Press release, Stuttgart, May 20, 2021

After the official end of the 28th Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film on May 9, 2021, viewers accredited for ONLINE+ and ONLINE PRO were able to enjoy almost the entire content of the media library until May 16, 2021.

The OnlineFestival.ITFS.de website had almost 250,000 page views by more than 6,800 users from a total of 63 countries between May 3 to 16, with an addition of almost 100,000 page views by more than 1,300 users within the Festival extension period after May 9 – which shows how well this extension was received by the audience. The short films were viewed more than 41,000 times, the feature films more than 6,000 times.

Ulrich Wegenast, Artistic Managing Director of ITFS organiser Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH: “It is very gratifying that such good use was made of our digital platform OnlineFestival.ITFS.de and that users’ interest not only continued after the actual Festival but could even be expanded. The combination of a media library, personal statements by the animators, media-pedagogical accompanying material and voting possibilities are real added value for the ITFS, which we would like to offer at the next Festival too. The recorded lectures and panels in the ONLINE PRO section were also very well received by accredited professionals and offer a valuable pool of information for the animation industry.”

During the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film 2021, many different digital formats were tried out, from a simple media library of the films up to two studios – one of which streamed live for eight hours a day – as well as additional live streaming of panels and interviews and the integration of pre-recorded content. There were also interactive workshops for children and young people, which were completely booked out, as well as presentations and panels for professionals and the ITFS VR Hub where people’s avatars could meet and experience other content on a virtual version of Schlossplatz with access to a cinema, music club, workshop space and lounge.

Dieter Krauß, Commercial Managing Director of the ITFS organiser Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH: “The 2021 Festival was like a lab test, which we completed successfully, and which gave us the necessary expertise and experience to be able to better assess which target groups can be addressed with which content in which formats in future hybrid Festivals. But these will also include onsite encounters and exchange again, in cinemas and on Schlossplatz. The digital formats thus not only have the chance to reach a significantly expanded and international audience, but also to inspire them to visit Stuttgart in the future.”

SWR OnlineFilm Audience Award 2021

Due to the extended access to competition films, supporting programmes and recordings of lectures and presentations on OnlineFestival.ITFS.de, the voting phase for the winning film of the SWR OnlineFilm Audience Award was also extended to 16 May 2021. For the SWR OnlineFilm Audience Award sponsored by SWR (Südwestrundfunk), the audience chooses a favourite from all entries in the International Competition. In total, more than 7,000 votes were cast.

Video of the award winner’s announcement by Stephanie von Ehrenstein (Department Manager Children and Family Programme, SWR):

SWR OnlineFilm Audience Award winner:

Only a Child

Switzerland 2020, 6:00 Min.
Director: Simone Giampaolo
Producer: Gabriella de Gara
Production: AMKA Films Productions

“Only a Child” is a visual poem created by over 20 animation directors under the artistic supervision of Simone Giampaolo, which gives shape and colour to the original words spoken by Severn Suzuki at the UN Summit in Rio in 1992, a child’s desperate call to action for the future of our planet. A film celebrating the environmental youth movement 30 years in the making.

Video statement by director Simone Giampaolo:

The film had already received a special mention at the Grand Prix of the ITFS 2021, the award by the State of Baden-Württemberg and the City of Stuttgart.

Der Beitrag Overall conclusion of the ITFS 2021 | “Only a Child” is the winning film of the SWR OnlineFilm Audience Award erschien zuerst auf ITFS - Internationales Trickfilmfestival Stuttgart.

Press Release, Stuttgart, May 9, 2021

After six exciting days filled with highlights from the world of animation, the 28th Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film has come to an end on the evening of May 9, 2021 with the grand award ceremony. And the magic’s not over yet: the entirety of the ITFS media library (including recordings of lectures and presentations) will be available to accredited users until May 16, 2021.

The motto of this year’s festival was Creating*Diversity. In addition to film and gaming events centred around this year’s theme, diversity was reflected thematically in programme strands such as Focus on France, Pandemic Animation or Women in Animation and Games. Equally, ITFS 2021 was also set up extremely diverse regarding its formats and media. The programme was comprised of screenings, videos on demand, numerous video conferences, virtual exhibitions and concerts, as well as the great ITFS live stream. The ITFS VR Hub even elevated digital encounters to a news level: visitors were able to mingle and interact virtually in numerous locations as their preferred avatar – on Stuttgart’s Schlossplatz, in the cinema, in the workshop room and even in the club, which boasted various musical performances.

