Online offerings running October 24-November 1 to include full shorts program; a session with Welsh animator, Simon Chong, currently a director on Fox’s ‘Bob’s Burgers;’ and a behind the scenes look at, ‘Heart of Darkness,’ the world’s first sand-animated feature film.
The Cardiff Animation Festival, postponed this past March due to COVID-19, is now bringing its festival program online, sharing some of the best new animation from Wales and around the world to audiences in Cardiff and beyond throughout the rest of 2020.
“We were so disappointed to have to postpone the festival back in March, but running online events has really re-energized us, and made it possible to bring our audiences together and keep people entertained while everyone’s been more isolated,” shared festival director, Lauren Orme. “We’re so excited to finally be able to bring our Cardiff Animation Festival 2020 events to adults, families, animators, and animation fans online for the rest of this year.”
Cardiff Animation Festival will be bringing their full shorts programs online from October 24 to November 1. 118 world-class animated short films in competition will screen across seven themed programs for adult audiences and two for children. The selection features unique voices and a diverse range of stories told by animated filmmakers from different backgrounds around the world, all eligible for the Cardiff Animation Festival Awards, which will be presented online on November 1. The festival will showcase some of the best new Welsh animated shorts in their Welsh Work program, a collaboration with Chapter Moviemaker.
Here are some program highlights:
- On Saturday October 24, Welsh animator Simon Chong will join the festival live from LA where works as a director on Fox’s Bob’s Burgers. He will give insight into his unconventional career path and join Creative Mornings Cardiff’s Melin Edomwonyi for a live Q+A on what it is really like to work on your favorite show.
- The festival will invite audiences into the magical Moominvalley with episode director Avgousta Zoureldi; audiences of all ages will have a chance to learn more about the making of Gutsy Animations’ TV adaptation of writer-illustrator Tove Jansson’s classic stories about the Moomins.
- Director Gerald Conn will take audiences behind the scenes of the upcoming film, Heart of Darkness, the world’s first sand-animated feature film, adapted from Joseph Conrad’s classic novel.
Industry panels will include:
- Storytelling for Animation, chaired by award-winning animation writer and director Evgenia Golubeva, with a panel of creatives across animation discussing what makes a great animated story.
- The festival will nurture and platform neurodiverse animation talent, with a workshop program for new and aspiring neurodiverse animators run in collaboration with Biggerhouse Film. Audiences will be invited to see brand new work and take part in a discussion on neurodiversity in animation on October 30.
- Animators will have a chance to gain professional feedback on their work-in-progress at a special online edition of Animation Grill, reignited by Gareth Cavanagh for Cardiff Animation Festival 2020 online.
On October 23, the online shorts programs will open with a festival edition of Cardiff Animation Nights, the festival team’s free monthly independent animation screenings. Usually held in Cardiff’s Kongs bar, the festival has taken Cardiff Animation Nights online since April, with a total of over 1000 viewers from Cardiff and around the world tuning in to watch independent animated short films together apart and share their viewing experience through live chat and clapping hand emojis.
Additional information is available on the event website.
Source: Cardiff Animation Festival
