ANIMATION FANS INVITED TO CHOOSE WINNERS AT THE BRITISH ANIMATION AWARDS 2014 PUBLIC CHOICE SCREENINGS
Skwigly
Animation-lovers across the land have the chance to decide the winners in three categories of the British Animation Awards in the Public Choice Screenings which start showing in cinemas around the country from Saturday 25th January 2014.
Playing at 17 cinemas until 19th February three specially selected programmes will feature an eclectic mix of films in three categories: short films, music videos, and commercials. At each programme the audience get to vote on their favourite in each category.
From OSCAR nominated shorts to works by newly graduated artists, the Public Choice screenings offer the audience an astonishing array of stop frame, CGI and 2D animation. In the Short film category, the handpicked selection includes covers a wide range of topics from the serious through to the light-hearted – from Daniela Shearer’s thought-provoking short The Shirley Temple about escapism and sexuality to Ant Blades’ hilarious film Wildebeest about two wildebeest contemplating crossing a river.
Humour is a big theme for 2014 with a significant number of comedy shorts included in the nominations. There’s Mr & Mrs Panda by Will Anderson, a film about two pandas who are expected to produce offspring for Edinburgh Zoo. The world expects them to reproduce but the course of true love rarely runs smoothly. Another Ant Blades’ film also gets a nod in this category as Car Park tells the story of a shopping trip gone wrong. Ross Butter’s hand-drawn animation I Love You So Hard is also up for honours. The film tells the story of how far an obsessive Lothario will go for his love – including wrestling a rhinoceros. And there’s a trip to the seaside with Sandy by Joseph Mann – a stop-frame short inspired by the summer holidays he spent on the beach as a child, whilst Jun Iwakawa offers a humourous and inventive motion graphic crash course in caring for your new born baby in Handle With Care.
But it’s not all about the laughs. Recipe for Gruel by Sharon Smith is a self-funded film about life, one meal at a time; The OSCAR-nominated Head Over Heels by Tim Beckhart tells the story of a long marriage which has fallen apart; Gergley Wootsch’s Hungry Corpse (voiced by Bill Nighy and Stephen Mangan) takes viewers to London’s bustling Trafalgar Square where a hungry corpse meets a pigeon; Brave New Old by Adam Wells takes a surreal, sideways look at society and everyday scenarios.
The Arctic Monkeys (Do I Wanna Know video directed by David Wilson), The Staves (Winter Tress directed by Karni + Saul) and Tame Impala’s (Feels Like We Only Go Backwards by Becky and Joe) are among the artists seeking honours in the music video category, while commercials for Talk Talk (Model Britain by David Kleinman), Flora (Wrestlers by Glenn Holberton) and Barclays (Life Skills by Mark Reisbig) compete in the Commercials category.
Held every two years, the BAAs are the most prestigious awards in animation and the only ones to celebrate and recognise British animation talent across all mediums, with past winners including Nick Park, Simon Tofield, Framestore for their work on the Deathly Hallows animation sequence in Harry Potter and the Gorillaz.
Director Jayne Pilling says: “Britain is a world leader when it comes to producing exceptional talent across all styles of animation. The Public Choice selection offers a snapshot of some of the outstanding pieces of work created over the past couple of years and gives the public a chance to vote for their favourites.”
Public Choice screenings start on Monday 25th January and will play at 17 locations across the country on various dates until 19th February. Full details are detailed below. The prestigious, humour-filled biennial BAA ceremony will be held on London’s Southbank on March 7th 2014 attended by the great and the good of British Animation.
The full list of films featured in the Public Choice can be found at www.britishanimationawards.com.
Public Choice 2014 Venues:
The Library of Birmingham
Box Office
Prog 1: Friday 31st Jan
Prog 2: Sat 1st Feb
Prog 3: Sun 2nd Feb
Bradford NMSI
Prog 1: Sat 25th Jan
Prog 2: Sat 1st Feb
Prog 3: Fri 7th Feb
Bristol Watershed
Box Office: 0117 927 5100
Prog 1: Mon 10th Feb
Prog 2: Mon 17th Feb
Prog 3: Mon 24th Feb
Edinburgh Filmhouse
Box Office: 0131 228 2688
Prog 1: Mon 10th Feb
Prog 2: Thurs 13th Feb
Prog 3: Mon 17th Feb
Falmouth University
Box Office: 01326 313 388
Prog 1: tbc
Prog 2: tbc
Prog 3: tbc
Farnham UCA Surrey
Prog 1: Tues 28th Jan
Prog 2: Tues 4th Feb
Prog 3: Tues 11th Feb
Glasgow Film Theatre
Box Office: 0141 332 6535
Prog 1: Fri 31st Jan
Prog 2: Sat 1st Feb
Prog 3: Sun 2nd Feb
Liverpool FACT
Box Office: 08717 042063
Prog 1: TBC
Prog 2: TBC
Prog 3: TBC
London BFI Southbank
Box Office: 020 7928 3232
Prog 1: Fri 7th Feb
Prog 2: Sat 8th Feb
Prog 3: Sun 2nd Feb
Manchester Cornerhouse
Box Office: 0161 200 1500
Prog 1: Tues 11th Feb
Prog 2: Thurs 13th Feb
Prog 3: Sat 15th Feb
Middlesbrough Animex
Prog 1: Mon 10th Feb
Prog 2: Tues 11th Feb
Prog 3: Weds 12th Feb
Norwich Cinema City
Box Office: 0871 704 2053
Prog 1: Thurs 30th Jan
Prog 2: Mon 3rd Feb
Prog 3: Weds 5th Feb
Portsmouth University
Prog 1: Tues 11th Feb
Prog 2: Weds 12th Feb
Prog 3: Thurs 13th Feb
Plymouth Peninsula Arts Cinema
Box Office: 01752 585050
Prog 1: Thurs 4th Feb
Prog 2: Thurs 13th Feb
Prog 3: Thurs 20th Feb
Staffordshire University
Prog 1: Weds 29th Jan
Prog 2: Weds 5th Feb
Prog 3: Weds 12th Feb