The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) today announced the seven animated films selected for this year’s official Features Competition. The selection includes both emerging and established animators from the international festival circuit. OIAF 2024 runs from September 25 to 29.
The Grand Prize for Feature Animation will be determined during the Festival by an expert jury comprising Neil Hunter (Canada), Dahee Jeong (South Korea) and Thomas Volda (Croatia).
“It’s remarkable to see how diverse and interesting feature animation has grown, especially with this year’s competition being one of the strongest we’ve had in years,” says OIAF Artistic Director Chris Robinson. “We’ve got a handful of lesser-known gems that are sure to travel the festival circuit (the astonishing Olivia & the Clouds, the mysterious Journey of Shadows, and the hypnotic weirdness of Boys Go to Jupiter) alongside a trip of films that have already been recognized globally (Flow, Sultana’s Dream and Memoir of a Snail).”
OIAF 2024 Features Competition:
- Boys Go to Jupiter – dir. Julian Glander (United States)
- Flow – dir. Gints Zilbalodis (Latvia, Belgium and France)
- Journey of Shadows (Reise der Schatten) – dir. Yves Netzhammer (Switzerland)
- Memoir of a Snail – dir. Adam Elliot (Australia)
- Olivia & the Clouds (Olivia & Las Nubes) – dir. Tomás Pichardo Espaillat (Dominican Republic)
- Sultana’s Dream (El sueño de la Sultana) – dir. Isabel Herguera (Spain, Germany and India)
- Sunburnt Unicorn – dir. Nick Johnson (Canada)
The latest animated feature from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Elliot (Mary and Max, Harvie Krumpet), Memoir of a Snail premiered at Annecy International Animation Film Festival earlier this year, winning the Cristal for a Feature Film. The stop-motion film features the voices of Sarah Snook (Succession, The Dressmaker), Kodi Smit-McPhee (ParaNorman, Let Me In) and Magda Szubanski (Happy Feet, Happy Feet Two).
Zilbalodis’s Flow, which was selected to premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, also had an impressive showing at Annecy Festival and was awarded the Jury Award, the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution, the Audience Award and the Best Original Music Award for a Feature Film.
The feminist sci-fi short story-inspired El sueño de la Sultana (Sultana’s Dream) was recognized at Annecy Festival with the Contrechamp Grand Prix and won the Grand Prix at Animafest Zagreb 2024.
Johnson’s Sunburnt Unicorn, an adventurous coming-of-age tale features the musical score of Yellowknife-born sisters Inuksuk Mackay and Tiffany Ayalik. Known as the throat-singing duo PIQSIQ, the soundtrack for the animated feature developed by the duo is entirely lyric-less.
At the time of their selection for Official Competition, Olivia & Las Nubes (Olivia & the Clouds) will have its World Premiere at Ottawa, while Reise der Schatten (Journey of Shadows) and Boys Go to Jupiter will make their respective Canadian debuts.
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