Via the website OnlineFestival.ITFS.de, viewers could enjoy more than 400 short and feature films both on the ITFS website in the ONLINE FREE, ONLINE+ and ONLINE PRO categories as part of the competition and supporting programmes and broadcast in the free online live stream. The six-day live stream, running daily from Tuesday to Sunday, successfully conveyed the Schlossplatz feeling to all visitors at home and disseminated by numerous streaming partners. International animation celebrities and promising young filmmakers presented themselves and their work in numerous talks, lectures, master classes and workshops, including David Silverman (“The Simpsons”), Tomm Moore (“Wolfwalkers”), Shoko Hara (“Just a Guy”), Regina Pessoa (“Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days”) and Jalal Maghout (“Have a nice dog!”). Both the general public and industry professionals such as distributors, world sales agents, festivals and filmmakers made full use of the available programme – the short films have totalled more than 16,000 views so far, the feature films were watched more than 5,000 times. Almost 8,000 viewers watched the live stream between Tuesday and Saturday, and around 500 users logged onto the ITFS VR Hub during the festival. The workshops for children and young people inspired more than 200 participants. 1,400 accredited professionals attended the lectures available on ONLINE PRO. Over 160,000 page views were recorded on the festival website OnlineFestival.ITFS.de: 5,500 users* from a total of 59 countries since May 3. The projected revenue was exceeded by 20 percent and almost doubled compared to the year before.

Ulrich Wegenast, Artistic Managing Director of ITFS: “We have professionalized our online festival. Initially planned as a hybrid event, the complete changeover to an online only ITFS21 may have been unfortunate at first glance. However, we have been able to hugely benefit from last year’s experience. We succeeded in creating glamour at the galas and personal interaction through our ITFS VR Hub as well as numerous interactive lectures. Those formats created the possibility of excellent face-to-face discussions and chance encounters – in a much more pleasant atmosphere than created through video conferences! Regarding the programme line-up, we are pleased to have been able to represent diversity not only in gender and sexuality, but also in ecological, social and, above all, aesthetic terms. This year, we also witnessed an incredible variety of animation techniques, which honestly didn’t make the task of our juries easier. Content-wise, the corona crisis has been reflected in animation production: ITFS has seen many grave animated films that dealing with illness and care.

Dieter Krauß, Commercial Managing Director of ITFS: “For quite a long time, we have kept our hopes up for organising a hybrid festival, in line with last year’s announcements. Once again, we enjoyed the advantage of reaching people all around the world with the second online edition – visitors that would otherwise not have been able to attend the festival at all. And we were able to try out different ways of translating various parts of the programme into new digital formats. Thanks to the support of our fans from all over the world as well as our partners and supporters, we were able to master the challenge and put on a great festival. Nevertheless, we look forward to the upcoming edition of ITFS from May 3 to 8, 2022, allowing audiences and industry representatives alike to be able to meet in person.”

The official award ceremony on May 9, 2021
The core of the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film are the competitions – their results were announced on Sunday evening, as every year. The lucky winners joined via video message or live in the studio, where they were able to receive their prize in person. Selected competition films were shown in full length. The FANtastic Award, AniMovie, Trickstar Nature Award, Young Animation, Lotte Reininger Promotion Award for Animated Film and the Grand Prix were awarded – the latter, by the way, qualifies the winning film directly for the Oscar longlist! Either digitally via video message or live in the studio were, among others, State Secretary Petra Olschowski, Stuttgart’s Mayor Fabian Mayer and Carl Bergengruen, CEO of MFG Film Funding Baden-Württemberg. The awards ceremony reception took place in the ITFS VR Hub at 20:30 pm (CET), musically accompanied by Linda & Andrew.

At the SWR OnlineFilm Audience Award, the audience chooses its favourite from all the entries in the International Competition, sponsored by SWR (Südwestrundfunk). The films will be screened within different programme blocks that started on different days of the festival week. To ensure equal opportunities, voting will remain open until Sunday, May 16 (until this date the films will be available on ONLINE+). The winning film will be announced after 16 May.

The winner of the competitions Tricks for Kids, Animated Games Award, German Animation Screenplay Award und Trickstar Business Award were already awarded on May 7 and 8.

Find all Award Winners here

Der Beitrag The ITFS 2021 Winners erschien zuerst auf ITFS - Internationales Trickfilmfestival Stuttgart.

At the 28th Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, the winner of the Tricks for Kids competition – honouring animated short films for children – can be announced! The prize was awarded on Saturday, May 8, 18:00 CET.

