Four CalArtians are among the lineup of animators screening films at Annecy International Animated Film Festival (AIAFF) from June 10-15 in Annecy, France.
The Annecy Film Festival is a global showcase of animated films across genres and animation techniques. First organized in 1960, the festival was initially conceived as a biennial event but is now held annually. The films are screened in a number of cinemas in Annecy, as well as an open-air night projection at Pâquier, Annecy’s town center. AIAFF is one of the film festivals sponsored by the International Animated Film Association.
Sujin Kim (Film/Video MFA 20) will compete in the Graduation Films category with the experimental short Mold (2018). A surreal piece crafted with traditional drawings, computerized effects and rotoscoping, Mold encapsulates the struggle of the individual seeking escape from an ever-shifting structure. The film was previously named an official selection at the International Short Film Festival Berlin and Les Sommets du Cinéma D’animation in Quebec, Canada.
Amanda Bonaiuto (Film/Video MFA 18) also screens in the Graduation Films category with her six-minute work Hedge (2018). Bonaiuto describes the piece as a “singularly comical/surreal vision of a family visiting a funeral home,” realized by traditional pencil-on-paper drawings and digital color. Hedge has been previously screened at festivals like the Ottawa International Animation Festival, Les Sommets du Cinéma d’Animation and Primanima (Hungary), among others.
Still from Amanda Bonaiuto’s ‘Hedge’ (2018) | Image courtesy of AIAFF
Jordan Wong (Film/Video MFA 20) will compete in the Perspectives category with Mom’s Clothes (2018), a fusion of replacement animation and textiles described by Wong as a “nonfiction reflection on being out of the closet.”
Kyung Won Song (Film/Video MFA 19) will screen HeForShe (2018), a short film commissioned by the UN for a gender equality initiative of the same name.
Wong and Song were both recently honored at Ann Arbor Film Festival.