This year’s animation strand at C.I.F.F. will comprise three programs of animated short films in competition for the Best Animation Award, as well as an Animated Family Shorts program curated by renowned Cardiff-based studio Cloth Cat Animation, networking events, and an Animation Quiz run by the team at Skwigly Animation Magazine.

Analysis Paralysis (Dir. Anete Melece)

The competition program features animated short films from across Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Australia, including Mikey Hill’s The Orchestra, Anete Melece’s Analysis Paralysis, Chris Shepherd’s Johnno’s Dead, Ross Hogg’s Life Cycles and Alois Di Leo’s Way of Giants.

 2017 is shaping up to be a big year for us, and running the animation strand at Cardiff Independent Film Festival is a huge highlight. We’ve expanded our animation competition program for our second year at C.I.F.F. and we’re really excited about the incredible selection of films we’re able to screen this year. We think it’s going to be a tough decision for the jury!

-Lauren Orme, Director of Cardiff Animation Nights

The Best Animation award will be decided by a jury comprising senior director of animation at Nickelodeon International, Alexi Wheeler; award-winning director, Rebecca Manley; co-founder and producer at Slurpy Studios, Aaron Wood; founder of the British Animation Awards, Jayne Pilling; and director and designer at Aardman Animations, Darren Dubicki.

Established in 2014, Cardiff Animation Nights runs bi-monthly screenings of award-winning independent animation from around the world at venues in Cardiff. As well as their regular events and the animation strand at C.I.F.F., Cardiff Animation Nights is planning a packed programme of animation events for Cardiff in 2017 and 2018.

Way of Giants (Dir. Alois di Leo)

Cardiff Independent Film Festival is an award-winning annual event run every spring by a non-profit organisation of Wales-based filmmakers. 2017 will be C.I.F.F.’s fourth year. Established in April 2016 by the team from Cardiff Animation Nights, the first animation strand at C.I.F.F. screened an eclectic selection of animated shorts from around the world. Conor Whelan’s 2D animated short Snowfall won the 2016 animation competition programme, with a special mention for Simon Cartwright’s Manoman. C.I.F.F.’s 2016 animation strand also featured masterclasses from UK animation industry giants Aardman, ground-breaking children’s TV creator Ben Bocquelet, and Oscar-nominated Cardiff-based animation director Joanna Quinn.

Cardiff Independent Film Festival 2017 will run from Friday 5th to Sunday 7th May at Chapter, an independent arts hub and cinema space in the heart of Cardiff, as well as other Cardiff venues. The full animation program can be found at cardiffanimation.com/programme2017. Tickets for C.I.F.F.’s animation strand will be on sale soon – follow Cardiff Animation Nights on Twitter at twitter.com/animationnights for updates.

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CIFF has a dedicated animation strand run by Cardiff Animation Nights. The festival is calling for entries of International Animated Shorts, Welsh Animated Shorts and Animated Student Films for its animation competition programme.

Established in April this year by the team from Cardiff Animation Nights, the first animation strand at CIFF screened an eclectic selection of animated shorts from across Europe, Asia, North America, South America, and Australia. Conor Whelan’s 2D animated short Snowfall won the 2016 animation competition programme, with a special mention for Simon Cartwright’s Manoman.

CIFF’s 2016 animation strand also featured masterclasses from UK animation industry giants Aardman, ground-breaking children’s TV creator Ben Bocquelet, and Oscar-nominated Cardiff-based animation director Joanna Quinn.

CIFF 2017 will take place on the 5th, 6th and 7th May at Chapter, an independent arts venue and cinema space in the heart of Cardiff. For entry rules and submission requirements, visit the festival website at cardifffilmfest.com/submissions.

Established in October 2014, Cardiff Animation Nights runs bi-monthly screenings of award-winning independent animation from around the world at venues in Cardiff. As well as their regular events and the animation strand at CIFF, Cardiff Animation Nights is planning a packed programme of animation events for Cardiff in 2017 and 2018. Follow twitter.com/animationnights for updates, or visit their website at cardiffanimation.com.

The post CALL FOR ENTRIES: Cardiff Independent Film Festival now accepting animation submissions appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

In the latest episode of the Skwigly Animation Podcast we welcome Dublin-born, Vancouver-based animator and designer Conor Whelan, who has produced high quality commercial work for clients such as the Institute of Creative Advertising & Design, alongside personal projects such as the the Vimeo Staff-Picked Palm Springs and My Darling’s Shadow .

Most prominently Conor is known for the fantastic, multi-award-winning short film Snowfall that has screened at over thirty international festivals and toured as part of the Animation Show of Shows last year.

