The selection process of films that will compete for the main prizes in the 4 competitions is now completed. The job was far from easy, as we had received over 3320 entries from 108 countries, or three times last year’s figure. The steadily growing number of entrants confirms that ANIMATOR, an Oscar® qualifying festival, is the most important animated film festival in Poland and one of the most prestigious festivals in Europe.
Selecting the films and series was a hard nut to crack. The job was given to selection committees consisting of the following members:
- International Short Film Competition: Piotr Muszalski, Jerzy Armata and Agnieszka Kozłowska
- International Feature Film Competition: Marcin Giżycki and Filip Kozłowski
- ANIMATOR.PL Polish Animated Film Competition: Anna Głowińska and Filip Kozłowski
- and - for the first time ever - International Animated Series Competition: Piotr Maciantowicz and Filip Kozłowski
In total, 45 productions will compete for the Grand Prix, one of which will be selected by the audience after Animator Unselected screenings in June (11-12.06). Competition screenings will include Bastien Dubois's "Souvenir, Souvenir" recognised at this year's Sundance Festival, "No Leaders Please", the latest film by Academy Award winner Joan C. Gratz, or "Empty Places", Geoffroy de Crécy's unusually emotional animated meditation about the pandemic.
The animated shorts that have successfully made their way into the competitions include the latest productions by a number of well established Polish animators: "On Time" by Zbigniew Czapla, "The Moon" by Tomasz Popakul (the author of this year's intro), and "98 kg" / "Siłaczka" by Izabela Plucińska. The 38th competition entry will be voted for by the audience after Animator Unselected PL screenings in May (20-21.05).
The International Feature Film Competition screenings will include the award-winning and internationally acclaimed "Kill It and Leave This Town" by Mariusz Wilczyński and a feature version of the no-dialogue "Primal" series by Genndy Tartakovsky (author of "Hotel Transylvania" trilogy and "Samurai Jack" series), one of the 32 feature-length animations competing for an Oscar® nomination.
The new competition creates more space for animated series at the Festival. In this way, we recognise both the growing popularity of animated series among Animator audiences and the successful development of the genre as such.
"The selection list contains a number of indisputable hits: "The Other Way Wolf" by Ira Elshansky, an absolutely brilliant Russian variation on well-known fables; "Bill N Back" by Olivier Brisson, a crazy, funny and rule-breaking animation from Canada; "MITCH-MATCH series #20" by Geza M. Tóth, a fantastic collection of creative match stories; "Let's grow up!" by Magda Pilecka (running time: 39 seconds!), a true gem of compact content; "Taking on the Traffickers" and "There Is No 'I' In Island", both addressing important and urgent political and social issues; "Brazen - Mae Jemison" and "Women Undercover – Yola", animated biographies of women who changed history; and last but not least "WILQ SUPERHERO", a cult animated story from Poland" – says Filip Kozłowski, programmer and selector of the International Animated Series Competition.
Animations selected for the competition screenings of the 14th International Animated Film Festival are listed below.