This year’s award show surprised with fantastic tricks in two respects: The children’s jury presented their winners of the day and the winning film from the Tricks for Kids short film competition. The magical host Alexander Merk accompanied the children jury and the audience with his magic tricks through the colourful animated film show. The Tricks for Kids Award comes with a cash prize of 4.000 €, sponsored by Studio 100 Media.

The Tricks for Kids Award 2021 goes to

Roberto
Spain 2020, 10:10 Min.
Director: Carmen Córdoba González
Producer: Carmen Córdoba González

15 years have passed and Roberto is still in love with his neighbor, but she prefers to hide ashamed of her body. With his art and an old clothesline as the only ways of communication, Roberto has a plan to push his beloved to face her monsters at once.

Jury statement (six children between 11 and 13 years, three girls and three boys):
The theme of “Roberto” was very convincing. Although the film has no dialogue, many emotions are conveyed. We understood many feelings through the appropriate music. The twist at the end was very surprising. The message we got was: “Every person is beautiful just the way they are.”

Tricks for Kids Winner: “Roberto”

The jury also decided to award two Special Mentions.

One Special Mention each was awarded to:

Reven og Nissen / The Tomten and the Fox
Norway, Sweden, Danmark 2019, 9:00 Min.
Directors: Yaprak Morali, Are Austness
Producers: Ove Heiborg, Thomas Gustafsson, Johan Palmberg

A hungry fox hunts for food on a cold winter night. He sneaks into a small farm to steal a snack when he is caught by the Tomten who guards the farm.

Jury statement:
The film has a beautiful atmosphere. The characters and the scenery are very lovingly designed. We liked the message of the film: Don’t always think about yourself, but also care about others!

and

Les Chaussures de Louis / Louis’ Shoes
France 2020, 5:15Min.
Directors: Théo Jamin, Kayu Leung, Marion Philippe, Jean-Géraud Blanc Production: MOPA – L’Ècole du Film d’Animation et de l’image de Synthèse School: MOPA – L’Ècole du Film d’Animation et de l’image de Synthèse

Louis, an eight and a half years old autistic kid arrives in his new school and he is about to introduce himself.

Jury statement:
The film is very lovingly designed. Sharing the mind of an autistic person with the audience is also a very beautiful idea. It can help to understand autistic people better. In addition, the topic is conveyed very well through the images.

Der Beitrag The Winners of the Tricks for Kids Award erschien zuerst auf ITFS - Internationales Trickfilmfestival Stuttgart.

On Friday, May 07, 18:00 CET, the first award show of the 28th Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film took place! The winners of the German Animation Screenplay Award, the Animated Games Award Germany and the Trickstar Business Award have been honoured in the joint Trickstar Professional Awards Ceremony.

German Animation Screenplay Award

The German Animation Screenplay Award honours the best screenplay for an animated feature film. The German Animation Screenplay Award comes with prize money of 2,500 €, sponsored by Animation Media Cluster Region Stuttgart (AMCRS). The aim of the award is to contribute to the improvement of content quality and to underscore the importance of professional screenplay writing and the creation of attractive films.

The German Animation Screenplay Award 2021 goes to “Butterfly Tale” by Heidi Foss and Lienne Sawatsky (Production Germany: Ulysses Filmproduktion GmbH).

Jury statement by Peter Keydel (Film and TV Producer Mistral Film, Düsseldorf, Mago Production, Barcelona), Holger Weiss (CEO, Head of Animation M.A.R.K. 13, Stuttgart), Silke Wilfinger (Managing Director Silkwayfilms, München) und Maite Woköck (CEO, Producer Telescope Animation Studios, Hamburg):

“Butterfly Tale introduces us to the microcosmos of the monarch butterflies, one of the most beautiful butterflies in the world, which unfortunately is increasingly threatened by climate change and crowing cultural landscapes. It is a story about the courage not to give up despite supposed handicaps and to fight for one’s goals. Also, it addresses the threat of environmental destruction by humans without a moralizing undertone. An adventurous coming-of-age story is told with a lot of dialog humour, which shows us how challenges can become opportunities.”

A Special Mention goes to “The Girl in the Flying Washing Machine” by Danielle Bouteille (aka Daniel Reittinger, Austria).

Animated Games Award Germany

In 2021 for the fifth time the Animated Games Award Germany is awarded to the German computer game which stands out from competition by its special visual design and aesthetics. The jury pays particular attention to artwork, imagery and character design. The award’s objective is to strengthen the interlinking of games and animated film as regards content, as well as promote the artistic quality of games. The award is sponsored by the MFG Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg and comes with prize money of 5,000 €.

