Trisha Gum is a filmmaker and fine arts artist living in Los Angeles, C.A., she has been working professionally in animation for ten years. Trisha started her film career working as an Art Director and Production Designer on various TV shows, such as, ROBOT CHICKEN, WB’s MAD, and Adult Swim’s FRANKENHOLE. Trisha transitioned into writing and directing in 2010 … Trisha Gum
The LEGO Batman Movie – CHRIS McKAY (Director) most recently directed the worldwide box-office hit animated adventure “The LEGO Batman Movie,” the second feature in the LEGO film franchise. Previously, McKay served as co-director, editor and animation director of the 2014 blockbuster “The LEGO Movie.” His work as an editor on that film earned him … Chris McKay
Buckle in and prepare to surrender yourself to an exhilarating and wildly entertaining ride. Mind Game is a psychedelic explosion of unconstrained expression – gloriously colorful mages ricochet in a cacophony of rapid fire associations that mimic the thought process, like Masaaki Yuasa’s brain splattered onto the screen in all its goopy glory. Audiences will … Mind Game
A curated collection of adult-oriented short films that speak to the themes of love and death, two topics that provide everlasting inspiration for beautiful, thoughtful, funny, powerful films. Songs of Love and Death is presented in collaboration between WOMEN IN ANIMATION and ANIMATION IS FILM. HEY STRANGER Kirsten Lepore, USA, 2017, 3 min It’s … Songs of Love and Death
Once upon a time cartoons weren’t just for kids. In the days before the Hays Code and Saturday morning television, a darker and more libidinous version of the art form thrived side by side with live action. Unconstrained by reality, cartoons could be portals to worlds of impossible landscapes filled with bizarre and semi-unhinged characters, … Outlandish Lands
Night is Short, Walk on Girl takes place over the course of one strange night as a nameless young woman, known only as “the girl with black hair,” walks the streets of Kyoto and experiences a series of surreal encounters and odd characters, drinking middle-aged salarymen under the table, exploring an all-night used bookstore with … Night Is Short, Walk On Girl
The lives of three strong-willed women and a young musician cross paths in Tehran’s schizophrenic society where sex, corruption and drugs coexist with strict religious laws and patriarchal traditions. In this bustling modern metropolis, breaking taboos can be a means of personal emancipation, especially for women. By using animation, the film offers just enough distance … Tehran Taboo
Based on the 1971 children’s novel The Little Broomstick, Mary and The Witch’s Flower is an all-ages action fantasy adventure that hearkens back to some of the most beloved animated films of all time, full of ingenious characters, jaw-dropping imaginative worlds, and the simple, heartfelt story of a young girl trying to figure her place in … Mary and The Witch’s Flower
From visionary anime auteur Masaaki Yuasa, who takes over the festival this year with two other selections – the new rom-com Night is Short, Walk on Girl and outré classic Mind Game – comes a hallucinogenic-but-family-friendly take on the classic fairy tale of the little mermaid who falls in love with mankind, and then comes … Lu Over the Wall
“From the moment Lego Batman (Will Arnett) shouts ‘Wanna get nuts?!’ at his arch supervillain the Joker (Zach Galifianakis) – a nod to Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman film – the family-friendly animated superhero comedy maniacally blisters the screen with loving homages to past Bat-flicks, wacky baddies, wickedly clever references (including a great jab at Marvel) and one very unsubtle … The LEGO Batman Movie
In development for over a decade, this mind-blowing animated feature surpasses any toon China has produced to date in terms of sheer beauty and imagery – a procession of enormous whales swim through the skies, a tentacled creature ferries a girl across a sea of clouds, feline porters walk on their hind legs – while … Big Fish and Begonia
SPECIAL SCREENING Brad Bird, USA, 2004, 116 min In English
DIRECTOR IN PERSON
There is light and beauty, even in the darkest of worlds. Winner of Spain’s Goya Award for Best Animated Feature, Alberto Vázquez’s first feature is a darkly comic, mind-bending fantasy based on his own graphic novel and award winning short film. Striking graphic imagery brings to life a discordant world populated by adorable (and adorably … Birdboy: The Forgotten Children
Producer Genki Kawamura follows up his mega-hit Your Name with another tale of star-crossed teenage lovers with a sci-fi fantasy twist. Two junior high school pals, the shy Norimichi and fast-talking Yusuke, are goo-goo-eyed over the same elusive classmate, Nazuna. But Nazuna, unhappy over her mother’s decision to remarry and leave their countryside town, plans … Fireworks
TROPICAL VIRUS Santiago Caicedo (1976) is a Colombian artist and filmmaker. His work, difficult to label, revolves around motion graphics, animation, stereoscopy, video art and film. His short films have participated in numerous festivals around the world, including Annecy, Clermont Ferrand and SIGGRAPH, and have received many international awards. Caicedo’s work enhances graphics and fantasy … Santiago Caicedo
TROPICAL VIRUS Powerpaola is a nomadic artist, illustrator and cartoonist. She was born in Quito, Ecuador in1977 and has lived in Colombia, France, Australia and Argentina. She has participated in residencies at La Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris; Firstdraft Gallery, Sydney. She was awarded the project “En Vitrina” at Sin Lugar a Dudas, Cali. For … Powerpaola
Adapted from the graphic novel memoir by Colombian-Ecuadorian cartoonist Power Paola, Virus Tropical is a thoughtful and deeply affecting coming-of-age story that begins on the night Paola is conceived – in a stylized but anatomically complete sequence that sets the tone for the film’s matter-of-fact exploration of sexuality and family – and ends with her striking out … Virus Tropical
Award winning artist/author/cartoonist Arthur de Pins turns his hit graphic novel series into a stylish first animated feature, in which vampires, witches and zombies hide in plain sight by working at a horror-themed amusement park. The park is built over a gateway to hell and stocked with delightfully ghoulish characters such as blood-sucking CEO Francis … Zombillenium
DIRECTOR IN PERSON!
