Two films -- Annecy Cristal winner ‘Lu Over the Wall’ and ‘Night is Short, Walk On Girl’ -- from Japanese anime director Masaaki Yuasa to compete at the 41st edition of the Ottawa International Animation Festival.
The Ottawa International Animation Festival has announced its first round of selections for the 2017 edition of the Festival, taking place September 20-24 in downtown Ottawa.
Featuring the best new animation from around the world, the OIAF official competition screenings are the highlight of the long-running Festival, which is now in its 41st year. The OIAF competition includes categories for narrative, experimental, student, commissioned and feature animation. There is also a separate competition for Young Audiences. Prizes will be awarded to category winners along with Grand Prizes for Independent Short Animation and Feature Animation.
This year’s initial selections -- in the Feature Film and Young Audiences competitions -- includes two animated features by Japanese anime director Masaaki Yuasa: Lu Over the Wall and Night is Short, Walk On Girl. Most recently the recipient of the Cristal Award at the Annecy Festival, in June, Lu Over the Wall follows the friendship between a boy and a mermaid who likes singing and dancing. Distributed by Toho, the Lu Over the Wall debuted in Japan earlier in May. Night is Short, Walk On Girl is a romantic comedy based on the novel of the same name written by Tomihiko Morimi.
The initial list of 2017 Official Selections in the Feature Film and Young Audiences competitions is shown below:
FEATURE FILM OFFICIAL COMPETITION
- U-ri-zip Meong-meong-yi, Jin-jin-gua A-ki-da (My Dogs, Jinjin and Akida) | Jong-duck Cho | South Korea
- Yoake Tsugeru Lu no Uta (Lu Over the Wall) | Masaaki Yuasa | Japan
- Yoruwa Mijikashi Arukeyo Otome (Night is Short, Walk On Girl) | Masaaki Yuasa | Japan
- Torrey Pines | Clyde Petersen | USA
- Fifth Feature TBA
YOUNG AUDIENCES OFFICIAL COMPETITION
Young Audiences 1 - Preschool Competition (ages 4-8)
- Big Block Singsong “Turkey” | Warren Brown | Canada
- Konigiri-Kun “Kitchen Sports Day” | Mari Miyazawa | Japan
- George and Paul “Sleepwalking” | Erik Verkerk, Joost van den Bosch, Mirjam Plettinx & Soetkin Verstegen | The Netherlands & Belgium
- Island | Max Mörtl & Robert Löbel | Germany
- The Cloud and The Whale | Alyona Tomilova | Russia
- Melia and Jo “Marshmallow Castle” | Jennifer Oxley, Billy Aronson, Brett Hall & Robert Powers | USA
- Sabaku | Marlies van der Wel | The Netherlands
- Miriam: Hen’s Dream | Andres Tenusaar | Estonia
- Hey Duggee “The Shape Badge” | Grant Orchard | UK
- The Little Bird and the Caterpillar | Lena von Döhren | Switzerland
- What You Eat | Hunter Gatherer | USA
- The Pocket Man | Ana Chubinidze | France
- Sesame Studios: Celebrate Lunar New Year! | Lizzi Akana | USA
- Goats | Yekaterina Filippova | Russia
- Do the Scrub | Bradley Lambert | USA
Young Audiences 2 – Ages 6-12
- Heads Together | Job, Joris & Marieke | The Netherlands
- The First Thunder | Anastasia Melikhova | Russia
- Regular Show “Meet the Seer” | JG Quintel & Mark Hamill
- The Mountain of SGaana | Christopher Auchter | Canada
- The Unicorn | Rémi Durin | France
- Hedgehog’s Home | Eva Cvijanovic | Canada & Croatia
- Jiffy | Roberto Valle | Spain
During the Festival, three official juries sit with the audience and judge the short, feature and children’s competition screenings. The Short and Feature jury members are chosen from the international animation community, and the Children’s jury is comprised of Ottawa-area youth. Jury decisions are announced during the OIAF’s awards ceremony on the Saturday evening of each festival. A screening of a selection of award-winning films follows on the festival’s closing night.
Source: Ottawa International Animation Festival
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.