The winner of the Animated Games Award Germany 2021 is “Endzone – A World Apart” (Developer: Gentlymad Studios, CEO/ Founder Stephan Wirth; Publisher: Assemble Entertainment, CEO/ Founder Stefan Marcinek), a survival construction game in which the players build a new civilisation after a nuclear catastrophe.

Jury statement by Sabine Harrer (Department of Game Design, Uppsala University, Schweden), Linda Breitlauch (Professor for Game Design, Hochschule Trier, Chief Creative Officer Skilltree, Trier), Philipp Stollenmayer (Game Designer, Würzburg) and Judith Ackermann (Professor „Digitale und Vernetzte Medien in der Sozialen Arbeit“, Potsdam):

“The strategy-building game by the Wiesbaden-based studio Gentlymad is characterised by numerous visual details as well as technical features that allow good accessibility despite complexity. The jury is amazed by such a complex work, that sums up to a whole in both micro and macro aspects. Every aspect of the game contributes to the atmosphere, from the delicate swaying of trees up to massive thunderstorms.

Due to the multitude of playful possibilities and the steadily increasing level of difficulty, players are challenged above all strategically. Different scenarios also offer various narrative approaches, which are reinforced by the character design. The result is an willfull, yet a varied strategy-building game with survival characteristics – that is convincing both – on the gameplay and visual level.”

A Special Mention goes to „Lost Ember” (Developer: Mooneye, Producer: Sinikka Compart; Publisher: Mooneye), in which the players are immersed in a world where nature has reclaimed the ruins of an ancient culture.

Trickstar Business Award

The Trickstar Business Award is the world’s first animation prize with an explicit focus on business and awards companies and projects characterized by an innovative and groundbreaking business approach. The prize is sponsored by Verband Region Stuttgart and endowed with 7,500 € prize money.

The winner is Mitmalfilm UG with Uli Seis (Producer, Filmmaker).

Jury statement by Jens Gutfleisch (Managing Director, Film Commission Region Stuttgart, Stuttgart), Marc König (Head of Business Development bwcon Research, Stuttgart), Dieter Krauß (Commercial Managing Director, Film- und Medienfestival, Stuttgart), Solveig Langeland (Managing Director, Sola Media, Stuttgart), Tünde Vollenbroek (Producer, Studio Pupil, Curator, Kaboom Animation Festival, Amsterdam) and Gabriele M. Walther (Founder, CEO, Caligari Film- und Fernsehproduktion, Munich):

“This year the jury of the Trickstar Business Award is pleased to reward Mitmalfilm UG, for the company perfectly embodies the Award’s core. Mitmalfilm UG develops crossmedial animation that sparks creativity amongst children; a worthwhile purpose with a convincing business model behind it. Their documentation showed relevance to the market and business potential, as well as an innovativity and promise that the Trickstar Business Award stands for.

Also, from the point of view of the industry, Mitmalfilm UG stood out amongst this year’s submissions. Their way of making animation accessible for children brings the medium even closer to new generations, and perhaps plants some seeds for future creators to be screened at ITFS. And lastly, the jury was taken by the company’s aim to find a commercial way to fund animated shorts.”

Der Beitrag Games, Screenplays and Business Models: Trickstar Professional Awards erschien zuerst auf ITFS - Internationales Trickfilmfestival Stuttgart.

The ITFS VR Hub is a creative place that illustrates the unlimited possibilities of animation in an immersive, interactive, and real-time way. The unique multi-user 3D world is easy to access via a browser or a VR headset – no downloads are necessary. Visitors can help shape certain aspects of the digital world in the hub, which enables casual and random interaction between visitors by means of self-selected avatars.

And you can even create your own avatar and take part in our ITFS Avatar Competition! The creator of the winning avatar and two runner ups receive an amazing surprise Goodie Box sent to their doorstep as well as a voucher to attend next year’s ITFS for free!

How to create an avatar on hubs?

Creating and customising an avatar on hubs is simple, just follow the instructions given here if you are a beginner (https://hubs.mozilla.com/docs/intro-avatars.html) or have a look here if you’ve got some animation experience (https://hubs.mozilla.com/docs/creators-advanced-avatar-customization.html) or over here at Ready Player Me (https://readyplayer.me/blog/mozilla-hubs-custom-3d-avatar).

Got questions? Great! Come and check out our workshop on how to buld and customise an avatar 6 May 2021 at 2 PM (CET), over in our workshop space https://link.work-in-vr.org/zfgfLeB.

How to take part in the competition?