Benjamin Renner follows up his delightful, Oscar®-nominated Ernest & Celestine with a lively trio of hand-drawn cartoons about life on an animal farm, adapted from his own acclaimed graphic novel about a fox who struggles to live up to his reputation as a carnivore. Failing miserably at stealing chickens, he swipes three eggs instead. But … The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales
Animation is Film is thrilled to open our first edition with a special anniversary screening of Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the film that started it all and after 80 years, a still-unrivaled achievement in filmmaking. In this epic story of love and friendship, the kind and beautiful princess Snow White wins … Three Snow Whites
Genre-mashup MFKZ is the collaboration of French comic artist Guillaume “Run” Renard and ultra-hip Japanese animation house Studio 4°C, creators of Tekkonkinkreet, Genius Party and Mind Game. The Tekkonkinkreet dream team of Shojiro Nishimi and art director Shinji Kimura reunite to bring to life a dark but stunningly animated sci-fi vision that mixes anime, film noir, and Lucha Libre in an … MFKZ
The Secret of Kells co-director Nora Twomey breathes life into this extraordinary story of 11-year-old Parvana, who finds strength in the love of her family and the power of storytelling. In Taliban-controlled Kabul, women and girls are not permitted to leave the house unescorted, to earn money, or to shop for food and supplies in … The Breadwinner
ZOMBILLENIUM Arthur de Pins is a renowned French illustrator known for his diverse comic book series Guilty Pleasure (Péchés mignons), The March of the Crabs and Zombillénium. He has made several animated shorts, including Géraldine, which won twenty different prizes, including Best Graduation Film at Annecy 2001, and The Crab Revolution, which garnered him with … Arthur de Pins
ZOMBILLENIUM Storyboard artist, illustrator and director, Alexis Ducord graduated from Gobelins, l’école de l’image in 2000. He has directed three animated series and collaborated on over twenty, including Lili’s Island and CO2. He also worked on the feature films Go West, a Lucky Luke Adventure and April and the Extradordinary World (Cristal for a Feature … Alexis Ducord
TEHRAN TABOO Director Ali Soozandeh was born in 1970 in Shiraz Iran. He studied Art in Tehran. After emigrating to Germany, he had his diploma in Media Design at the University of Applied Sciences in Cologne. He founded his own company Cartoona- moon and was involved in many feature/documentary films and TV-series as an animation … Ali Soozandeh
MUTAFUKAZ Shojiro Nishimi is a director of animated films known for his realistic productions and spectacular action scenes. His use of original characters with distinctive proportions immediately attracts his viewers’ attention, and his unique, delicate universe is the culmination of his artistic brilliance. He worked as director of animation on Tekkonkinkreet, which was rewarded Best … Shojiro Nishimi
MUTAFUKAZ The work Guillaume Renard, aka Run, falls within a modern approach blending stylized drawings, pulp references and strong urban culture. His first animated short Operation Blackhead (selected at Sundance, 2003) was a precursor to the Mutafukaz universe. In 2006, Ankama Editions published the first volume of Mutafukaz and in 2008 Run created Label 619, … Guillaume Renard
Born in Tokyo, 1977. Founder, Studio Ponoc. In 2002, Nishimura joined Studio Ghibli after returning from his studies in the United States. He was involved in the promotions of Howl’s Moving Castle (2002), Tales from Earthsea (2006) and Ponyo (2008).
MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER Born in 1973 in Ishikawa-ken, Japan, Hiromasa Yonebayashi studied design at the Kanazawa College of Art. During college, he worked part-time drawing caricatures and working on animation for television commercials. In 1996 Yonebayashi joined Studio Ghibli and worked as an animator on Princess Mononoke (1997) and My Neighbors the Yamadas … Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Masaaki Yuasa is a Japanese animation director, scriptwriter, designer, and CEO of Science SARU. Lu Over the Wall (2017) is his latest film and it won Cristal for a Feature Film at Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
THE INCREDIBLES Producer John Walker brings a diverse background to his role at Pixar Animation Studios; including live theater, animation, and live action production. Prior to coming to Pixar, Walker served as Associate Producer for Warner Bros. Osmosis Jones and The Iron Giant, during which he began his association with Brad Bird. Upon joining Pixar in … John Walker
As a co-founder and Creative Director at Cartoon Saloon, Nora Twomey oversees the development of the company’s slate of productions.
BIRDBOY: THE FORGOTTEN CHILDREN Producer, director and screenwriter. Screenwriter for several TV animated series and for the feature film Goomer, Goya Award for the Best Spanish Animated Feature Film 1999. Producer, director and screenwriter of La Crisis Carnívora (2007), the first Spanish feature film in Flash animation for theatres, and Birdboy (2010), Goya Award for … Pedro Rivero
Alberto Vázquez is an animation director, illustrator and cartoonist. He has written and directed short animation such as Birdboy, Ramiro, sucia rata, Unicorn Blood and Decorado.
BIG FISH & BEGONIA Born in Ningbo, China in 1983, Chun Zhang is a filmmaker, animator and photographer. He studied Multimedia Art at the Academy of Arts & Design at Tsinghua University, where he co-founded the B&T Studio with his friend Xuan Liang. In May 2004, he and Liang made a short called Big Fish … Chun Zhang
BIG FISH & BEGONIA Born in Liuzhou, China in 1982, Xuan Liang is an animation filmmaker and scriptwriter. In 2003, he left Tsinghua University to co-found the B&T Studio with his friend Chun Zhang, with dreams of making China’s best animation films. After that, they made a short called Big Fish & Begonia, which made … Xuan Liang
After graduating from Gobelins, l’école de l’image, Patrick Imbert worked as an animator on several feature films. He later became animation director on the feature Ernest & Celestine, where he met Benjamin Renner. After this fruitful collaboration, they decided to continue working together.
THE BIG BAD FOX AND OTHER TALES After studying Fine Arts, Benjamin Renner went on to study Animation at La Poudriere, where he directed A Mouse’s Tale. After graduating, he was hired as Artistic Director for the feature film Ernest & Celestine, which he also co-directed with Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier. The film was … Benjamin Renner
Born and raised in New York, IndieWire Editor at Large Anne Thompson has been a contributor to the New York Times, Washington Post, The Observer, and Wired. She has served as film columnist at Variety and deputy editor of Variety.com. Anne was the Deputy Film Editor at The Hollywood Reporter, the West Coast Editor of Premiere, a Senior Writer at Entertainment Weekly, and West Coast Editor for Film Comment.
Brenda Chapman started her career as a story artist at Walt Disney Feature Animation in 1987 where she was the story supervisor on The Lion King, for which she won the Annie Award. Chapman has helped to develop and consult on films for several studios over many years which include not only Disney, DreamWorks and Pixar, but also Universal, Sony, Lucasfilm and Fox.
Carolyn Giardina is Tech Editor at The Hollywood Reporter and writes its Behind the Screen blog. In 2015, Carolyn was presented American Cinema Editors’ Robert Wise Award, which recognizes a journalist for contributions to film editing. She was the 2011 recipient of the International Cinematographers Guild’s Technicolor William A. Fraker Award for journalistic contributions to cinematography.
Peter Debruge is Variety’s Chief International Film Critic.
Mabel Tam is VP/Head Film Buyer of LANDMARK THEATRES. Landmark Theatres is the nation’s largest theatre chain dedicated to exhibiting and marketing independent film. A 16 year veteran of the entertainment industry, she is a graduate of UCLA and resides in LA with her family.
Jorge R. Gutiérrez is a painter, writer and director born in Mexico City and raised in Tijuana. Gutierrez has completed various films, cartoons, and paintings exploring his love of Mexican pop and folk culture.
An internationally respected critic and historian of animation.
A leading force in imaginative storytelling, Bonnie Arnold is a prolific film producer whose work spans myriad genres, and appeals to multiple generations. Bonnie is a Golden Globe winner, and an Academy Award® nominee.
Allison Abbate is an executive vice president at Warner Animation Group. Prior to assuming her post at WAG, Abbate was an executive producer on the global blockbuster The LEGO® Movie, and a producer on Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie and Corpse Bride, Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Brad Bird’s Iron Giant.