If you're going to be in or around Ottawa, Canada this September then you can take part in one of the world's leading celebrations of animation. The Ottawa International Animation Festival attracts animation professionals and enthusiasts alike, from across North America and further afield.
OIAF has already revealed their young audiences and TV selections. Now they have followed that up with the announcement of their feature film selection. Their feature selection is typically more esoteric and less mainstream than other festivals, staying away from Hollywood fare. That's as true this year as any, although some of the films have played elsewhere.
The seven selected films are eligible for the Grand Prix in the Feature Competition, which will be determined during the festival by the Jury of Neil Hunter (Canada), Dahee Jeong (South Korea) and Thomas Volda (Croatia).
"It’s remarkable to see how diverse and interesting feature animation has grown, especially with this year’s competition being one of the strongest we’ve had in years," says OIAF Artistic Director Chris Robinson. "We’ve got a handful of lesser-known gems that are sure to travel the festival circuit (the astonishing Olivia & The Clouds, the mysterious Journey of Shadows, and the hypnotic weirdness of Boys Go to Jupiter) alongside a trip of films that have already been recognized globally (Flow, Sultana’s Dream and Memoir of a Snail).”
Feature Film Selection
• Boys Go to Jupiter (dir. Julian Glander, United States)
• El sueño de la Sultana (Sultana’s Dream) (dir. Isabel Herguera, Spain, Germany and India)
• Flow (dir. Gints Zilbalodis, Latvia, Belgium and France)
• Memoir of a Snail (dir. Adam Elliot, Australia)
• Olivia & Las Nubes (Olivia & the Clouds) (dir. Tomás Pichardo Espaillat, Dominican Republic)
• Reise der Schatten (Journey of Shadows) (dir. Yves Netzhammer, Switzerland)
• Sunburnt Unicorn (dir. Nick Johnson, Canada)
Memoir Of A Snail arrives fresh from Annecy International Animation Festival, where it was awarded the Cristal for a Feature Film. Coming from Australian stop-motion specialist Adam Elliot, the film features the voices of Sarah Snook (Succession) Kodi Smit-McPhee (Paranorman) and Magda Szubanski.
Gints Zilbalodis's Flow was selected to premiere at Cannes, as well as being selected for Annecy. At the latter, the film won a highly impressive four awards- including the Jury and Audience awards. The feminist short story inspired El sueño de la Sultana (Sultana’s Dream) was awarded the Annecy Contrechamps Grand Prix and won the Grand Prix at Prix at Animafest Zagreb 2024.
Nick Johnson's Sunburnt Unicorn is an adventurous coming of age tale. It features music by First Nations sisters Inuksuk Mackay and Tiffany Ayalik, who perform as throat-singing duo PIQSIQ.
At the time of their selection for OIAF Olivia & Las Nubes will have its world premiere at the festival and Reise der Schatten and Boys Go to Jupiter will have their Canadian Premiere.
The Ottawa International Animation Festival's 2024 edition will run from September 25-29.
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