Jan Švankmajer, Czechoslovakia, 1965, 9 min

G-AAAH
Director Elisabeth Hobbs, UK, 2016, 2 min

Fast Film
Director Virgil Widrich, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, France, 2003, 13 min

The Fabulous Baron Munchausen

Karel Zeman | Czechoslovakia | 1961 | 83 min

Modern astronaut Toník lands on the Moon where he encounters a very peculiar bunch. He meets Cyrano de Bergerac, the characters from Verne’s novel From the Earth to the Moon and also the bragging Baron Munchhausen. In Zeman’s playful parable, the fanciful adventures of Baron Munchhausen mingle with the romantic story of the brave dreamer Toník who becomes the Baron’s rival in love when they manage to free the beautiful princess Bianca from the vicious Turkish sultan.
For this unique adaptation of the famous book by Gottfried August Bürger, Zeman took inspiration from the engravings in its original edition made by one of 19^th century’s most important illustrators, Gustav Doré. The director brightened the black and white images with colour-tinting and used various colours as indicators of changing moods and surprising plot twists. This fanciful adventure – variegated by unique tricks and humorous gags – won many international awards, among others also at the festivals in Cannes and Locarno.
This film was digitally restored thanks to the Čistíme svět fantazie (Cleaning the World of Fantasy) project, the partners of the České bijáky (Czech Pics) Foundation, the Karel Zeman Museum and Czech Television in cooperation with Universal Production Partners (UPP).

The Secret Life Of Pets

Chris Renaud, Yarrow Cheney | United States | 2016 | 90 min

Appropriate for children over 6

The Secret Life of Pets is a funny comedy about the life our pets lead when we’re not at home and also an answer to a question every pet owner asks himself.
Max and Katie are soul mates, best friends in the world. Little does it matter that Max is a dog and Katie a human. If only Katie stayed at home all day every day and didn’t leave Max alone for hours, he’d be the happiest dog on Earth. But one day, Katie brings home a furry dog monster from the shelter called Baron. Max and Baron don’t exactly hit it off. From the moment they meet, they try to come up with ways to make each other’s life miserable and that only brings more and more trouble. They end up on the street surrounded by an army of lost and abandoned animals led by an insane rabbit who rules the city’s underground. But Max has luckily got a whole bunch of friends who can’t just leave him and so they exchange the cosiness of their homes for an adventurous quest to find and save Max. But they have to be quick about it and save him before their owners return home. Isn’t it actually better not to know what our pets get up to when we’re not at home?

Revengeance

Bill Plympton | United States | 2016 | 71 min

Revengeance is the eighth feature film by the legendary independent animator Bill Plympton. It is also the first film that he made with another graphic artist. It took the famous director a long time before he watched a DVD with Jim Lujan’s films, which he personally received from him. But when he played them on one rainy afternoon, Lujan’s talent mesmerized him so much that he wanted to work with him. In the end, underground artist Lujan took care of the script and the graphic design, while animation and direction remained with Plympton.
Revengeance tells the story of a low-rent bounty hunter (named Rod Rosse, the One Man Posse) who gets entangled in a web of seedy danger when he takes on a job from an ex-biker/ex-wrestler turned U.S. senator named “Deathface.” Rod has to find what was stolen from the senator and find the girl who stole it. Soon, Rosse finds there’s more to this dirty job than meets the eye. Between the ruthless biker gangs, the blood thirsty cults, and the crooked cops – Rod Rosse is a marked man. If the bullets don’t kill him – the California sun just might!

Romanian Animated Short Film Selection

různí / various | 57 min

The Romanian selection brings around one hour of short animated films to the big screen. With very few exceptions, they are all one-person films, so you’ll discover the same name appears as the scriptwriter, sound designer, animator and director – independent filmmakers working on their own and by themselves.
Apart from bringing good tutors to Bucharest to teach animation workshops during the festival, in the last three years, Anim’est has worked on getting young Romanian animators to work together, so the future looks a lot brighter!

