INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ANIMATED FILMS, MAY 10 - 15, CZECH REPUBLIC
Jury: Bill Plympton (USA), Katarína Kerekesová (Slovakia), Hisko Hulsing (Netherlands)
Where is Anne Frank?
(Where is Anne Frank?)
Director: Ari Folman
France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Israel, 2021, 93 min
Technique: 2D CGI
Producer: Samsa Film (Jani Thiltges), Yves Kugelmann, Alexander Rodnyansky, Ari Folman
Jury Statement:
The winner of the animated feature for adults is taking a major tragedy to show the positive sides of the human spirit. It's an ode to the imagination of a persecuted girl, whose story needs to be told over and over again. This film tells the story in a new way, making it relatable and current for young adults all over the world.
Synopsis:
For his latest film, Israeli director Ari Folman, known for his Oscar-nominated ani-doc Waltz with Bashir (2008), drew inspiration from the world-famous diary of Anne Frank, which he adapted into a comic book in 2017. The film’s story, however, doesn’t focus on Anne, whose diary documents her life between the years of 1942 and 1944 which she spent hiding with her family in a concealed apartment in an Amsterdam house. The director is interested in Anna’s Anne’s imaginary friend Kitty, who was the addressee of Anne’s diary entries. It’s this approach that differentiates Folman’s work from other (mostly live-action) adaptations of The Diary of Anne Frank. His film is not an adaptation but rather a variation on this topic. The story is set in present-day Amsterdam and its protagonist is the red-haired Kitty. One stormy night, she steps out of Anne’s diary, displayed in the Anne Frank Museum and, dressed in 1940s fashion, sets out to look for her friend. She finds the Anne Frank Library, Museum and Theatre – but there’s no sign of Anne herself. Her original story permeates the film and seems pressingly topical. Kitty suddenly realises the limits of her own existence, becomes close with a young pickpocket named Peter and finds herself on the run from the Police. This smoothly animated film with an original story, atmospheric depiction of the setting and playfully stylised characters was included in the Cannes Film Festival Official Selection.
Belle
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Japan, 2021, 122 min
Technique: 2D and 3D CGI
Producer: Yuichiro Saito, Genki Kawamura, Nozomu Takahashi, Toshimi Tanio
Jury Statement:We choose this film for its very powerful, emotional storytelling and for its highly imaginative, but still truthful depiction of the make-believe reality that many young adults are living in and the importance for them to live with trust in their own identity.
Synopsis:
Enter a world where you can be yourself. No limits, no compromises. Be the one you want to be, even though in the real world of a small Japanese village, home of the film’s main heroine, you wouldn’t dare…
The inconspicuous Suza has suffered a terrible tragedy. Not only has she lost her mother, but because she’s unable to cope with this loss, she’s been drifting apart from her dad and choosing to escape into the virtual world of a social platform called U. This escape from reality, however, means an unexpected success for her. Thanks to her alter ego, a singer called Belle, she’s able to find her voice and use her lyrics to express emotions she can’t handle in the real world. People quickly notice the sincerity of her songs and Belle suddenly becomes a hugely popular diva, moving crowds. But even virtual reality has its bad guys. And the baddest of them all seems to be the mysterious Beast, the loved and hated protagonist of riveting fights organised in the alternative world of U. Belle and the Beast meet and the virtual space becomes a place of struggle to save real human souls.
Director Mamoru Hosoda, whose film Mirai charmed juries and audiences at Anifilm 2019, uses a superbly executed combination of 2D and 3D animation to present a classical theme put in the current context of modern technology. He can see the potential of social media with faith in the human spirit and the conviction that technology can represent a platform, instead of taking control of us.
Jury: Lucija Mrzljak (Croatia), Alexander Stein (Germany), Jan Saska (Czech Republic)
Once There Was a Sea…
(Bolo raz jedno more… )
Director: Joanna Kożuch
France, Poland, Slovakia, 2021, 16 min 23 s
Technique: 2D CGI, paint on paper, sand, rotoscoping
Producer: BFILM, ANIMA-POL, plackartnyj, EC1 – Lodz, Telewizija Polska, Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska
Jury Statement:
The film provides an unimaginable perspective of a human life from which a sea disappears. The director manages to emphatically depict the lives affected by the disappearance of the Aral Sea and to defy the absurd tendencies of the authorities to erase this catastrophe from our awareness.
