At the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, in addition to the numerous short films, the focus always lies on animated feature films as well – with the AniMovie competition. In 2021, the Festival will show a diverse selection of animated feature films for young and old, including many German and even an international premiere! There will also be exciting talks about the making and background of films such as the Oscar-nominated “Wolfwalkers” and David Silverman’s “Extinct”. Digital gala glamour will be ensured by the Festival’s opening and the award ceremonies which can be watched live on the internet. An overview of the ITFS events with direct links to the individual events is provided by the ITFS online event calendar at https://www.itfs.de/en/events/
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).