2009 OIAF Movie Selections
Ottawa International Animation Festival Happens October 14th - 18th
Aug 13, 2009
The Ottawa International Animation Festival returns with a horde of weird, wild and wonderful animation from around the world. As per usual, the good folks who organize this fest promise it's going to be the biggest and best yet, with 93 short films and 7 feature films in competition, with an additional 58 films in the showcase section.
Coraline, $9.99, Edison and Leo, My Dog Tulip Among Feature Film Contestants at 2009 OIAF
Unusually, there are seven feature-length animated films competing this year: Henry Selick’s Coraline, Tatia Rosenthal’s $9.99, Neil Burns’ Edison and Leo, Priit and Olga Pärn’s Life Without Gabriella Ferri, Sunao Katabuchi’s Mai Mai Miracle, Adam Elliot’s Mary and Max, and Paul and Sandra Fierlinger’s My Dog Tulip. Last year, there were only three films in that category.
Music fans should get a real kick from this festival as well, since there are animated music videos from such acts as homegrown heroes Danko Jones ("King of Magazines"), acoustic guitar phenom Kaki King ("Air and Kilometers"), indie synth-poppers MGMT ("Kids") and a lil' old band from Dublin, Ireland called U2 ("I'll Go Crazy If I Can't Go Crazy Tonight").
In the short animated film category, there are some notable entries: "He's Barack Obama" from Jib-Jab (AKA the Spiridellis brothers), Chris Landreth's "The Spine," Aardman Animation's Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death, and Peter Sohn's Pixar short "Partly Cloudy" (look for an possible exclusive interview with Sohn appearing in Suite 101).
Animation Retrospectives With Don Hertzfeldt, Stan Vanderbeek, Suzan Pitt, Jim Blashfield
In addition, the OIAF will offer retrospectives featuring surrealist Suzan Pitt, music video animator Jim Blashfield, CGI pioneer Stan Vanderbeek and enfant terrible Don Hertzfeldt.
According to Cartoon Brew's Amid Amidi, "I’m on the festival’s short film jury this year alongside filmmakers Suzan Pitt and Jim Blashfield."
Amidi hopes to make a big difference in this year's voting, "especially after the feature debacle in Ottawa last year in which the best feature prize was inexplicably awarded to Battle for Terra."
The Snoot/Menithings CGI film, directed by Aristomenis Tsirbas and written by Evan Spiliotopoulos, was somehow awarded the prize for Best Feature Film at the 2008 OIAF, despite widespread opinion that the film was the worst of the three presented that year. The film-going public shared the OIAF audience's disdain for Battle for Terra: it earned $1.6 million in theatrical box office, the 3rd worst opening for a wide release animated film in history.
The Ottawa International Animation Festival happens between October 14 and 18th. Look for extensive coverage in Suite101's animated film pages.
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