Synopsis:
This captivating ani-doc recounts the fate of the dried-up Aral Sea and the search for it. The lake has almost disappeared because of insensitive human-induced changes to the land surrounding it. The director repeatedly went to investigate how and why the lake disappeared. She managed to capture the stories of several local people whose lives were and still are bound to the lake.
I’ll be Your Kettle
(I’ll be your kettle)
Director: Tobias Rud
Denmark, Canada, 2021, 9 min 20 s
Technique: 2D CGI
Producer: Tobias Rud
Jury Statement:
Love sometimes makes us do stupid things. A film that manages to show our sometimes limitless self-sacrifice within our love relationships in a dramatic yet funny way, always showing understanding for both sides, and all this without a word of dialogue and with a coherent use and mix of stylistic animation techniques, one has to probably call it a masterpiece. What we do, extremely impressed and touched by this film by giving a special mention to:
Synopsis:
The heroine of this humorous film about an unusual relationship crisis will find that love has many shapes and forms. The willingness to do anything to please someone pales with the sacrifices she is ready to lay on the altar of love. But for what?
Jury: Lucija Mrzljak (Croatia), Alexander Stein (Germany), Jan Saska (Czech Republic)
Love Dad
(Milý tati)
Director: Diana Cam Van Nguyen
Czech Republic, Slovakia, 2021, 13 min
Technique: 2D CGI, stop-motion, cut-out animation, rotoscoping, real-life footage
Producer: 13ka – Karolína Davidová, FAMU, nutprodukce
Jury Statement:
An original and subtle film about reconnection of broken family bonds and difficulties of reconciliation. It takes us on a personal journey through beautiful and technically impressive visuals.
Synopsis:
An original ani-doc by a young Czech-Vietnamese director who achieved success with her previous film, Apart. In her take on an animated documentary, the author goes one step further – she adds a personal level and with a combination of multiple techniques (including superbly executed replacing) tries to reconnect and reconcile with her father.
Channidae
(Channidae)
Director: Pauline Morel
Belgium, 2021, 7 min
Technique: 2D CGI, stop-motion
Producer: Atelier de Production de La Cambre, ASBL
Jury Statement:
In a very clever way, the film transitions from a playful mood to a serious topic. It happens in harmony with the content in which child games darken after an unexpected revelation. On a small space, the film hits very hard.
Synopsis:
Three friends like spending their time together in a park. This time, Colin suggests they can pretend to be a family. They put on masks, build a house and start playing the roles of the father, mother and son. After some time, the game starts getting out of hand as Colin immerses himself in his role, for which he has an awful lot of inspiration. Some masks are hard to take off.
The Immoral
(L’immoral)
Director: Ekin Koca
France, 2021, 4 min 11 s
Technique: 2D CGI
Producer: La Poudrière
Jury Statement:
Within 4 minutes, this film manages to rip us from our seemingly higher moral position, grab us by the collar, give it a good shake and put us back in our seats. And all this with grandiose timing and an insidious sense of humour. Entertainingly to the point, it leaves us amazed and thoughtful about our own ethical position.
Synopsis:
A quiet lunch in a restaurant turns into an unexpected drama. One of the guests has a cardiac arrest and as other guests gather hesitantly around him, the burning issue of their guilt arises – was there no way to help him? Definitely not. But what about the person in the back who keeps blatantly stuffing his face with steak and fries?!
Jury: Stas Santimov (Ukraine), Tereza Stehlíková (Czech Republic), Lars Rummel (Germany)
Imaginary Landscapes
(Вигаданий пейзаж)
Director: Mykyta Lyskov
Ukraine, 2021, 4 min 36 s
Technique: Drawing on Paper
Producer: Mykyta Lyskov
Jury Statement:
This film stood out for us for a number of reasons. We loved how it draws us into metamorphosing landscape, seas, mountains and forests glimpsed from a passing train. The journey we are taken on is both across but also inward: like a meditation, it evokes hypnagogic imagery of layered textures, brushstrokes, semi-imagined worlds. The film is beautifully crafted, seemingly simple, yet rather otherworldly.
