OnlineFestival+: More than 200 films in six days
Skwigly
The Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film (ITFS)’s OnlineFestival+ section is brimming with some of the best new and recent animation work around, with approximately 200 shorts and nine confirmed feature films – including the European premiere of Eduardo Rivero’s A Costume for Nicolas – available to attendees to watch on-demand during the festival period of May 5th-10th.
The selection spans five main categories – International Competition (artistically high-quality animated short films of the last twelve months), AniMovie (feature film competition with internationally outstanding animated films, Young Animation (Competition for the best short films by students), Tricks for Kids (award for the best animated short film for children) and Trickstar Nature (international animated short films that deal with the topics climate protection, biodiversity, environment and sustainability).
Festivalgoers can also learn more about many of the films involved via exclusive video statements from the filmmakers themselves, and selected films in the Tricks for Kids category will also be accompanied by media-pedagogical material.
In addition, animated films from the supporting programmes Best of ITFS and Panorama will be shown.
This access to the OnlineFestival+ costs 9,99€ once and can be bought from 5th May on OnlineFestival.ITFS.de. The access ends on 10 May with the festival.
International Competiton
The international scope of the short films as well as the variety of topics reflects the usual high quality programme of the ITFS: From Tomek Popakul with ACID RAIN (Poland, 2019), the Colectif Illlogic with Maestro (France, 2019), to renowned studios like Tumblehead Animations with Tales from the Multiverse (Magnus Møller, Mette Tange, Peter Smith, Denmark, 2019), up to well-known stars such as Konstantin Bronzit with He Can’t Live Without Cosmos (Russia, 2019) – the International Competition shines with artistically valuable and entertaining animated short films.
See the full list of films in competition here.
AniMovie Competition and other Feature Films
Among the feature films is also confirmed a European pre
miere: A Costume for Nicolas (Dir. Eduardo Rivero, Mexico), about a ten-year-old boy with Down syndrome, whose mother makes a costume for his birthday every year. When she dies, Nicolas joins his loving grandparents and his cousin David. Nicolas is soon to use these magical costumes to save his cousin from his nightmares and a whole kingdom.
Zero Impunity (Dir. Nicolas 
Blies and Stéphane Hueber-Blies, France Luxembourg) of AniMovie Competition 2020: An animated artistic documentary and a call to join the growing global movement that tolerates zero tolerance for sexual violence in war zones around the world – including Syria and Ukraine, on the African continent and in the USA. Zero Impunity features inspiring victims, social workers and activists around the globe who have the courage to get involved, resist and mobilize others. These stories confront us with the terrible mechanisms of international institutions and ancient methods of war and interrogation. A film about love, life and humanity.
A real cult-movie is the feature film Mary & Max 
by Adam Elliot (Australia, 2008), suitably advertised as “a mixture of Wallace & Gromit and Harold & Maude“, the clay animation film will also be streamed at OnlineFestival+
With wit and warm-heartedness, as well as a sharp eye for detail, Mary & Max tells the story of two deeply sad characters is told, who find joy in life through their friendship with each other.
The hand-drawn animated feature film Ethel 
and Ernest (Dir. Roger Mainwood, UK) is based on the book by renowned British author and illustrator Raymond Briggs and tells the true story of Briggs’ parents Ethel and Ernest – two ordinary Londoners living in a time of extraordinary events and social upheaval. From the 1920s with its social stratification to the moon landing in 1969, the film shows decisive moments of the 20th century.
The film Wrinkles (Dir. Ignacio Ferreras, 
Spain) is a rousing portrait of the friendship between Emilio and Miguel, two elderly gentlemen who were deported to a nursing home. The newcomer Emilio has Alzheimer’s in the early stages and is saved by Miguel and his colleagues from ending up on the dreaded top floor of the home. Their wild plan lends a good dose of humour and tenderness to their otherwise boring daily routine.
AniMovie winner of 2016 Psychonauts, the
Forgotten Children (Dir. Pedro Rivero/Alberto Vázquez, Spain) tells of Birdboy and Dinky, two teenagers who decided to flee their island after a natural disaster: Birdboy’s plan is to simply withdraw completely Dinky, on the other hand, takes flight and wants to set off on a dangerous journey – hoping that Birdboy will accompany her after all. Pedro Rivero will also give a free, live-streamed Master Class on May 8th.
AniMovie winner of 2015 
Beyond Beyond (Dir. Ebsen Toft Jacobsen, Sweden/Denmark) about Johan, who for as long as he can remember, lived by the sea with his father since the disappearance of his mother. Johann is good at diving and is a talented mechanic. He helps his father repair the ship. One day Johan receives a distress call on the radio with a note about his mother’s whereabouts…
The free live stream on OnlineFestival.ITFS.de on 7 May (Focus France from 8 pm) will show A Monster in Paris (Dir. Bibo Bergeron, France) about a strange creature that terrifies Paris in the year 1910. The culprits are Emile, a shy projectionist, and the crazy inventor Raoul, who go on a monster hunt to make up for creating the creature by mistake. During their surprising adventure they make the acquaintance of the beautiful and warm-hearted singer Lucille.
Young Animation – the next generation of the animated film scene
From South Africa, to China, Japan, the USA and Europe: about 60 films by students from all over the world show the spectrum of current animated film production.
Tricks for Kids – Animated Films For Kids
Whether Ron Dyens‘ Melting Heart Cake (France, 2019) or Verena Fels’ Tobi and the Turbobus (Germany, 2019) the competition category “Tricks For Kids” leaves the hearts of animated film fans beating faster – whether young or old. Media-pedagogical accompanying material is offered for selected films.
Trickstar Nature – Films for the environment and nature
In the new competition category “Trickstar Nature”, which shows films that deal with the environment and nature, well-known studios such as Folimage with Northern Lights (France, Switzerland, 2019) or the short film POLARBARRY-LET’S BREAK THE ICE!!-VLOG#207 by Wouter Dijkstra (Netherlands/UK, 2019).
This access to the OnlineFestival+ costs 9,99€ once and can be bought from 5th May on OnlineFestival.ITFS.de. The access ends on 10th May with the festival.