 

Black Fantastic
Director Călin Pop, Romania, 2010, 6 min 

How to Deal with Nonsense
Director Veronica Solomon, Romania, 2010, 5 min 

The Scream
Director Sebastian Cosor, Romania, 2011, 3 min 

Eschaton
Director Alexei Pătraşcu, Romania, 2012, 6 min 

Becoming
Director Andrei Sopon, Romania, 2012, 5 min 

Tango con Anita
Director Fekete Szabolcs, Romania, 2013, 3min 

Baby Nap
Director Paul Muresan, Romania, 2015, 5 min

Loop
Director Claudia Ilea, Romania, 2015, 4 min 

Omulan!
Director Matei Branea, Romania, 2016, 15 min

Seoul Station

Yeon Sang-ho | South Korea | 2015 | 92 min

In the Korean zombie horror feature Seoul Station, this year’s Korean Focus meets with Anifilm’s traditional midnight animation. The film tells a dramatic story full of suspense and zombies. The story begins with a young prostitute Hye-sun and her boyfriend Ki-woong. They are trying to hide from her former pimp but one night, after a big argument, Ki-woong breaks up with her. All of a sudden Hye-sun’s father appears and wants Ki-woong to help him find her. In the meantime, an older homeless man with a bite on his neck roams the Seoul Station. With the exception of one unfortunate man, no one notices him and before his friend brings help, the injured man is gone. And so begins a night full of chaos, fear, desperation and very fast zombies dashing through the streets and spreading the disease. This animated thriller has one more important dimension – the social element of the story. The zombies represent the homeless, drug addicts and people from the margins of our society hunted by the authorities and the police.

Around the World II.

různí / various | 74 min

Appropriate for children over 6

This year, the Anifilm festival asked experienced curator and festival organizer Aneta Ozorek to compile special programmes for children. And in that selection you'll find charming films from the world's best film festivals for children. You will have a chance to see the adventures of small dreamers, who fight for their fantasies, no matter what obstacle they have to overcome. There is a story of a scarecrow who wants to see the sea, a wolf who dreams about becoming a ballerina, and a hen who wants to fly. It’s much easier to make your dreams come true when you are surrounded by joy and that’s why this set of films is also filled with laughter and fun. We can cheerfully sing with a fire hydrant, to give a fox a flick on the nose or go sledging with a squirrel. Who wants to start dreaming and laughing with all of them? Are you ready for new remarkable encounters?

Spring Jam
Director Ned Wenlock, New Zeland, 2016, 6 min

Lilou
Director Rawan Rahim, Lebanon, France, 2015, 8 min

The Unicorn
Director Rémi Durin, France, Belgium, 2016, 13 min

November
Director Marjolanine Pereten, France, 2015, 4 min 

Hey Deer
Director Ors Barczy, Hungary, 2015, 6 min 

Little Seed
Director Chaïtane Conversat, France, 2015, 10 min 

House
Director Veronika Zacharová, Czech Republic, 2015, 5 min 

Cage
Director Loic Bruyere, France, 2016, 6 min 

Bat Time
Director Elena Walf, Germany, 2015, 4 min 

Weasel
Director Timon Leder, Slovenia, 2016, 12 min

Endless Possibilities of Animation II.

různí / various | 79 min

Our programme Endless Possibilities of Animation II. builds up on its first part but it focuses on more contemporary filmmakers and films. Some non-traditional techniques are still used until this day – a successor to the classic pinscreen animation of Jacques Drouin is his student Michèle Lemieux who is keeping the tradition of this demanding technique alive. Another not so typical animation type, which is close to live action, is rotoscoping. A live actor is also used in pixilation. Currently, we can see a new trend in the world of animation – light animation – that enables the authors to simulate not only movement, but also create an impressive spectacle. Another unique technique is puppet animation, which in combination with drawing merges with the background in the internationally acclaimed Czech film The Bigger Picture. The programme will also introduce photograph
animation by the Austrian experimenter Nikki Schuster and the method of time-lapse animation of sugar water.

