One of the most extensive and diverse selections of animations produced in the last year will be seen in the official competition of the 19th edition of the Animest International Animation Film Festival. Between October 4 and 13, the only cinematographic event in Romania that qualifies films on the list of eligible candidates for the Oscars brings to the big screens in the capital a selection of films that exceed the boundaries of fantasy and flirt with the most innovative narrative and aesthetic techniques.
The war seen by children, in the film Nowhere (dir. Simone Massi)
44 animated short films are competing for the €2,500 Animest Trophy, offered by the ICR, and another 32 films made by students from some of the world’s most prestigious schools are competing for the dedicated section prize. The international feature film competition will premiere in Bucharest 5 authentic productions, full of sensitivity and humor alike. In addition to these, 8 VR films will also compete for an award in the dedicated section. More details about the films selected in the Animest.19 Official Competition are available at www.animest.ro.
“The Animest 2024 competition brings together a collection of stories varying in subject matter, techniques, approach and achievement, charting the past year’s animation at the professional level and animation schools on four continents. The five feature films in the competition are as many perspectives on relationships between people, on time, on history, on utopian dreams, and I think that each one can find its place among the preferences of Animest viewers.“, said Mihai Mitrică, the main selector of the festival.
Described by critics at Screen Daily as slightly notable for its “deceptively abrasive tone and unexpected plot twists,” Ghost Cat Anzu (dir. Yoko Kuno, Nobuhiro Yamashita) will compete this year at Animator in the feature film competition, bringing to the Romanian screens the story of little Karin, abandoned by her father in a small Japanese town, where his grandfather is a monk. This is when Anzu enters the scene, a ghost motan with a whimsical and magnetic personality, assigned to take care of Karin. The animation was also included in the official competition of the Annecy Festival and has a script adapted from the manga of the same name signed by Takashi Imashiro in the mid-2000s.
Michael Morpurgo’s famous children’s book Kensuke’s Kingdom / Kensuke’s Kingdom comes to life in the animation of the same name directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry, a film with touches of impressionistic aesthetics and characters with which the audience will be able to easily identify. Already selected in numerous international festivals (Annecy, Mon Premier Festival, New York International Children’s Film Festival) and having won multiple awards, the film candidly tells the story of a boy shipwrecked on a remote island where he will learn vital lessons about the natural order of things and the most important values of life.
From the Venice Film Festival, where it received the prize for the best film in the Venice Horizons section, the Italy-Switzerland co-production Nowhere / Nicăieri (dir. Simone Massi), which shows the image of war through the eyes of children, arrives at Animest. Three different wars, three children who remember the sacrifices of three generations in a family saga as powerful and striking as it is poetically transposed on the screen.
Also from Annecy, but with nominations at the Zagreb World Festival of Animated Films (where it received the grand prize), Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Docs Barcelona and Torino Film Festival, comes the Hungarian animation Pelikan Blue, directed by László Csáki. Inspired by the idea of the producers of the film Son of Saul and using a series of interviews conducted in 2010, the director manages to compose a unique animated documentary whose purpose is to serve as an answer to a question: how can a young man with limited financial resources live life to the fullest? The action takes place after the fall of Iron Corinth, when travel outside of Hungary becomes possible and the mirage of Western Europe attracts adventurers, whose momentum is stopped by the prohibitive price of train tickets.
In the Animest.19 feature film competition there is also the multi-award winning animation (Annecy, San Sebastian IFF, Hamburg IFF, Zagreb World Festival of Animated Films – grand trophy) Sultana’s Dream / Visul sultanae, co-production Spain-Germany, directed by Isabel Herguera and described as having one of the most fascinating aesthetics of recent years. At the heart of the story is Inés, a young woman animation film director who travels to India to end a love story and discovers a feminist science fiction novel written in Bengal in 1905, which turns her journey into a on the trail of the utopian land of women, “Ladyland”.
76 short films are fighting for the most coveted trophy
One of the 76 short films selected in the International Competition will go home with the 2024 Animest Trophy, which will automatically secure a place on the list of eligible candidates for an Academy Award nomination by the American Film Academy®. The jury will certainly have a challenge in choosing the big winner, from a selection that includes one of the greatest variety of stylistic approaches to date. Among them are animations coming directly from Croazêta, such as Supersilly (dir. Veronica Martiradonna) and Scars We Love (dir. Raphaël Jouzea), but also some laureates at Annecy, the most prestigious animation event in the world – Percebes (r. . Alexandra Ramires, Laura Gonçalves/ Grand Prix) and Hurikán (dir. Jan Saska / Audience Award).
Those curious to explore new visions in the world of animated film will appreciate the short films in the Student Film Competition, which come from the world’s most prestigious animation schools. This year’s selection includes no less than 32 short student films from 15 schools, including Gobelins, La Poudrière, Royal College of Art, NFTS (National Film and Television School), CalArts, FAMU or MOME. Two of them have already been noted for their originality at the Cannes Film Festival – Bunnyhood (dir. Mansi Maheshwari / Un certain regard) and Annecy – Carrotica (dir. Daniel Sterlin-Altman / Crystal for student film).
“The diversity of animation styles, an undeniable feature of the Animest competition, is a journey through almost every graphic modality of contemporary animated film. There are denser or more relaxed stories, realistic or purely fanciful, some classic, others difficult to frame, some militant, others intimate confessions played in the form of animated documentaries. Thanks to all the creators who sent us their animated gems and shared their stories. It is a responsibility every time we draw the line and conclude the selection of the competition, but also a privilege to bring such a wealth of films to the screens in Bucharest.“, added Mihai Mitrică.
The best VR film will be chosen from 8 innovative productions
Among the 8 titles selected in the official competition, there are also some present in the selections of other major international festivals, such as Venice, recognized for its competitive selection of VR films, considered one of the strongest and most valuable worldwide.
Thus, directly from Venice, in a national premiere, at Animest.19, lovers of animation and new will be able to immerse themselves in the universe presented in Oto’s Planet (dir. Gwenael François), where Oto and Skippy, his pet, live their keep lives peaceful until they are disrupted by the Exo cosmonaut when his ship crashes on their tiny planet. From this point everything takes the shape of a story of cohabitation, conflict and reconciliation, as Oto and Exo learn how to navigate their new shared existence.
Also from Venice, where in the previous edition it received the Special Jury Prize in the dedicated section, comes Flow (dir. Adriaan Lokman), along with the invitation to experience a whole suite of fragments from a woman’s life, portrayed through the dance of the currents of air. Another VR production that will impress with its interactivity, but also with its empathy is Emperor (dir. Marion Burger, Ilan J. Cohen) – an emotional foray into the brain of a father suffering from aphasia.