Taking part is easy as 1-2-3:

1. Make your own avatar and take a selfie in the VR Hub Avatar Area (link tbc)
2. Download the avatar.glb on your computer
3. E-mail the following information to the festival-mail avatar@festival-gmbh.de by 6 May 2021, 10AM CET

• Selfie
• GLB-file
• Contact details, including your name, e-mail address and phone number

How to vote?

Voting opens on 6 May 2021 at 6PM CET. Have a look at the submitted avatars in the VR Hub Avatar Area and then just follow the link provided in the room to cast your vote! Voting closes on 8 May 2021 at 2 PM CET.

And who’s won?

The ITFS Avatar Award is awarded on 8 May 2021 at 8 PM (CET). The announcement of the winners will take place in the VR Hub Avatar Area and is hosted by ITFS’s very own Ulrich Wegenast.

The winning avatar and two runner ups will be contacted by email and phone to attend the ceremony – with their avatar, of course!

Der Beitrag ITFS21 Avatar Competition erschien zuerst auf ITFS - Internationales Trickfilmfestival Stuttgart.

AniMovie competition

Whether kicking moles, little vampires, a childhood in the Wild West or the amorous adventures of the protagonists of an animal soap opera – the films of the AniMovie competition offer a great diversity of themes and countries of origin. They also offer a pleasing variety of techniques: 2D and 3D animation are represented as well as stop-motion. An international premiere in Stuttgart will be “City of Lost Things” (Yee Chih-Yen, Taiwan 2020). 16-year-old Leaf meets Baggy, a 30-year-old plastic bag, and together they have to fight the dreadful army of the Armors. “Strike” (Trevor Hardy, UK 2019), a German premiere, tells the story about Mungo Morrison, a young mole who secretly dreams of becoming a professional footballer. In “Calamity” (Rémy Chayé, Denmark/France 2020), 12-year-old Martha Jane on her way to the Wild West has to take charge of her siblings and, after a theft, to find proof of her innocence. Another German Premiere celebrates “Petit Vampire” (Joann Sfar, France/Belgium 2020). Little Vampire dreams of going to school to meet other kids. Unfortunately, his parents won’t let him leave the mansion! Accompanied by his trusted bulldog Phantomato, Little Vampire secretly sneaks out on a quest for new friends. In the German premiere of “You Animal! The Nimfa Dimaano Story” (Avid Liongoren, Philippines 2020), a perfume saleskitty experiences amorous-trashy adventures with two men before she emancipates herself from the male world to do her own thing.

In the AniMovie special programme, two top-class French feature films will also be screened – in keeping with the Festival’s country focus France. The AniMovie Award winner of the ITFS 2020 “Le voyage du prince” (Jean-François Laguionie, Xavier Picard, France/Luxembourg 2019) tells the story of an old prince who runs aground on an unknown shore. Injured and lost, he is found by young Tom and taken in by his parents, two scientists who have been exiled from their community because they dared to believe in the existence of other monkey civilisations. In “La prophétie des Grenouilles” (by Folimage founder Jacques-Rémy Girerd, France 2003) it rains forty days and forty nights – the world has experienced a flood like this before, and now it’s happening again. The frogs, having prophesised the approaching catastrophe, attempt to warn the humans.

The AniMovie feature-length films can be viewed via OnlineFestival+. The AniMovie program at a glance:  https://www.itfs.de/en/programme/short-and-feature-films/

Already confirmed for the free ITFS live stream are the feature-length films “Die kleine Zauberflöte” (Curt Linda, Germany 1997) – the animated adaptation of the Mozart operetta about the adventures of Prince Tamino and his companion Papageno, who set out together into the realm of day to free the beautiful Pamina – and “Lisa Limone and Maroc Orange – A rapid Love Story” (Mait Laas, Estonia 2013) – the fruitier version of Romeo and Juliet as an operatic extravaganza.

Feature films in talks

The Oscar nominated film by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart, “Wolfwalkers” (Ireland/Luxembourg/USA, 2020), can unfortunately not be shown online at the festival. But director Tomm Moore will give insights into the film in a lecture, followed by a Q&A (Friday, May 07, 5 pm, OnlineFestival Pro). David Silverman, a longtime friend of ITFS, is back online as well: David Silverman will talk a little about “The Simpsons” and a lot more about “Extinct”, the new film he directed over the course of 2018 to 2020. This new film was written by “Simpsons” writers Joel H. Cohen, Rob Lazebnik, and John Frink, and co-directed by fellow “Simpsons” colleague Raymond Persi. It concerns a hitherto unknown species – Flummels. David Silverman will present behind-the-scenes production material and discuss the process of bringing this charming film to the screen (Saturday, May 08, 6 pm, OnlineFestival Pro).