Synopsis:
At first glance, this fly-through of an imaginary landscape seems minimalist. But the passing layers of colours, lines, structures and image nuances gradually consume the viewer. Thanks to the soundtrack, the impression left by this semi-abstract film intensifies gradually. The film was made by a representative of the new generation of Ukrainian filmmakers, known for his film Deep Love.
Skin to Skin
(Azaletik Azalera)
Director: Mel Arranz
Spain, 2021, 7 min 26 s
Technique: 2D CGI, drawing on paper
Producer: Kalaka Lab
Jury Statement:
A wonderful celebration of tactility, in a medium of drawn animation, itself a tactile conversation with the blank paper. We loved the marks left by the pencil on paper, the evocation of touch through image and sound, which sent shivers down our spines, in a very ASMR way. We enjoyed the erotic, intimate dimension of the film, we loved its tactile audio-visual language. We felt the film gave a space for the viewer to take breath, to sense, to feel.
Synopsis:
Between lines and shapes, hands touch; they explore and experience each other, wanting to break down the boundaries between their skins. The tactile sensations of the film are enhanced by animation and a layer of perforated paper forming a raster resembling skin.
Jury: Stas Santimov (Ukraine), Tereza Stehlíková (Czech Republic), Lars Rummel (Germany)
Gosheven: Until Exhaustion
Director: Magdalena Hejzlarová
Czech Republic, 2021, 3 min 35 s
Technique: 2D CGI, stop-motion
Producer: Magdalena Hejzlarová
Jury statement:
The music video stood out for us all. We loved the slow-moving pace, the delicate graphical compositions which reminded us of architectural drawings. We enjoyed the images transforming slowly, giving us, the audience, a chance to enter a reflective state of mind. There was care in the composition, and fragility in the computer-generated imagery that felt refreshingly different.
Synopsis:
First, growth seems unlimited, then a peak comes; we break and vanish and again and again, the game of life. Behind this circle, an everlasting nostalgia is present.
This graduate of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, with a penchant for visual experiments made her latest music video in the Golly open-source program.
Mathieu Boogaerts: How Many
Director: Bianca Scali
Germany, 2021, 2 min 55 s
Technique: 2D CGI, mix
Producer: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
Jury Statement:
We enjoyed the subtlety, gentleness and fragility of this work, which reflected the melancholy of the song. We felt that the music and the imagery complimented each other beautifully, with neither dominating. Despite the sadness, the overall sense of the piece was calming, caring and ultimately positive. We also really appreciated the wonderful shades of blue in the film’s monochrome palette.
Synopsis:
The latest music video by the young French director, a graduate of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Germany, is a tender play of subtle drawing against various shades of blue. It emphasises the melancholy of the song dealing with sadness and living through it.
Jury: Tereza Stehlíková (Czech Republic), Lars Rummel (Germany), Viktoria Cherniaha Filmako (Ukraine)
Limbotopia
Wen-Yee Hsieh
Taiwan, 25 min, 2021
Jury Statement:
We chose this VR film because it impressed us with its powerful atmosphere, the slow-moving pace, which allowed us to become absorbed in a suspended presence. At once drawn forward into a kind of waking trance, one is still able to gaze around and feel impressed by the surrounding vast scale of the dilapidated cityscapes. Or is compelled to take a ride on a strange ghost train into another kind of non-place. Hypnotic, otherworldly, but also coherent.
Synopsis:
In this surrealist 360° ride, the viewers drift through the space between the conscious and the unconscious mind, dream and reality. Collage A collage of lights in the distance blends with non-traditional architectonic wonders dominating the space and letting the imagination transform the space into a whole new world. A psychedelic, yet peaceful probe of the human mind.
Kusunda
(Kusunda)
Felix Gaedtke, Gayatri Parameswaran
Germany, Nepal, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, 23 min, 2021
Jury Statement:
This is a very moving account of a disappearing community’s quest to preserve its language. The immersive reality allows the viewer to be placed right inside a family home, allowing for a strong emotional response. We enjoyed the interactivity which invited the participants to pronounce certain words of the disappearing language, allowing them to resonate, even briefly, across different parts of the world. A powerful message and a great use of VR technology.
Synopsis:
A Nepalese mountain community has only two surviving members – Lil Bahadur and his granddaughter Hima. Their family line is slowly dying out, as is their language. In this interactive animated documentary, the viewers record their memories of life in the community, but primarily try to save their dying language with these recordings. Using their own voices.