Official selection of the International Short Film Competition:
1. „Mind My Mind”, Floor Adams, Netherlands 2019
2. „Song Sparrow”, Farzaneh Omidvarnia, Denmark 2019
3. „Souvenir Souvenir”, Bastien Dubois, France 2020
4. „Mosaic”, Imge ÖZBILGE, Sine ÖZBILGE, Belgium 2020
5. „Cradle” / „Cântec de leagăn”, Paul Muresan, Romania 2020
6. „Hold me tight”, Mélanie Tourneur, Belgium 2021
7. „FAMILY NAME IN THE POCKET”, Stepan Koval, Ukraine 2019
8. „Butterfly & Mouse” / „Пеперуда и Мишка”, Mira Yankova, Bulgaria 2019
9. „Amayi”, Subarna D, India 2020
10. „The March of the Missing” / „El Desfile de los Ausentes”, Marcos Almada Rivero, Mexico 2020
11. „No Leaders Please”, Joan C. Gratz, United States 2020
12. „Mild Madness, Lasting Lunacy”/ „Folie douce, folie dure, Marine Laclotte”, Marine Laclotte France 2020
13. „Billy & Timmy Are Afraid Of The Dark” / „Billy & Timmy Ont Peur Du Noir”, Samuel Van Geesbergen, Belgium 2021
14. „Ecorce”, Samuel Patthey , Silvain Monney, Switzerland 2020
15. „Push This Button if You Begin to Panic”, Gabriel Böhmer, United Kingdom 2020
16. „Natural Selection”, Aleta Rajic, Bosnia and Herzegovina 2019
17. „The Expected”, Carolina Sandvik, Sweden 2021
18. „Gold Is Eating People”, Su Xia, China 2020
19. „On / Off”, Nicolas P. Villarreal, Argentina 2020
20. „House of memory”/ „La casa de la memoria”, Sofía Rosales Arreola, Mexico 2020
21. „Jean”, Marion Auvin, France 2020
22. „Precious”/ „Précieux”, Paul Mas, France 2020
23. „Mom’s Hair”, Alexey Evstigneev, Russian Federation 2021
24. „Sad Beauty”, Arjan Brentjes, Netherlands 2020
25. „On Time”, Zbigniew Czapla, Poland 2021
26. „Dream Of Kafka”, David Babayan, Armenia 2020
27. „Anywhere” / „Akárhová”, Zsófia Osztós, Hungary 2021
28. „The Owl and the Pussycat”, Mole Hill, United Kingdom 2020
29. „Metallo”, Calvin Antoine Blandin (CAB) , France 2021
30. „ALTÖTTING”, Andreas Hykade, Germany 2020
31. „Invisible Eyes” / „보이지 않는 눈 (Boiji Anneun Nun)”, JUNG Seung-hee, Republic of Korea 2020
32. „Your Own Bullshit”, Daria Kopiec, Poland 2020
33. „Prince in a pastry shop”, Katarzyna Agopsowicz, Poland 2020
34. „Co-ognition” / „Roz-poznanie”, Przemyslaw Swida, Poland 2020
35. „Thanadoula”, Robin McKenna, Canada 2020
36. „4 North A”, Jordan Canning , Howie Shia, Canada 2020
37. „Mondo Domino”, Suki, France 2021
38. „A little sun in the cold waters of Beslan” / „Немного солнца в холодных водах Беслана”, Alexey Chamin, Russian Federation 2021
39. „Empty Places”, Geoffroy de Crécy, France 2020
40. „LOVE IN TIMES OF COAL-BASED ECONOMY” / „Miłość w czasach gospodarki opartej na węglu”, Tomek Siwiński, Polska, Chorwacja 2021
41. „Affairs of the Art.”, Joanna Quinn, United Kingdom 2020
42. „Soft and White”, Gina Kamentsky, United States 2020
43. „The Wild Cow”, Tom Schroeder, United States 2021
44. “The Hangman at Home”, Michelle & Uri Kranot, Denmark 2021
Official selection of the International Animated Series Competition:
1. „Abraca”, Christophe Butleel, Fabrice Nzinzin, France 2020
2. „Bill N Back”, Olivier Brisson, Canada 2021
3. „Peanut Headz: Black History Toonz TOY/JOY”, Jason Fleurant, United States 2021
4. „Women Undercover - Yola”, Aurélie Pollet, France 2020
5. „Urban Legends / Love”, Kati Glaser, Hungary 2020
6. „Storie Zitte / Silent Tales”, Simone Angelini, Italy 2020
