Ottawa International Animation Festival Launches with Its 45th Anniversary
Skwigly
The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) continues with its 45th anniversary, featuring 107 animation works selected from 2528 entries received from 38 different countries from around the globe. Ottawa’s largest film festival and one of the world’s premier animation events runs online September 22nd to October 3rd, 2021.
The main course of the festival is the six Official Short Film Competition Screenings. Each competition screening is curated like a mixtape for the avid animation fan. The competition screenings flow from one animation work to the next, blending categories, styles, and themes.The juxtaposition of the different animation works brings about a range of emotions and in some cases a feeling of uncomfortableness.
“If you’re still among those folks who think that animation is little more than fodder for kiddies and pimply teens, the OIAF is here again to burst such outlandish conspiracy theories” says OIAF Artistic Director Chris Robinson. “With a sensory barrage of techniques, styles and subjects that reveal animation to be unforgivingly provocative, personal, poetic, hypnotic and downright mystifying. But fear not conspiracists, we’ve got stuff for the kiddies and pimply teens too”.
Highlights:
- The music video for Frank Horvat ‘What the Walls Feel as they Stare at Rob Ford Sitting in his Office’, (Canadian director Guillaume Pelletier-Auger), which transitions to Bestia (Hugo Covarrubias), a film that delves into the life of a secret police agent, including the fears and frustrations of a mind and country fractured by trauma.
- The duality and ethics of identity are explored through the perspective of a young Métis child trying to reconcile her European and Indigenous heritages in Meneth: The Hidden Island of Ethics (Terril Calder).
- The passage of time is explored in Adante Moderato (Zak Margolis), playing into the pandemic isolation experienced by many over these past 18-months. In contrast to the pandemic woes, Peaches ‘Pussy Mask’ (Leah Shore) is an animated empowerment anthem calling attention to pussy power through bold colours.
- Fan favorite duo, Rick and Morty make an appearance at the festival in Adult Swim ‘Happy Human Holiday’ (Rafael Esteban Trujillo).
- This year’s Animated Series competition is populated with a number of recognizable titles, including Star Trek: Lower Decks ‘Crisis Point’ (Bob Suarez). The episode takes audiences alongside Marnier as she rewrites a holodeck program into a movie starring Cerritos and crew in response to being forced to attend therapy.
- One Day At A Time ‘The Politics Episode (M.R. Horhager & Phill Lewis) takes on the all too familiar struggle of maintaining family ties when politics takes a seat at the dinner table.
- Family tensions continue to be woven throughout the animated works at this year’s festival, including Slovenia short film Steakhouse (Špela Čadež). Audiences will feel the tensions and need to determine if they can handle the heat of this film.
- After much anticipation, Impossible Figures and Other Stories III (Marta Pajek), a National Film Board work, concludes the animated trilogy by making its world premier at the OIAF.
- Taking hold of the international animation community, Nunuavut film Shaman’s Apprentice (Zacharias Kunuk) takes audiences on a journey alongside a young shaman who must find out what is making her community ill.
- Coming off a number of international festival wins, Taiwanese film, Night Bus (Joe Hsieh) is not one to be missed at this year’s festival. This thriller combines elements of Hitchcock and Tarantino as it explores love, hatred and revenge during a late-night bus ride.
The live Gala Short Film Competition Screenings will run throughout the festival and offer up the unique opportunity to interact directly with the filmmakers in post-screening Question & Answer sessions. An international jury composed of animators Nadja Andrasev, Kang Min Kim (won the Grand Prize for Short Film at OIAF ‘20), Anne Koizumi (CFI Award for Best Canadian Animation at OIAF ‘20), Jodie Mack, Mike Maryniuk, and Mariusz Wilczyński (won the Grand Prize for Feature Film at OIAF ‘20), will be choosing the award-winners from the selected competition works. The winners will be unveiled at the Award Ceremony on Friday, October 1st, 2021 at 7:00pm EDT. The Official Short Film Competition Screenings will be available through video-on-demand October 2nd-3rd, 2021 with the films only.
In addition to the live Gala Short Film Competition Screenings, there is a full slate of programming available on demand throughout the online festival, including the retrospectives and special screenings, which are an ode to animation.
“As always, the retrospectives and special screenings this year really adorn the OIAF 2021 crown nicely ringing a solid collection of programmes that highlight the unique voices of Jacques Drouin (The Many Imprints of Jacques Drouin), Jodie Mack (A Factory of Raw Essentials: The Films of Jodie Mack), Mike Maryniuk (Flannel Fever Dream: The Films of Mike Maryniuk), Wong Ping (Cathartic, Crass and Colourful: Wong Ping’s Urban Fables) and Mariusz Wilczyński (Ghosts of a Different Dream – The Films of Mariusz Wilczyński), along with three packages taking a look back at notable the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) (From Fine Arts to Family Guy: The Rhode Island School of Design) films over the years, including Seth MacFarland‘s student film Life of Larry (the precursor to Family Guy)”, explains OIAF Director of Film Operations Keltie Duncan. “As if that wasn’t enough, we also have a selection of blurred-line computer films for those technique freaks out there (New Tool Who Dis? Tactility in the Digital Age). We’re bringing as much supporting content as the seams will hold to make sure we’re all watching the competition films within the broader context of animation as a well-established and broad art form.”
For those who would like to get a taste of OIAF ‘21 at home, tune in to the Canadian Panorama for free by using the coupon code CanPan2021 at checkout.
To attend the online festival, passes can be purchased on the OIAF website. Passes range from $30 CAD for post-secondary students to $60 CAD for a full pass. Through the generosity of Ottawa’s Jam Filled Entertainment, there is a free day pass for high school students. Single tickets or a package of 5 tickets are available for purchase for the Saturdays and Sundays of the festival.