The Miami Media and Film Market and Film London will co-host a special live animation webinar, “Get Animated in 2022!” featuring a special introduction by Film London Chief Exec Adrian Wootton, OBE on Thursday, February 24, beginning at 11 a.m. EST / 4 p.m. GMT.
This will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Fred Seibert (Fred Films), a legend in animation and a visionary in TV branding (MTV, Nickelodeon) who has served as executive producer Adventure Time, Bravest Warriors, The Fairly Oddparents, Castlevania and Bee & Puppycat.
Peter Lopez and Jorge Otero of the Miami- and Colombia-based iKartoons will also serve as panelists to discuss their work in the Latin American market, particularly their animation work for Discovery Inc, NatGeo Kids, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Televisa. There will be some time for participant Q&A and networking immediately following the panel discussion. This virtual event is in partnership with the Latin Chamber of Commerce of the United States and Miami Dade County. Register at Eventbrite or at miamimediafilmmarket.org.
VIEW Conference is laying on the virtual panels this season. Up first will be Five Oscar Contenders for Best Animated Feature (in partnership with OGR), featuring director Byron Howard, co-director/co-writer Charise Castro Smith and producer Yvett Merino of Encanto (Disney); director Jonas Poher Rasmussen and producer Charlotte de la Gournerie of Flee (Final Cut for Real); director Enrico Casarosa and producer Andrea Warren of Luca (Pixar); director/co-writer Mike Rianda and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller of The Mitchells vs. the Machines (Sony/Netflix); co-director Carlos Lopez Estrada, co-writer Adele Lim and producer Osnat Shurer of Raya and the Last Dragon (Disney). March 4, 10 a.m. PST.
VIEW and VFX Festival have also teamed up to present a panel with Five VFX Oscar Contenders a few days later. Learn the secrets of this year’s top contenders with visual effects supervisors Paul Lambert (Dune), Swen Gillberg (Free Guy), Charlie Noble (No Time to Die), Christopher Townsend (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and Kelly Port (Spider-Man: No Way Home). March 9, 10 a.m. PST.
Then, get the scoop on Pixar’s latest feature from the Turning Red Creative Team, presented with OGR and moderated by Animation Magazine‘s own Ramin Zahed. The panel will feature director Domee Shi, producer Lindsey Collins, VFX supervisor Danielle Feinberg, production designer Rona Liu, director of photography Mahyar Abousaeedi and animation supervisor Aaron Hartline. (Prep for the talk by picking up the April ’22 issue of Animag and reading all about this hairy coming-of-age comedy.) March 18, 10 a.m. PST.
With a refreshed selection of animated nominees to choose from, the 2022 Goya Awards gave Spain’s top cinema honors to Chelo Loureiro’s Valentina, a 2D/3D, feature-length musical about a young girl with Down syndrome who dreams of being a trapeze artist; and the dark period drama short The Monkey by Lorenzo Degl’Innocenti and Xosé Zapata, about an animal tried as part of the 1588 Spanish Armada and sentence to death.
Meanwhile, at the 12th MyFrenchFilmFestival, Rémi Chayé picked up another accolade for Calamity by winning an International Press Jury Special Mention for a Feature Film.
The 26th Human Rights Watch Film Festival (March 17-25; London; ff.hrw.org) will present 10 compelling new films from around the world, including documentaries which make use of animation and drawings to tell their stories and reflect participants’ personal experiences.
Through insightful interviews and beautiful animated sequences, Jason Loftus’ immersive documentary Eternal Spring reveals the persecution of religious movements and political dissent by the Chinese government. Animation by the comic-book artist Daxiong (Justice League, Star Wars) graphically reveal his personal memories and experiences, on the 20th anniversary of a bold and perilous hack into state television by Falun Gong activists.