In the Frame / Im Rahmen
Director Evgenia Gostrer, Germany, 2013, 5 min

Some Actions Which Haven't Been Defined Yet in the Revolution
Director Sun Xun, China, 2011, 12 min

Videogame / Videogioco
Director Donato Sansone, Italy, 2010, 2 min

Ms Stubnitz
Director Nikki Schuster, Austria, 2015, 5 min

When I Was a Child
Director Maryam Kashkoolinia, Iran, 2014, 8 min

Ink Eraser
Director Veronika Schubert, Austria, 2009, 4 min

Track
Director Takeshi Nagata, Kazue Monno, Japan, 2015, 4 min

Squame
Director Nicolas Brault, Canada, 2015, 4 min

Dialogue
Director Judith Poirier, Canada, 2008, 4 min

Out on a Limb
Director Falk Schuster, Germany, 2011, 5 min

The Bigger Picture
Director Daisy Jacobs, UK, 2014, 8 min

Oren Lavie: Her Morning Elegance
Director Oren Lavie, Yuval, Merav Nathan, Israel, 2007, 4 min

Here and the Great Elsewhere
Director Michèle Lemieux, Canada, 2012, 14 min

Annie and Joey Strike Again

Michal Žabka | Czech Republic | 45 min

Appropriate for children over 8

Apart from classic bedtime stories for smaller children, Czech Television for the fi rst time presents its own animated series created primarily for children over eight years of age.

Old Bison
Annie the Giant
Devil’s Castle
Uncle René

And We Were Young

Andy Smetanka | United States | 2016 | 75 min

The feature debut of American experimenter Andy Smetanka is an utter revelation in the world of contemporary animation. Not only was it shot by a classical Super 8 camera from the Soviet era, but it also connects the “extinct” technique of silhouette stop-motion with the principles of modern animated documentaries. Smetanka has been using silhouette animation since 2004.
And We Were Young is the oral history of American soldiers, ‘Doughboys,’ in the last months of the First World War. The director cut thousands of paper figures and coloured backgrounds and filmed them one frame at a time, over the course of three years, to produce a brutal, hauntingly beautiful, and thoroughly original vision of America’s war, narrated entirely in the words of the ones who were there.
The film is characteristic for its original retro style, well-crafted animation and the touching fates of its protagonists. Black silhouettes illustrate the story in an unexpectedly authentic way and add a touch of tragedy without needless emotions and pathos.

Mary and Max

Adam Elliot | Australia | 2009 | 92 min

Two different personalities, two different fates and a distance of half of the world separates and connects the two clay heroes of Mary and Max, a film which tells the story of an unlikely friendship between an eight-year-old girl called Mary, who lives in Australia, and a forty-four-year-old New Yorker called Max. Mary loves sweet condensed milk and chocolate, but most of all she longs for a real friend… Max Horowitz has Asperger’s syndrome, difficulties with communication and also loves chocolate, his fish Henry, his parrot and his cat… They exchange letters and share their thoughts, observations, impressions and problems and the viewers watch their bond grow. This slightly bittersweet stop-motion comedy is a thought-provoking intimate story which, much like Elliot’s previous film, Harvie Krumpet (2003), openly breaks social barriers and taboos. The elaborate film and its scenes plotted in detail boast a dynamic cinematography by Gerald Thompson, so a comparison with live-action films is in order. The film had its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival opening ceremony.

