The 30th Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (ITFS | itfs.de) has unveiled the feature films from around the world that will be screening in and out of competition during the event, running April 25 to 30. Films selected for the AniMovie competition will be vying for the Trickstar award, and many directors have confirmed they will be heading to Germany to appear in person at their film premieres and screenings.
AniMovie – Feature Films in Competition
Charlotte (German Premiere)
Directors: Eric Warin, Tahir Rana | Canada | 2022
Friday, April 28, 6:30 p.m., Gloria 1
The true story of Charlotte Salomon, a young German-Jewish artist who comes of age on the eve of the Second World War and defies incredible odds to create a timeless masterpiece. Screening in the original English version featuring the voices of Keira Knightley, Brenda Blethyn and Jim Broadbent.
Salomon’s autobiographical life’s work, a collection of drawings, texts and scenic notes, is currently on display at the Lenbachhaus Munich. Tahir Rana will be present in Stuttgart.
Titina (German Premiere)
Director: Kajsa Naess | Norway | 2022
Wednesday, April 26, 6:30 p.m., Gloria 1
Italian airship engineer Umberto Nobile enjoys a quiet life with his beloved dog, Titina, who charmed him into rescuing her from the streets of Rome. One day, superstar Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen contacts him and orders an airship to conquer the North Pole. Nobile seizes the opportunity to go down in history. He brings Titina along, and the unlikely trio sets out on an expedition to the last undiscovered place on Earth. Their quest is successful but, in the aftermath, the two men start to quarrel over the glory.
Director Kajsa Naess will be present for the German premiere in Stuttgart. The film is based on the true adventures of the dog Titina, who won the hearts of Europeans in the 1920s. Naess presented the film in the Work in Progress series at ITFS 2022.
Nayola
Director: José Miguel Ribeiro | Portugal, Belgium, France, Netherlands | 2022
Thursday, April 27, 6:30 p.m., Gloria 1
Angola. Three generations of women in a 25-year-long civil war: Lelena (the grandmother), Nayola (the daughter) and Yara (the granddaughter). Past and present interlace. Nayola goes in search of her missing husband at the height of the war. Decades later, the country is finally at peace, but Nayola has not returned. Yara has become a rebellious teenager and a subversive rap singer. Lelena tries to contain her for fear of the police coming to arrest her. One night, a masked intruder breaks into their house. An encounter like nothing they could have imagined.
With Nayola, José Miguel Ribeiro realized the first Portuguese animated feature film, which won the prize for best animated feature film at the Guadalajara International Film Festival and the audience award at the São Paulo International Film Festival 2022.
AniMovie Kids – Feature Films in Competition
Three Robbers and a Lion (German Premiere)
Director: Rasmus A. Sivertsen | Norway | 2021
Thursday, April 27, 4:00 pm, Gloria 1
Recommended for ages 6 and older, live German narration.
Chaos rules the everyday life of the three troublemakers Casper, Jasper and Jonathan — also in their household. As they cohabitate with a lion, they are in desperate need for a housekeeper, and come up with a plan to kidnap famed domestic goddess Aunt Sophie. However, her management skills are even better than her housekeeping: She bosses the robbers around and has them do the job. Little by little, the three realize they are in a trap. The only solution is to get rid of Sophie by bringing her back to town.
Director Rasmus A. Sivertsen will be present for the German premiere in Stuttgart. The film is based on one of the best-known Norwegian children’s books and impresses above all with its innovative fusion of miniature buildings with CGI-animated characters.
Dounia & the Princess of Aleppo
Directors: Marya Zarif, André Kadi | Canada, France | 2022
Friday, April 28, 2:00 p.m., Gloria 1
Recommended for ages 8 and older, live German narration.
A few nigella seeds tucked in the palm of her hand, six-year-old Dounia leaves Aleppo with the Princess of Aleppo’s help and travels towards a new world.
In her debut film, director Marya Zarif tells her own story of escape from Aleppo in a fabulously impressive way.
Yuku and the Himalayan Flower Directors: Arnaud Demuynck, Rémi Durin | Belgium, France | 2022
Saturday, April 29, 2:00 p.m., Gloria 1
Recommended for ages 4 and older, German version.
On top of the highest mountains on Earth grows a plant that feeds on the most perfect sunlight — the Himalayan flower. Yuku, a young mouse, leaves her family to search for this flower of eternal light and give it to her grandmother, who will soon have to follow the little blind mole through the twists and turns of the earth. But to succeed, there is a long journey ahead, full of obstacles.
Director Arnaud Demuynck will be present.
AniMovie Special – Out of Competition
Directors: Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson | U.S.A. | 2022
Thursday, April 27, 8:30 p.m., Gloria 2
In a joint screening, ITFS and FMX – Film and Media Exchange will show a darker version of the story about the famous wooden boy by Hollywood filmmaker del Toro. Present at the screening will be Georgina Haynes, head of character creation on Pinocchio. The film recently won the 2023 Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
World Premiere: Hölderlin’s Echo
Directors: Hannes Rall, Susanne Marschall | Germany | 2023
Saturday, April 29, 6:30 p.m., Gloria 1
One famous poet, hundreds of famous composers: the work of Friedrich Hölderlin was set to music about 1,800 times in the 20th century. In the history of modern music, Hölderlin’s poetry has been transformed into avant-garde Liedkunst (song art), which is interpreted globally, but especially in Asia.
Hölderlin’s Echo resonates with many voices in the film’s elaborately designed animations, which were created by an international team. Four poetic animated scenes show episodes from Hölderlin’s life and constantly reinterpret the figure of the restless, loving, ever-breaking, multi-faceted poet through the individual styles of the animation artists. Susanne Marschall (the film’s live-action director) and Hannes Rall (animation director) will be present at the world premiere.
Tehran Taboo
Director: Ali Soozandeh | Germany, Austria | 2017 Thursday, 27. April, 6:30 p.m., Delphi
Pari, Babak, Sara and Donya live in the Iranian capital Tehran. In order to earn a living for herself and her five-year-old son, Pari works as a prostitute and sells her body to an influential judge, who supposedly helps her lead a better life. life. Her neighbor Sara, who ekes out an obedient existence as a housewife serving her husband and his devout parents, also dreams of a better life, but would much rather go back to work. Young Donya faces a similar fate — in a few days, she will get married. Nevertheless, she agrees to spend the night with the young musician Babak and afterwards demands that he pays for an operation to restore her virginity.
The ITFS will also show a film about the Islamic Revolution in Iran at the free open-air cinema on Schlossplatz: Persepolis (directed by Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi, France, 2007), at 8:15 p.m. on Wednesday, 26 April.
My Love Affair with Marriage
Director: Signe Baumane | Latvia, Luxembourg, U.S.A. | 2022
Thursday, April 27, 8:00 p.m., Cinema
From an early age, songs and fairytales convinced Zelma that Love would solve all her problems as long as she abided by societal expectations of how a girl should act. But as she grew older something didn’t seem right with the concept of love: the more she tried to conform, the more her body resisted. A story about the acceptance of the inner female rebellion.
Signe Baumane will be present for the screening. The Open Air program will also showcase her feature-length film Rocks in My Pockets.