In Jana Matthes and Andrea Schramm’s Tacheles – The Heart of the Matter, Yaar, a young Jewish Berliner, attempts to process and overcome intergenerational trauma by developing a video game set in 1940’s Germany, where he enables Jews to defend themselves and Nazis to act humanely. He decides to model one of the game’s protagonists, a young Jewish girl, on his grandmother Rina. Her opponent is an SS officer, who is inspired by one of his friend’s actual ancestors. Yaar’s father is shocked, and the work opens old family wounds left unaddressed for generations. While we also witness the creative process of developing the game project — with animated sequences and original illustrations featured — Yaar must find his way between the trauma of preceding generations, and his own claim to an unburdened life.
Animated sequences of crumbling homes also enhance the creative storytelling in Silence Heard Loud – the Opening Night film of this year’s festival, by artist-filmmaker Anna Konik, that weaves together journeys of seven asylum seekers in the U.K. and elusive dream of home and better life.
CartoonNext (April 12-15; Marseille, France) unveiled the eight cross-media projects selected to pitch at the event for “the future of animation and digital content.” Learn more about them at cartoon-media.eu/next.
- Astrid and the School of Astronauts. Lumiar (Italy), TV Series
- Ewilan’s Quest. Andarta Pictures (France), TV Series
- Eyes of Shame. Joni Art (Lithuania), Feature/VR/Comic
- Here. Patrones y Escondites (Spain), Videogame/AR/VR/Live
- Journey to Yourland. BFilm (Slovakia), Feature/AR/VR/Mobile Game
- Lumieres! Les Films du Tambour de Soie (France), Webseries/AR/VR/Live
- Sex Symbols. TV ON (Spain), TV Series
- Subtopia. Curio and Co. (Austria), TV Series/Licensing/Videogame/Comics
The South by Southwest Gaming Awards announced that this year’s virtual ceremony will be co-hosted by two of TV’s freshest faces — Jana Morrison and Samantha Aucoin, the heroic leads of SYFY network’s Astrid & Lilly Save the World. A diverse roster of presenters from entertainment and sports has been assembled, as well as some special partnerships and premiere content. Produced by Georgia-based Peach Maria Productions, executive produced by Laurie Lockliear (upcoming esports reality competition series GameMaster), the 2022 Awards will stream for free as part of SXSW Online on March 12 at 7 p.m. CT.
The final nominees for Game of the Year are Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker (Square Enix), It Takes Two (Hazelight/EA), Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox), Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac/Sony Interactive) and Resident Evil Village (Capcom). Find the full list of presenters, partners and nominated titles at sxsw.com.
Calls for entries, dates & updates:
- New York Int’l Children’s Film Festival General Public tickets are now on sale. Animation Magazine readers can apply the promotional code ANIMMAGNYICFF22 to receive 10% off the first four tickets purchased (excl. special events). nyicff.org
- Long Story Short is returning to Kickstarter for another month-long celebration and an open call for filmmakers. Don’t wait to bring your vision to life! kickstarter.com/short-films
- Screen Ireland has extended the application deadline for its flagship short film scheme Frameworks, aimed at boosting the Irish animation sector. Deadline: March 4, 2022. screenireland.ie
- NVIDIA GTC (March 21, 2022) invites you to see the future of entertainment in a series of free sessions, covering immersive possibility, virtual production, global workflows and more. nvidia.com/gtc
- MoCCA Arts Festival 2022 (April 2-3; NYC) unveiled its official artwork. This year’s key visual is created by Yadi Liu. Several notable artists will create additional work for the show, including badges by Natalie Andrewson and spot illustrations featuring Patrick McDonnell‘s Mutts. moccafest.org
- MAKE is now taking applications for its Summer ’22 Internship. Interns will work alongside full-time artists on internal projects and client work at the creative studio, based in Minneapolis and specializing in motion graphics, VFX and animation. Send resumes and portfolios to internships@makevisual.com.
- Annecy 2022 (June 13-18; Annecy, France) has opened accreditations for the lakeside festival and MIFA market. annecy.org
- Animasyros 2022 (Sept. 20-25; Syros Island, Greece) calls for entries for its 15th edition in seven competition categories. Deadline: June 30, 2022. animasyros.gr
- Stereopsia EUROPE 2022 will take place Oct. 17-19 in Brussels, introducing two new conference sections: Europe Track and Human Connection Track. stereopsia.com