Fantastic Planet + soundtrack live (Aid Kid, T. Havlen, J. Libánský a T. Kovalová)

René Laloux | Czechoslovakia, France | 1973 | 72 min

Live soundtrack: Aid Kid, Tomáš Havlen, Jiří Libánský & Terezie Kovalová

Allegro non troppo

Bruno Bozzetto | Italy | 1976 | 85 min

Bozetto’s phenomenal and time-tested feature film Allegro non troppo ranks among the biggest classics in the history of animation. It is considered an Italian “answer” to Walt Disney’s famous Fantasia, but it is a spectacle even outside of this context. This captivating and ambitious film which organically supplements, or rather interconnects, musicwith animation, is composed of six stories depicting classical music compositions. It gives them a modern and slightly ironic form and uses humour and exaggeration – and also elements of parody. You can hear famous melodies by Debussy, Dvořák, Ravel, Sibelius, Vivaldi and Stravinsky that have inspired the director to create his characters and narrative lines. The stories are also interposed with live-action intermezzos in which the director works with principles of situation comedy known from classical slapsticks. Allegro non troppo represents an important milestone and not only because of the fact that Bozzetto proved how strong the connection of music and animation can be.

Finding Dory

Andrew Stanton | United States | 2016 | 103 min

Appropriate for all ages

This animated feature by Disney/Pixar brings back the popular blue fish Dory who now lives a happy life on the coral reef with Nemo and Marlin. But Dory has a flashback and remembers that she has lost her parents somewhere. Together with Marlin and Nemo, Dory sets out on an adventurous journey across the ocean all the way to the prestigious Marine Life Institute in California.  Dory meets its quirky inhabitants – the first of them is a grouchy octopus named Hank who successfully escapes the employees. Another one is Bailey, a beluga whale who mistakenly believes he has lost his ability to echolocate and the third one is a near-sighted whale shark called Destiny. During her search for her parents, Dory finds out that we love those close to us despite their imperfections and learns the true value of friendship and family.

A Town Called Panique

Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar | France, Luxembourg, Belgium | 2009 | 75 min

Our plastic heroes Cowboy, Indian and Horse get into trouble after Cowboy’s and Indian’s plans to surprise Horse with an original birthday gift end in disaster. The three friends experience bizarre adventures which take them e.g. to the centre of the Earth, to the frozen tundra and to a parallel underwater world inhabited by cunning little monsters with pointy heads. A Town Called Panic is an ideal film for the accelerated generation – the characters move almost at the speed of light and talk like they are on speed and laughing gas.
When asked a question about how the characters communicate and who comes up with what situations, Vincent Patar answered: “Hard to say… We discuss things a lot and churn out new ideas. And eventually we find out that the project is actually done. It’s like playing high-speed Ping-Pong.”
The feature film was adapted from a TV series of the same name which, thanks to dubbing by the Aardman Animation Studios, gained a cult following even beyond the borders of France and Belgium. The film boasts a unique energy emitted by the toy figurines, which nostalgically remind us of our childhood with their absurd dialogues. A Town Called Panic is unparalleled in its original artistic style and also by being the first stop-motion animated film screened in Cannes.

Crazy Techniques in Czech Animation I.

různí / various | 66 min

The history of Czech animation is unusually rich in non-traditional materials and animation techniques. Legendary filmmakers such as Karel Zeman, Hermína Týrlová, Jan Švankmajer and Jiří Barta were tireless seekers of new elements.

Inspiration
Director Karel Zeman, Czechoslovakia, 1948, 10 min

Metamorphoses
Director Václav Mergl, Czechoslovakia, 1964, 4 min

Stone and life
Director Garik Seko, Czechoslovakia, 1965, 8 min

A Women, a Rose, a Goblin and Anger
Director Antonín Horák, Czechoslovakia, 1969, 14 min

How They Met at Kolin
Director Břetislav Pojar, Czechoslovakia, 1965, 14 min

Johanes doctor Faust
Director Emil Radok, Czechoslovakia, 1958, 17 min

Pic Pic André and Their Friends

Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar | Belgium | 2001 | 49 min

Pic Pic is a useful magical pig and its friend André is a very bad horse. André is always side by side with his inseparable friend Cowboy and these animated characters experience various wacky adventures. This very visual slapstick full of exaggeration and rustic humour swarms with other caricatures. And even though the protagonists don’t talk too much, they are easily recognizable thanks to their typical Walloon accent. The original series, made by Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar in the 1990’s, served as a basis for a 2001 compilation which was complemented by other films by this duo.