Jury: Eva Nečasová (Czech Republic), Claudia Molinari (Italy), Céline Veltman (Netherlands)
Sable
Shedworks, Great Britain, 2021
Jury Statement:
We would like to congratulate Sable on an exceptional artistic performance and as the winner in visuals for the 2022 Anifilm Festival Award. Sable has an unquestionably stunning visual art style, one that invites the player to explore and discover more of its wonderful world. We found that the underlaying thematic and captivating atmosphere is a distinctive experience for any player. Congratulations on this very well-deserved award.
Synopsis:
Guide Sable through her Gliding; a rite of passage that will take her across vast deserts and mesmerizing mesmerising landscapes, capped by the remains of spaceships and ancient wonders. Explore the dunes on your hoverbike, scale monumental ruins and encounter other nomads as you unearth mysteries long forgotten and discover who she really is behind her mask. With its unique art style and original soundtrack by Japanese Breakfast, envelop yourself in Sable’s world and explore everything at your own pace.
Papetura
Petums, 2021
Jury Mention:
We would like to give an honourable mention and a few extra words to the wonderful game Papetura, as it is an incredible, genuine and unique work of art. The astonishing process behind it makes it a strong case in game-making, able to inspire future designers who want to approach videogames with an original twist.
Synopsis:
Papetura is an atmospheric puzzle adventure game, in which everything is made entirely out of animated paper. From tiny bugs, strange creatures, monsters and unique locations, everything is cut and glued together by hand. Together with beautiful music made by Floex, it creates a mysterious paper world, covered in light and darkness.
Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective
Darjeeling, 2021
Jury Statement:
The Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective is a very fun, playful, and eventful experience, that offers a world full of surprising interaction and well-executed storytelling and references. We appreciate the mastered execution of the original book; it invites curiosity and sparks the imagination and conversation for all children and in fact players.
Synopsis:
Adapted from the bestselling book 'Pierre the Maze Detective: The Search for the Stolen Maze Stone', Labyrinth City is a labyrinthic narrative adventure game. Mr X has stolen the Maze Stone and turned Opera City into a giant maze. Help Pierre and Carmen find their way through 10 giant mazes to stop Mr X. Journey through a fantastic world of amazing cities, tree-top towns and haunted houses. Trace your way through each maze, spot the clues and solve the extra mystery challenges along the way!
Growbot
Wabisabi Play, 2021
Jury Statement:
There is a beautiful delicacy to this game where it has a special softness and the visuals and feel of the game are like a warm and welcome hug. And we all agreed that this beautiful game deserves an honourable mention as it reassures every parent to know that their child plays a beautiful and memorable game.
Synopsis:
Growbot is a 2D point-and-click adventure set upon in a beautiful biopunk space station. You play as Nara, a growbot in training to become a captain. When your station home is attacked by rapidly growing crystals, it's down to you to save it. The game is inspired by classic adventure games like Loom, and modern adventure games like Machinarium, and aims to appeal to both seasoned and new gamers. It is being developed in Unity for Windows, Linux and Mac.
The Girl from the Other Side
Director: Yutaro Kubo, Satomi Maiya
Japan, 2022, 70 min
Technique: 2D computer, cel animation, painting on glass, sand
Producer: Twin Engine Inc.
Synopsis:
WIT Studio introduces the anticipated feature film follow-up to its short film from 2019. This adaptation of a manga of the same name by Japanese artist Nagabe was partially crowdfunded by a Kickstarter campaign.
Once upon a time, in a land far away that was divided into two realms… The Outside was roamed by teratomorphic creatures who had the power to curse whomever they touched. Humans could only live safely in the Inside. But when a lost little girl from the Inside named Shiva, and a demonic beastly looking Outsider, simply known as Teacher, initiate a quiet coexistence on the same side of the forest, their bond seems to transcend their incompatible natures. It is the beginning of a folktale about two outcasts – one human, one inhuman – who linger in the hazy twilight that separates night from day.
This mystical film is a dark and peculiar fairy-tale which will leave a strong impression on viewers, further emphasised by a delicately executed artistic style balancing the grim content. The film’s characters deal with intense emotions which they show with matching expressivity.