Flatpack Festival Announce Their Animation Highlights Ahead of 21st May Launch
Flatpack kicks off a four-month season of events on 21 May with a full-to-bursting programme of the very best filmmaking from around the globe.
- BAFTA-award qualifying short film competition returns with over 30 UK premieres
- Feature and documentary film programme including artist portrait doc Tomorrow is Saturday about the life of Seán Hillen, the incredible animated feature Kill it and Leave This Town and long-awaited Birmingham Central library doc Paradise Lost
- Special events including live performance premieres, guest comedian commentators, beer and film pairings and a life drawing event
In 2020, Flatpack adapted their physical festival programme at speed in order to give us Flatpack Festival: the Home Entertainment Edition. Continuing to roll with the punches, 2021 will see the delivery of a 4-month season of events, online, outdoors, and, all being well, in Birmingham cinemas and auditoriums. The season kicks off on the 21 May, when Flatpack will return to our home screens for festival no.15 with a playful, thought-provoking assortment of screenings and special events, tailored for a virtual environment.
Audiences are invited to explore new ways of experiencing the festival, from short films over breakfast to film and drink pairings, joining a worldwide community connected through exceptional film for all the senses.
Animation Programme Highlights
STARSHIP IMPOSSIBLE WITH THE BROTHERS MCLEOD
Presenting their brand new web series in full, BAFTA-winning animators The Brothers McLeod will also present a half hour talk about the production process, working in collaboration with Misfit Inc, how they came up with the idea and why they think the world needs another sci-fi story.
SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Spanning five programmes of shorts, the BAFTA-qualifying short film competition programme is one of the UK’s most distinct, and boasts dozens of premieres. Largely made up of animation, you’ll find significant gems in there such as Berlinale winner, Easter Eggs, and Just a Guy – an incredible animated doc about a serial killer’s fanclub.
3AM HEADF**K
A special short film programme that goes head on into offbeat, late-night, bizarre territory. Pushing the boundaries of what animation can achieve tonally, visually, and atmospherically, this selection of animated shorts plays with minds, in a good way.
Flatpack 2021 3AM Headf__k -Mercury’s Retrograde (Zohar Dvir)
DEEPFAKE THERAPY
Although Roshan Nejal’s film Deepfake Therapy is a live action film, the subject matter focuses on a new animation technique that has been making headlines over the last 12 months. Nejal choices to focus on deepfake technology that helps with the grieving process, and the results are quite extraordinary.
COLOUR BOX: SECOND NATURE & LARGER THAN LIFE
Flatpack’s family strand features two programmes of animated shorts for 3-6 year olds, and 7+. Full of fun and invention, these joyous programmes demonstrate an array of animation techniques and approaches.
KILL IT AND LEAVE THIS TOWN
11 years in the works, Mariusz Wilczynski’s debut feature is a sublimely gritty and personal snapshot of his hometown Lodz in the 1970s. It’s a genuinely distinctive piece of work that will live long in the memory.
Flatpack 2021 Kill It And Leave This Town (Mariusz Wilczynski)
A COSTUME FOR NICHOLAS UK Premiere
A Mexican Studio Ghibli-esque adventure story about a boy with Down syndrome who helps his brother overcome his recurring nightmares.
NUDE TRIUMPHANT & LIFE DRAWING AT THE STARKERS ACADEMY
Produced during lockdown with a community of Queer and intersectional life models and artists, Nude Triumphant is a beatutful animated short about first-time life models. After the screening, The Starkers Academy will host an online life drawing workshop.
TOUCHSCREEN World Premiere
Artist Sarah Hamilton Baker combines sensory experiences with a selection of animated short films, translating them through boxes of objects, materials, foods, and other surprises. Made in partnership with Sense charity, who work with people with complex disabilities.
SHORTS & HOPS WITH DIGBREW
Short film beer pairing with one of the Midlands’ finest brewers featuring some of the finest animated short films ever made, including a very rare screening of claymation master Bruce Bickford’s remarkable 28 minute film, Prometheus’ Garden.
JOURNEY TO THE SOUTH World Premiere
A couple of years in the making, this British Council funded project sees an unlikely collaboration between two of the most interesting emerging musicians making waves in Vietnam at the moment, and British visual artist and animator Emily Scaife. They have been commissioned to make a live audiovisual performance piece using the brilliant Saigon Supersound project as a starting point. The world premiere will be unveiled at the VCCA in Hanoi, and streamed to the rest of the world during the festival.
SKITTISH
Over the last year, American technologist and co-founder of XOXO Festival Andy Baio has been working tirelessly on a brand new project – a playful animated virtual space for online events called Skittish. Flatpack will be the first UK festival to make use of the technology, ensuring the online experience of the festival still has a strong social element.
BEYOND THE FESTIVAL
Beyond May, Flatpack will be busy with various summer outdoor community film screenings, their Wonderland project exploring the history of cinema-going in the city, interactive family project Colour Box at Home where audiences receive packs and zines, and an Autumn Weekender (24-25 September) full of actual live cinema events.