Accessible free of charge on OnlineFestival Pro is the presentation on “The Last Whale Singer”, an animated feature film project by Telescope Animation Studios that tells the epic story of a teenage humpback whale who must face his fears and summon a mystical song to save the oceans from destruction by a monstrous creature. In the webinar Reza Memari (Director and Writer) and Maite Woköck (Producer), both CEOs and founders of Telescope Animation Studios, will share their insights and findings on the development and financing of this ambitious project, which in addition to the feature film also includes a TV series and a game (already on Monday, May 03, 3 pm, free access on OnlineFestival Pro).

More workshops and presentations in OnlineFestival Pro: https://www.itfs.de/en/branche/presentations/

Gala glamour live on screen

The ITFS opening gala as well as the award ceremonies can be followed live via the ITFS studio stream at Online Festival+. At the opening on Tuesday, May 04, 7 pm, well-known TV presenter Markus Brock and the self-declared “stage hog” Franziska Glaser will guide you through the evening and present the highlights of the 2021 Festival programme.  The makers of the competition films, which will be shown during the opening, will be connected live. Guests will either be digitally connected or live in the studio and include Winfried Kretschmann, Prime Minister of the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg, and Frank Nopper, the new Lord Mayor of the city of Stuttgart. At this year’s Tricks for Kids awards ceremony on Saturday, May 08, 7 pm, the audience can experience fantastic tricks in two respects: children’s jury will present their winners of the day and the winning film from the Tricks for Kids short film competition. The magical host Alexander Merk accompanies the children jury and the audience with his magic tricks through the colourful animated film show. On Friday, May 07, 6 pm, the winners of the German Animation Screenplay Award, the Animated Games Award Germany and the Trickstar Business Award are honoured in the joint Trickstar Professional Awards Ceremony. Host of the gala presented in English language is Anja Lange.

At the Awards Ceremony of the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film 2021 on Sunday, May 09, 7 pm, the winners of the film competitions (FANtastic Award, SWR Onlinefilm Audience Award, AniMovie, Trickstar Nature Award, Young Animation, Lotte Reininger Promotion Award for Animated Film and the Grand Prix) will be honoured in a ceremony hosted by Markus Brock and Franziska Glaser. Studio guests include State Secretary Petra Olschowski and Stuttgart’s Mayor Fabian Mayer.

The award ceremony of the music competition New World Classic Animation Award, which is aimed at animation students and graduates at international institutions of higher education for film, art and the media and honours the best use / the best implementation of music in an animated short film, can be viewed in the free ITFS live stream (pre-recorded, Sunday, May 09, 5 pm).

The accesses to the ITFS at a glance:

With the free ITFS live stream, the ITFS brings the Schlossplatz Open Air to the viewers’ homes. It can be streamed on the already established platform OnlineFestival.ITFS.de daily from May 04 to 09, 2021 from 2 to 10 pm. Short and feature-length films will be shown for families and children, as well as from 5 pm for adults. In addition, you can learn more about the world of animated film in various live interviews. Offers for families, children and people interested in film, such as various workshops and talks, complement the ITFS live stream as well as the OnlineFestival Free programme. Also free of charge is the new ITFS VR Hub: the VR experience in Mozilla Hubs allows visitors to digitally visit the Schlossplatz and other locations.

With the fee-based OnlineFestival+ access (€19.99 via the ITFS online ticket store), current competition films from the International Competition, Young Animation, Tricks for Kids, Trickstar Nature as well as selected feature-length films from the AniMovie Competition and supporting programmes can be viewed as Video On Demand – even beyond the festival period from May 03 to 16, 2021. Personal statements by filmmakers provide insights into the ideas and stories of the films.

In addition to school and studio presentations, professionals have the opportunity to participate online in live workshops, presentations by renowned and upcoming studios as well as exciting project presentations: under Online Festival Pro on OnlineFestival.ITFS.de. Access is fee-based and includes the complete film programme on Online Festival+ (€ 34,99 € for professionals, available via ITFS ticketshop).

Der Beitrag Feature film premieres, talks, and galas at ITFS 2021 erschien zuerst auf ITFS - Internationales Trickfilmfestival Stuttgart.

In this lecture series in summer semester 2021, the Merz Akademie is honored to invite seven cutting-edge animation artists from the United States, France, China and Netherlands. With their various works and cultural backgrounds, they will share their creative experiences in the frontiers of animation. The lectures will take place online between April 13 and May 4, 2021. The lecture series is curated  by DAAD Visiting Professor Weijia Ma and Joost Bottema, Professor of Visual Communication.