Also discussed in this episode: Highlights from the first animation strand of the Cardiff Independent Film Festival (where Snowfall recently picked up the award for Best Animation), enthusiasm for the official features selection of this year’s upcoming Annecy Festival, Manchester Animation Festival‘s second edition and festival etiquette (it’s a festival frenzy up in here).
Stream the latest episode below or direct download here.

To catch up on the podcast so far be sure to visit the Podcasts section of the site and, so as not to miss out on any future episodes, you can subscribe on iTunes!

The post Skwigly Podcast: Conor Whelan (‘Snowfall’) appeared first on Skwigly Animation Magazine.

Since their first event in October 2014, CAN are one of a number of regionally-based initiatives dotted across the nation that actively celebrate and champion animated short and feature filmmaking. With a keen eye for standout student, indie and professional work, curators Lauren Orme, Chris Wright, Dani Abram and Adam Bailey have consistently organised some top-notch free-to-attend evenings at a variety of Cardiff venues (predominantly 10 Feet Tall) showcasing some of the best animation the world over. It’s no surprise, then, that their involvement in this year’s edition of CIFF has yielded some superb events and guest speakers. Taking place at the curiously-located (despite lying a little outside of the city centre it remains a hub of activity) Chapter arts venue in Canton, atmosphere was in no short supply as enthusiastic patrons flocked to meet new likeminded souls and reconnect with old ones.

All Beautiful Things (Dir. Dafna Englander/Raffi Yaniger)

As with many such events, a primary focus are the competition screenings themselves, the first of which boasting a broad array of international artists spanning the UK, US, Canada, Switzerland, China, Israel and South Korea. Though few of these selections featured much by way of story, many of these presented some arresting approaches to artistry and design, such as the warm illustrative vibe of Ao Li’s Olilo, the Flushed Away-esque CG-evoking-stop-mo dystopian landscape of Sam Southward’s chucklesome After the End and the technical excellence of Evanescent by Alice Parkes. Similarly Dafna Englander and Raffi Yaniger’s song-based All Beautiful Things features some very strong instances of shot composition and well-executed visual concepts, while Guanyu Li’s Apple fires on the most cylinders at once as a film that takes its audience on a satisfying, semi-abstract journey through a mix of playful design and comedic vignettes; it’s a strong example of how a perceivably quaint film can make more of an impact than one that strives too hard to impress or provoke.

CIFF audience members embrace the opportunity to get a closer look at the fabulous artwork of Joanna Quinn

The first guest presentation took place on Friday evening with Joanna Quinn, one of the UK’s most beloved animation artists, giving an anecdotal retrospective of her work that proved such a draw the festival were compelled to move it to the larger of the cinema spaces to accommodate demand. The projects shown were a mix of commissioned films, personal work and commercial projects that shone a fascinating light on how the visibility of one high-profile project can ensure and inform the next commission, as well as shedding light on the curious relationship between branding and animation; the style disparity between the first and later Charmin commercials Joanna helmed, for example, speaks volumes. Though it proved a treat to get to see a rare airing of some of her animation portfolio’s less visible projects, it’s her series of Beryl-oriented films Girls Night Out, Body Beautiful and Dreams and Desires: Family Ties that remain the biggest overall crowdpleasers, in which her brash Welsh heroine takes on the world in varying states of empowerment, artistic drive and inebriation (it’s also worth noting that taking the last train out of Cardiff on a Friday night gives one a true appreciation for just how perfectly on-point the antics and ribaldry of a film such as Girls Night Out remains to this day). Audiences were also given the unique opportunity to see Joanna’s working process firsthand during a live Cintiq/TVPaint demonstration, as well as some insight into her upcoming new Beryl film and a chance to get up close and personal with a vast array of original artwork and cels from the projects discussed.

Giz (Dir. Cesar Cabral)

Also worth noting was the festival’s Animation Panorama, an assortment of recent work playing out of competition that made for an excellent compilation. The screening showcased a variety of previously championed work such as Tomek Ducki’s Baths, Steve Warne’s genuinely affecting tale of torment Pombo Loves You, Joe Brumm’s quirky parable of co-dependence The Meek [interview] and Sarina Nihei’s pleasingly-offbeat Small People With Hats, alongside several other strong films such as the texturally-rich Haircut by Virginia Mori, Sarah Saidan’s Beach Flags (boasting some striking colour palettes) and Cesar Cabral’s Giz, in which the drudgery of a man’s routine flings him into a state of existential befuddlement.

Taking home the Best Animation award for the event was Conor Whelan for the gorgeously-rendered and oft-praised film Snowfall [interview], while Simon Cartwright’s manic NFTS masterwork MANOMAN [interview] received Special Mention from the Animation Jury.

Keep your eyes on Skwigly this week for part two of our coverage in which we look at the second competition showcase and further guest presentations from Aardman’s Peter Lord and The Amazing World of Gumball creator Ben Bocquelet!

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