Cardiff Animation Festival Announces 2022 Short Selection
Cardiff Animation Festival, from the people who bring you the regular Cardiff Animation Nights screening events is returning for 2022. As previously announced, CAF 2022 will be a hybrid event, comprising both in-person events at the Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff and online events that can be accessed from all around the UK.
Ahead of the reveal of the full schedule in early March, Cardiff Animation has announced the official short film selection. The festival has selected 101 films to screen in competition, that will be shown as part of seven themed programs.
In person events will take place from 7-10 April, with online events taking place throughout the month. The selected shorts come from 22 countries and cover a wide variety of subjects and media. See here for the full line-up.
Together/Apart explores the struggles and the joys of relationships, featuring everything from fighting to survive in the post-apocalyptic future in Reduction (Réka Anna Szakály), to reflecting on time spent with a loved one in A Bite of Bone (Honami Yano).
Human/Nature asks the question: What makes us human? Are we truly different from everything else on the planet? The concept of humanity is explored through films from the serene The Principle of Sunrise (Ye Song) to the UK premiere of Soft Tissue by Cliona Noonan.
Sound/Vision is a treat for the ears as well as the eyes. Music and animation come together to provide a multi-sensory experience, featuring films like the abstract 04111311 (Flora Martyr) and the adorable Polar Bear Bears Boredom (Koji Yamamura).
Home/Sick is a selection packed with nostalgia. It’s an opportunity to cosy up with cherished memories from childhood in Forever A Kid (Frederieke Mooij) and a family’s eccentric obsessions with Affairs of the Art (Joanna Quinn).
Silent/Cinema shows that a great film transcends language barriers. The films in this selection don’t have dialogue, but each one says a lot. Fall into dreamy summer memories in Chado (Dominica Harrison) and sail away with surreal cruise ship tragicomedy Arka (Natko Stipanicev).
Reel/Life is a showcase of animated documentaries. From stories of the Hong Kong Riots in Prince Edward (Hoching Kwok) to an autobiographical portrayal of living with autism in Strange (Cameron Carr), this selection is packed with touching tales and inspiring stories.
After/Dark is a late-night screening of shorts with a bit of a bite. From ravenous spiders in Arachnarche (Emma Jordan), to a gruesome re-telling of human history in Cuties (Theo W Scott), this adults-only selection is not for those who are unsettled easily…
The festival will also host several events for children including a Family Shorts program for primary school-aged children, which will include Lorraine Lordan's A Cat Called Jam and Verena Fels's Tobi And The Turbobus. There will also be a program dedicated to Welsh made films and a special edition of Cardiff Animation Nights.
"After having to postpone CAF 2020 at the eleventh hour, the last two years have been a crash course in running online events, " says festival director Lauren Orne. "This year, we’re combining our experience of running online and in-person events with our first ever hybrid edition. We’re so excited to be back at Chapter and venues around Cardiff with a huge range of in-person events, as well as making lots of the festival available online, giving our audiences the chance to access the festival however they want to. We can’t wait to see everyone in person and in the online chat box!”
Festival passes are on sale now, with a limited number of passes at Early Bird prices. Online only passes start at just £15.00