Since animation was invented, it has evolved from being a simple magic trick to a big screen art form. It developed along with the film and television industries, moving beyond children’s entertainment and media advertising to become an ever more recognized and respected part of moving image culture. The world of animation is vast, open and deserving of attention. Animation artists have never stopped experimenting with new forms in a variety of contexts. In filmmaking, animation brings its own approaches to themes, visual styles, storytelling and production. In the field of design, motion graphics have brought fresh possibilities to bring images to life. In contemporary art, the combination of digital animation and virtual reality creates a whole new field in itself.

In this lecture series, we are honored to invite seven cutting-edge animation artists from the United States, France, China, Netherlands and Switzerland. With their various works and cultural backgrounds, they will share their creative experiences in the frontiers of animation. The Merz Akademie has invited seven cutting-edge animation artists to talk about precisely these topics with a broad international audience in the online lecture series “Frontiers of Animation”.

Kindly supported by DAAD, Stuttgarter Filmwinter and ITFS – Festival of Animated Film Stuttgart.

The dates at a glance:

• Tuesday, April 13, 2021, 6 pm
  Weijia Ma (Animation Artist, China): Personal Stories – behind scene of independent film making
  www.merz-akademie.de/veranstaltungen/frontiers-of-animation-1
• Tuesday, April 20, 2021, 6 pm
  Hefang Wei (Animator, France): Clear or Clearly unclear
  Jérémy Clapin (Filmregisseur, Frankreich): From short films to feature film
  www.merz-akademie.de/veranstaltungen/frontiers-of-animation-2
• Tuesday, April 27, 2021, 6 pm
  Snow Yunxue Fu (New Media Artist, USA): The liminality in the Digital Art
  Chris Sullivan (Film Director, USA): Beauty in difficult images. Inside the making of Independent animated Feature
  www.merz-akademie.de/veranstaltungen/frontiers-of-animation-3
• Tuesday, May 4, 2021, 6 pm
  Aimée de Jongh (Comic Author, Netherlands): Immersive storytelling with camera movements in comics and animation.
  Alice Saey (Film Director, France): Animation, music and the art of immersive storytelling.

More Information:

About the lecture series with dates, link to livestream:

www.merz-akademie.de/animation

Weijia Ma as DAAD visiting professor at Merz Akademie:

www.merz-akademie.de/blog/weijia-ma-daad-gastprofessorin

Der Beitrag Online-Lecture Series “Frontiers of Animation” erschien zuerst auf ITFS - Internationales Trickfilmfestival Stuttgart.

The Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (May 4 to 9, 2021) must cancel onsite events in cinemas and other locations due to the currently valid coronavirus guidelines. The online programme of the 28^th ITFS, originally planned as a hybrid edition, will be expanded and enhanced. One additional offer is the ITFS VR Hub, which will bring the Festival feeling to a digital Schlossplatz. ITFS will also go into extra time with the media library: From May 3 to 16, 2021 ITFS will offer even more film enjoyment to ticket holders.

The decision to cancel the onsite section of the Festival was made after intensive discussions and deliberations. The situation is too uncertain now for the organisers to justify hopes and still risk the planning costs required at an early stage:  “Unfortunately, the current situation does not allow us to include the cinemas and other venues for onsite Festival events in our programme planning“, says Artistic Managing Director Ulrich Wegenast. “And it I not foreseeable that the incidence figures and corresponding regulations will change by the beginning of May.”

“The onsite meetings and exchange between the general public and guests from the industry is not just traditionally the core of the Festival, but shall also remain to be so, even if in the future online programme sections are to be used to expand the audience community nationally and internationally,” adds Commercial Managing Director Dieter Krauß. “The planned 2021 Festival programme will be offered online as far as possible, to bring the Festival to home screens.”

The Festival team is currently working on integrating as many of the planned onsite programme items as possible into the already existing online programme.

New at OnlineFestival.ITFS.de: The ITFS VR Hub

For the first time, ITFS is realising an amusing VR experience in Mozilla Hubs with the American XR designer and architect Allison Crank and the Swiss VR expert Christophe Merkle. Unlike many other VR experiences, the multi-user 3D world is easy to access. The ITFS VR Hub can be visited simply via the browser or a VR headset – no downloads are necessary. Visitors can even help shape certain aspects of the digital world in the ITFS VR Hub, which enables casual and random interaction between visitors by means of self-selected avatars. The ITFS VR Hub is a creative place that shows the unlimited possibilities of animation in an immersive, interactive, and real-time way and extends a low-threshold invitation to take a digital walk also to VR newbies. Within the ITFS VR Hub there are additional, exclusive offers such as presentations, talks and creative DIY activities.

