Long a hotbed of animation production, Toronto is getting a new animated film festival.
The Toronto Animation Arts Festival International will run July 6-8 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, and will feature everything from classic cartoons to R-rated features, a full shorts program, plus workshops and master classes.
The festival will host the North American premiere of Ronal the Barbarian in 3D (Denmark, 2011), and features retrospectives of Dutch artist and filmmaker Rosto and the films of Kaj Pindal.
Festival highlights include talks and lessons from trailblazing cartoonist John Kricfalusi, creator of The Ren and Stimpy Show, on July 7, at 9 a.m. Festival goers will also get the exciting opportunity to sit in on a live cartoon script read featuring Sean Cullen.
Other highlights include a showcase and presentation from the world’s largest online archive of animation and visual effects, Stash Magazine, a special screening and workshop for kids at the National Film Board of Canada’s Mediatheque, and more than 100 local and international short films.
Tickets for the festival go on sale Friday. Full details on the festival can be found at its website, taafi.com.