Pic Pic André Shoow – The First, 1995, 8 min
Pic Pic André Shoow – Le Deuxième, 1997, 11 min
Pic Pic André Shoow – 4 moins 1 / 4 minus 1, 1999, 13 min
Babyroussa the Babiroussa, 1994, 5 min
Les Baltus au cirque / The Blatuses in the Cirque, 1998, 7
min
Saint-Nicolas chez les Baltus / St. Nicolas and the Baltuses, 1993, 5 min
L’ours, la femme et le chasseur / A Bear, a Woman and a Hunter, 2000, 1 min

Bozzetto non troppo

Marco Bonfanti | Italy | 2016 | 74 min

Marco Bonfanti’s new documentary is a faithful portrayal of Bruno Bozzetto, a legend of (not only) Italian animation. The filmography of the author of animated feature films such as West and Soda and Allegro non troppo, and also short films (starring, among others, the iconic Mr. Rossi) includes more than three hundred films. But Bozzetto also works for television and won a number of awards during his career including the Berlinale Golden Bear and an Academy Award nomination. This documentary takes us into an intimate environment of Bozzetto’s home and animation workshop and offers us a look at Bozzetto’s everyday life. It includes the picturesque Italian countryside, the ubiquitous animals, friends, co-workers and, of course, Mr. Rossi who is accompanying his author. But first and foremost, Bonfanti offers the viewers an insight into Bozzetto’s films, his work methods and his infinitely creative mind. This comprehensive documentary also works with archive footage and a number of samples from Bozzetto’s animated films.

Kubo and the Two Strings

Travis Knight | United States | 2016 | 101 min

Appropriate for children over 9

His stories are simply breath-taking and that’s what makes the protagonist of the epic animated adventure Kubo and the Two Strings so special. The same thing can be said about the Laika studio, the creators of not only Kubo but also Coraline and Boxtrolls. The studio’s president Travis Knight worked on all its previous films simply as an animator, but Kubo is his directorial debut.
Thanks to his storytelling, Kubo is able to provide for himself and his ill mother. Day after day, he goes out of the cave they live in to a nearby village and amazes its people with stories. He ends his stories with the sunset because his mother warned him that if he stays outside after dark, he will be struck by a terrible curse. But one day, he fails to return. Accompanied by smart and outspoken Monkey and slightly wacky Beetle, he sets out to find his father, a legendary samurai.
The film’s mythological story is complemented by a captivating visual style with enchanting exotic images of the Japanese countryside and a mysterious atmosphere.

Closing Ceremony of the festival

135 min

Zootopia

Byron Howard, Rich Moore | United States | 2016 | 109 min

Appropriate for children over 8

Zootopia is a city unlike any other. Only Zootopia has luxurious quarters such as Sahara and cold Tundratown. The city is home to animals of all kinds from all over the world. In this city, whether you’re a giant elephant or a tiny mouse, you can be anyone you want to be. But when the optimistic police officer Judy Hopps arrives in the city, she finds out that becoming the first rabbit in its police squad full of big and strong animals will be a hard nut to crack. Judy, desperately trying to prove that she’s got what it takes, seizes the first opportunity to solve a serious and mysterious crime. This seemingly simple plot – a humorous police comedy with jokes and gags – has, as all proper fables do, a moral about how hurtful prejudice and stereotypes can be and how to cope with them.
The film boasts remarkable graphics with detailed backgrounds and textures, in particular the fur of various animals looks amazing and natural. And thanks to modern cinematography, which uses expression methods from live action films, the authors manage to make us feel like we’re watching reality and not fiction.