With the free ITFS live stream on the already established platform OnlineFestival.ITFS.de, ITFS brings the Schlossplatz Open Air to viewers’ homes. Short films and live interviews will be shown here every day from May 4 to 9, 2021 from 2 to 10 pm. In addition to the ITFS live stream, offers for families, children and film enthusiasts complement the OnlineFestival Free programme. With the fee-based ONLINE+ access, current competition films and supporting programmes can be viewed as Video on Demand. Personal statements by filmmakers provide insights into the ideas and stories behind the films. In addition to school and studio presentations, professionals have the opportunity to participate online in live workshops, presentations by renowned and upcoming studios as well as exciting project presentations: under ONLINE PRO on OnlineFestival.ITFS.de. Access is fee-based and includes the complete film programme on ONLINE+.

ITFS Tickets

Tickets can be purchased at www.itfs.de/en/tickets: For the public, there is the Festival pass ONLINE+. For the industry, the ITFS offers accreditation for ONLINE PRO.

HYBRID tickets already purchased will be converted into ONLINE tickets. The difference will be automatically refunded to ticket holders within the next two weeks. All ONSITE tickets will be automatically cancelled and refunded in full within the next two weeks. Detailed information will be sent to all ticket holders by e-mail.

Der Beitrag 100% digital – ITFS 2021 takes place online erschien zuerst auf ITFS - Internationales Trickfilmfestival Stuttgart.

Due to the current pandemic developments and the decision of the Federal Government/States Conference on the coronavirus situation, the organiser of the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (May 4 to 9, 2021), Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH, has decided to cancel the Festival’s Open Air.

“We regret this very much!” says Artistic Managing Director Ulrich Wegenast and continues, “Staging our Open Air in the public space of Schlossplatz Stuttgart is an important part of the Festival of Animated Film, with which we have been able to let the population participate free of charge and show our great attachment to the city of Stuttgart.”

Nevertheless, there is consolation for all Festival fans: With the free ITFS live stream, ITFS brings the Schlossplatz Open Air to viewers’ homes on their private screens. It can be streamed on the already established platform OnlineFestival.ITFS.de. Here, short films, live interviews, talks and special programmes will be shown daily from 4 to 9 May 4 to 9, 2021 between 2 and 10 pm.

For the time being, the organisers are still adhering to their plans for cinema screenings and other onsite events – always in view of the development of the pandemic – also to show solidarity with the cinema scene. “There are successful models, such as in Tübingen,“ Commercial Managing Director Dieter Krauß explains, “where cinemas are allowed to open, thanks to previous rapid testing of the audience on the day of the screening. We would like to see a testing and hygiene strategy developed in the next few weeks that will allow all those interested in films to see them in the cinema at ITFS.”

The online programme of the Festival of Animated Film which had been planned in a hybrid format anyway is not affected and is proving popular in demand from both the industry and film fans. In addition to the ITFS live stream, offers for families, children and film enthusiasts complement the OnlineFestival Free programme.

With the fee-based ONLINE+ access, current competition films and supporting programmes can be viewed as video on demand. Personal statements by filmmakers provide insights into the ideas and stories behind the films.

For professionals, in addition to School and Studio Presentations, there is also the possibility to participate online in live workshops, presentations by renowned and up-and-coming studios as well as exciting project presentations: under ONLINE PRO at OnlineFestival.ITFS.de. The fee-based access includes the complete film programme on ONLINE+.

Tickets can be purchased at www.itfs.de/tickets: For the public, there is the Festival Pass HYBRID, ONSITE or ONLINE+. For the industry, ITFS offers accreditation for HYBRID and ONLINE PRO.

Der Beitrag ITFS cancels Open Air on Stuttgart Schlossplatz erschien zuerst auf ITFS - Internationales Trickfilmfestival Stuttgart.

International Competition:

The International Competition is the Festival’s centrepiece, presenting artistic animated films of the previous twelve months..

Films in the International Competition

Young Animation:

The Young Animation competition presents the best films by students at international higher education institutes of art and film.

Films in the Competition Young Animation

Tricks for Kids:

Award for the best children’s animated film.

Films in the Competition Tricks for Kids

Trickstar Nature:

The competition presents animated short films dealing with issues of climate protection, biodiversity, the environment, and sustainability in an informative, entertaining, or humorous way.

Films in the Competition Trickstar Nature

Der Beitrag Short Film Competitions: Official Selection erschien zuerst auf ITFS - Internationales Trickfilmfestival Stuttgart.