Twelve charming, family-friendly films join four provocative shorts exclusively for mature audiences in the 18th annual Animation of Show of Shows; theatrical run in cities across the U.S. now underway.
The Animation Show of Shows has returned for its second year in theaters with 12 charming family-friendly films. Highlights include About a Mother, a new folktale with echoes of Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree, Disney/Pixar’s sweet Piper, and the latest in 360º storytelling in Google’s touching father-and daughter-journey Pearl by Academy Award winner Patrick Osborne. The show also features a late-night bonus of four provocative shorts exclusively for mature audiences.
Curated by AWN co-founder Ron Diamond and presented by Acme Filmworks, the theatrical run for the 18th ASOS kicked off at the end of September in Providence, RI, and is currently touring the U.S. with stops planned in more than 40 cities across the country including Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco. (Check the ASOS website to find a screening near you.)
This year’s show includes an expanded selection of fresh student films from leading animation schools in the U.S., Belgium, Canada, Korea and Russia. This is not surprising, since the most interesting and groundbreaking work is being done at these hotbeds of creativity.
Featuring techniques ranging from hand-drawn to stop-motion to the latest computer-generated imagery, the 16 extraordinary films in this program were created by animators from Belgium, Canada, France, Israel, Korea, Latvia, Norway, Russia, Scotland, the U.K., and the U.S. Their themes range from gay issues and civil rights, to deeply felt personal stories, to the wacky humor that animation does so well. Many have garnered awards from prestigious festivals around the world.
For the first time this year, in addition to regular shows, there will also be a number of special daytime screenings specifically designed to be family-friendly and appropriate for viewers of six years and up. Those who attend the later evening screenings will have the opportunity to see four films – Corpus, Blue, Manoman and All Their Shades -- that approach their mature subjects in more graphic detail.
The 18th Annual Animation Show of Shows is presented in two versions, Family Friendly (FAMILY 12) and Mature Audiences (BONUS 4). The FAMILY version features 12 films, ending after the short film Exploozy. The BONUS 4 version, features 16 films listed below. Both versions are unrated.
the 18th Annual Animation Show of Shows includes the following films:
Family Friendly:
- Stems by Ainslie Hendersen (Scotland)
- Shift by Cecilia Puglesi & Yijun Liu (U.S.)
- Pearl by Patrick Osborne (U.S.)
- Crin-Crin by Iris Alexandre (Belgium)
- Mirror by Chris Ware, John Kuramoto, Ira Glass (U.S.)
- Last Summer in the Garden by bekky O’Neil (Canada)
- Waiting for New Year by Vladimir Leschiov (Latvia)
- Piper by Alan Barillaro (U.S.)
- Bøygen by Kristian Pedersen (Norway)
- Afternoon Class by Seoro Oh (Korea)
- About a Mother by Dina Velikovskaya (Russia)
- Exploozy by Joshua Gunn, Trevor Piecham, & John McGowan (U.S.)
Mature Audiences:
- Corpus by Marc Héricher (France)
- Blue by Daniela Sherer (Israel)
- Manoman by Simon Cartwright (U.K.)
- All Their Shades by Chloé Alliez (Belgium)
Largely crowdfunded via a successful Kickstarter campaign, this year’s Animation Show of Shows represents the enthusiasm and commitment of 550 individual contributors from around the world. For 16 years, The Animation Show of Shows, founded and curated by Ron Diamond, has been presenting new and innovative short films to animation studios, societies, schools and festivals around the world. Over the years, 32 of the films showcased in the Show of Shows went on to receive Academy Award nominations, with nine films winning the Oscar. The only downside was that only a relatively small number of people -- primarily in the professional animation community -- had the opportunity to see these cinematic gems in a theatrical setting.
Then, in 2015, the 17th edition was expanded to include public screenings in cities around the world, allowing general audiences to experience these singular works of art on the big screen, as they were meant to be seen. This first public program was the biggest in the show’s history, including 435 screenings in 50 cities in the U.S., Canada, Spain, South Africa, and Australia. Also for the first time, the films were paired with revealing documentary portraits of a number of the directors that illuminated the motivation, process and experiences that led them to make their films.
The 18th Annual Animation Show of Shows is a 501(c)(3) non-profit created for the expressed purpose of expanding awareness of exemplary animated Short Films and Animated Short Film restoration and preservation. Donations are tax deductible. Earnings from the distribution of the Animation Show of Shows will be used for the sustainability of our mission and compensate the participating animators/rights holders.
Source: Animation Show of Shows
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
