The 31st Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) will take place April 23-28 for the first time under the direction of Heike Mozer and Annegret Richter. The new chiefs unveiled the changes to come for this year’s festival edition yesterday at a joint press conference with the FMX – Film and Media Exchange and the co-production market Animation Production Days.
In addition to a clear structure and fixed time slots for the competition programs, 2024 will also see a new Festival Center for filmmakers, audiences and the press to gather in the heart of the city. The new directors proclaim this edition “the festival of short distances” and have given the ITFS a makeover both visually and conceptually. This will be evident at the Festival Centre as well as the open-air venue at Schlossplatz and the festival cinemas, all located within walking distance.
The festival’s theme “Insights” will be highlighted in talks and panels, masterclasses and workshops, primarily taking place in the Eugen-Bolz-Saal in the Festival Centre. There, the Filmmakers Lounge offers a place to meet, relax briefly and hold receptions, discussions and presentations such as the Filmmakers Talks. Festival audiences can meet the filmmakers in person and learn more about their work.
Also new: The Festival of Animated Film, APD and FMX announce the inaugural “Stuttgart Animated Week.” The three parallel events will fill this week at the end of April with activity. The day before the grand opening of ITFS on April 23, there will be a joint opening event for professionals and guests of honor.
Programmatically, there are overlaps between the three events: FMX’s focus on “Women in Animation” carries over in the ITFS program. There will be a masterclass with Ebele Okoye, who is dedicated to empowering women in animation in Africa. As part of the IN PERSONA series Špela Čadež will be a guest, a passionate advocate of the analog, impressing with puppet and cutout techniques. Michaela Pavlátová will be honored with the international ASIFA Prize in Stuttgart. And Isabel Herguera will give insights into her work on the feature film Sultana’s Dream, created by and with women in India, screening on Friday.
The ITFS program will present more than 500 films from 34 countries. “In the competitions, there is a tendency towards stop-motion, handmade and very few films in 3D. By the way, there are no films made by AI,” emphasized Artistic Director Annegret Richter. Filmmakers are more concerned with questions like “Who am I? Where do I want to go? What is home?” Topics also include mental and physical health or self-reflection.
Another programme highlight is the new focus on German animation. “It is important to me personally to make German animation more visible at the festival and to involve the German industry more strongly. Some German short films are also featured in the International Competition, but we have additionally compiled two programs with current films from Germany, showcasing the entire spectrum of German filmmaking,” said Richter.
This includes the world premiere of the series Fritzi and Sophie before it airs on ARD and Kika in the autumn. ITFS will show all eight episodes on the open-air screen and in theatres on Friday. The story of the boundless friendship of two 12-year-old girls takes place in the politically turbulent summer and fall of 1989 and portrays a piece of German-German history for children, families and all those who were around at the time. But it also serves as a prime example of the synergies among our three events of Stuttgart’s Animated Week: The film project Fritzi was at APD in 2015, and now ITFS hosts the premiere, with the creators presenting at FMX.
Last but not least, ITFS is rolling out the green carpet for Ireland in the Special Focus program. “For over 20 years, an incredibly exciting, young and progressive animation film scene has developed there, which attracts a lot of international attention. Together with Animation Ireland, we look forward to bringing great guests and films to Stuttgart,” said Richter. The Special Focus on Ireland is supported by festival partners Zeitgeist Irland 24.
Early Bird rates for the Combi Pass (ITFS and FMX) as well as the Festival Pass are still valid until March 15. From March 20 to April 1, ITFS is also offering a Spring Special: During this period, the offer for day tickets is “Buy 3, pay 2.” Single tickets will go on sale when the printed Festival Guide is published on April 3.
Full ticket and pricing options and more information available at itfs.de.
The press conference also saw the 18th Animation Production Days (APD) announce this year’s selection of 51 projects from 19 countries. As part of the Co-Production and Financing Market, which is taking place April 23–25 in Stuttgart, producers and creatives will present their projects to potential partners in pre-arranged one-to-one meetings. APD is a joint venture of the ITFS and FMX. The APD Conference and numerous networking events also form part of the APD program.
A total of 94 projects were submitted for this year’s edition. The 51 projects that have been selected comprise 29 TV series, 12 feature-length films, two TV specials and eight cross- or transmedia projects. Approximately 30% of the projects are being developed for preschool children, another 30% for six- to 12-year olds, 25% percent for family audiences and the final 15% for young adults.
In 65% of the projects, at least one woman has a leadership position, i.e. as a producer and/or director. The total production volume of the projects is around 210 million euros.
Over 25% of the projects address environmental topics. For the youngest target group, these primarily take the form of stories in and about nature, while, for older children and teenagers, environmental destruction and climate change are also discussed. Diversity and inclusion are integrated into the narratives of almost 30% of the projects. Overall, a lot of comedies are featured this year (action comedy, adventure comedy, sit-coms). Some of these projects tackle serious topics, including physical and psychological illness, mental health, loss and death, in creative, entertaining and often encouraging ways.
Germany is the most represented country of origin (12 projects), followed by Denmark (six), France (five), Spain (four), Ireland (three) and Finland (three). There are also projects from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Norway, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
This year’s Co-Production and Financing Market has a particular focus on Ireland which is being represented at APD by more than 10 participants. Supported by the Zeitgeist Irland 24 initiative and in cooperation with Animation Ireland, Ireland is also the country-in-focus at this year’s ITFS.
Of the projects submitted, 29 were applications for the APD’s highly sought-after Talent Program, which selects eight European projects each year. The up-and-coming producers and creatives in the program receive free accreditation for APD where they have the opportunity to discuss their ideas with experienced industry experts as well as to build their networks and find partners for their projects.
This year, the Croatian series project Flipside Sautee by Sunčana Brkulj and Jess Mountfield qualified for participation in the APD Talent Program via a cooperation with the European training program, Animation Sans Frontières.
You can find an overview of all the selected projects on the APD website at animationproductiondays.de/
