25 Years of Fantoche: 2020 Programme Now Online
Skwigly
Fantoche is 25 years old – and the 2020 edition is going ahead. There’s a packed roster to mark the occasion, including a series marathon, a spotlight feature on heroines, a compact online festival, an in-depth look at the Danish animated film industry, 11 new feature films and the ever-popular Bagno Popolare. A total of 72 animated short films will be shown to the festival jury and the public from 1–6 September 2020 in the International Competition, Swiss Competition and Kids Film Competition categories. A further 28 films submitted to the festival will be presented at “Hors concours”, the 18th edition of the International Animation Film Festival. All programme details are now available online.
Average Happiness, Maja Gehrig, CH 2019
Over the past few months, the organisers have tweaked the festival programme – set to go online today – to reflect the latest developments and regulations. Fantoche is now ready to go, though it is also prepared in case things should change in the meantime. The very fact that SARS-CoV-2 appears likely to cast a shadow over our lives for some time to come has galvanised Fantoche into finding new ways for society to enjoy personal encounters, social exchange and festival culture. Small-scale, expertly curated events such as Baden’s annual animated film festival are the perfect opportunity to experience this. This year’s festival has been organised with the greatest care, caution and flexibility in mind.
Based on the latest guidelines issued by the government and the cantonal authorities, this year’s edition of Fantoche will be able to go ahead as planned from 1–6 September, albeit with a few restrictions in place. Workshops will be limited, while the masterclass and the parties at the Royal have been cancelled. In addition, hygiene and distancing measures will apply at all festival sites, festival visitors will be asked to provide their contact details, and disinfectant will be provided.
https://vimeo.com/fantoche
Fantoche Online Festival
During the week of the festival, Fantoche 2020 will be streaming its top highlights from 7 to 9 pm, Wednesday to Sunday, in collaboration with filmingo.ch, enabling all those who cannot or are unwilling to travel to Baden to “attend” – and requiring no protective measures. These highlights include the International Competition, the Swiss Competition and three selected feature films. To reproduce the festival atmosphere online as much as possible, each showing will be accompanied by a live Q&A with the makers of each film.
Old Man Cartoon Movie, Mikk Mägi, Oskar Lehemaa, EE 2019
Fantoche 2020 is Female
Equal rights between men and women is still a fantasy today. Women earn less even when doing the same work as men, and it has been proven that they receive less funding to make films despite the fact that their works are better received by the public. With this in mind, Fantoche 2020 is celebrating female protagonists and superwomen in film. Audiences can take heart from their ample powers and empathy as we tackle the everyday challenges of life after lockdown. Three feature films and three short film programmes curated by Eliška Děcká and the women of the Tricky Women Animation Festival shine the spotlight on real-life and imagined female characters as they take part in various animated tales and adventures. Animated film pioneer Lotte Reiniger will be honoured in the form of a retrospective, an exhibition at the Kunstraum museum in Baden, and a showing of her 1926 feature film set to live music. The Fantoche edit-a-thon will focus on adding key female animated filmmakers to Wikipedia as a way of balancing out the ratio of male-to-female articles on the site. Fantoche is also proud to be the eighth film festival in Switzerland to sign the Pledge for Parity and Inclusion at film festivals, as launched by SWAN (Swiss Women’s Audiovisual Network).
Beach Flags, Sarah Saidan, FR 2014
Besides this, Fantoche will be putting on an extensive supporting programme for young, old, industry insiders and casual viewers alike, including filmmakers offering their insights into the production process in Coming Soon and Making-of presentations, Animation Goes Multimedia exhibitions, the Industry Day, the ever-popular Fantoche shop and Bagno Popolare.
Fantoche will be taking place from 1-6 September 2020. Visit their website for more information.