7. „In the Desert" (3rd episode of the series "Jesus, the Story of a Word”)”, Antoine Robert, France 2020
8. „Wilq Superbohater” - Zebry z Bronxu”, Leszek Nowicki, Bartosz Minkiewicz, Poland 2019
9. „Smart You - Your Automated Self”, Fabian Mosele, Italy 2021
10. „Jimmy & The Magic Key”, Xavi Carmona, Lluís Viciana, Spain
11. „Little Monsters - Monster in the dark”, Ben Bradbury, United Kingdom 2020
12. „The Other Way Wolf”, Ira Elshansky, Russian Federation 2020
13. „Bella in the belly: Listen to this”, Jacek Rokosz, Poland 2019
14. „Hug me: Big one and small one”, Tomek Miazga, Poland 2019
15. „Bobaski i MIŚ” / Babies and the Bear, Marek Skrobecki, Poland 2020
16. „Orange Moo Cow”, Maria Koneva, Russia 2021
17. „Tattoo”, Ewelina Stefańska, Poland 2021
18 .„Out Of Syllabus- Pay Your Help”, Mihir Lele, India 2020
19. „Taffy”, Ahmed Guerrouache, France 2019
20. „Brazen - Mae Jemison”, Phuong Mai Nguyen, Charlotte Cambon de Lavalette, France 2020
21 .„Daddydelphia”, Harold Eric, United States 2021
22 .„Taking on the Traffickers”, Shanshan Chen, UK 2020
23. „Can I Keep Him?”, María Rosario Carlino, Patricia Gualpa, Argentina 2019
24. „Fail in Love - Bite on the side”, Cécile Rousset , Romain Blanc-Tailleur, Adrienne Nowak, France 2020
25. „There Is No 'I' In Island - Forest of fears”, Rebecca Thomson, Australia 2021
26. „Park West”, Natan Badalov, United States 2020
27. „Let's grow up!”, Magdalena Pilecka, Poland 2020
28. „MITCH-MATCH series #20”, Géza M. Tóth, Hungary 2020
Official selection of the International Feature Film Competition:
1. „Zabij to i wyjedź z tego miasta” / „Kill It And Leave This Town”, Mariusz Wilczyński, Poland 2020, 88’
2. „Primal: Tales of Savagery”, Genndy Tartakovsky, USA 2019, 85’
3. „Elulu”, Gabriel Verdugo Soto, Chile 2020, 61’
4. „My Favorite War”, Ilze Burkovska Jacobsen, Norway, Latvia 2020, 82’
5. „Archipel”, Félix DUFOUR-LAPERRIÈRE, Canada 2021, 72’
Official selection of the ANIMATOR.PL Polish Animated Film Competition:
1. „We can still be friends”, reż. Ewa Sztefka, 2020, 5’14”
2. „We lost the sea" / „Zgubiliśmy morze”, reż. Joanna Dudek, 2019, 5’
3. „Five Minutes Older” / „Pięć Minut Starsza”, reż. Sara Szymańska, 2020, 5’57”
4. „Ashes” / „Popioły", reż. Joanna Dudek, 2020, 7'49"
5. „98 kg” / Siłaczka”, reż. Izabela Plucińska, 2021, 5’10”
6. „Dog's Field”, reż. Michalina Musialik, 2020, 11’48”
7. „Beasts among us” / „Bestie wokół nas”, reż. Natalia Durszewicz, 2021, 6’
8. „Let's grow up!”, reż. Magdalena Pilecka, 2020, 0’39”
9. „Crumbs of life” / „Okruszki życia”, reż Katarzyna Miechowicz, 2020, 7'
10. „The Third Day” / „Trzeci dzień”, reż. Weronika Leszczyńska, 2020, 2’53”
11. „Between”, reż. Aneta Siurnicka, 2020, 2’50”
12. „Mała dziewczynka ściąga obrus”, reż. Liza Svortsova, 2021, 1’48”
13. „Dream Vehicle” / „Pojazd marzenie”, reż. Michał Mróz, 2020, 8'
14. „Empty room” / „Pusty pokój”, reż. Jakub Baniak, 2020, 15’30”
15. „Housewife” / „Krzątaczka”, reż. Dominika Wyrobek, 2021, 5’08”
16. „Ole-Luk-Oie”, reż. Joanna Jasińska-Koronkiewicz, 2021, 13’20”
17. „Under the waterweeds”, reż. Anita Kwiatkowska-Naqvi, 2020, 4’56”
18. „Tutorial: Prologue”, reż. Łukasz Sosiński, 2020, 10'42"
19. „On Time”, reż. Zbigniew Czapla, 2021, 5’30”
20. „Miłość w czasach gospodarki opartej na węglu”, reż. Tomasz Siwiński, 2021, 12'
21. „Książę w cukierni” / „Prince in a pastry shop”, reż. Katarzyna Agopsowicz, 2020, 16’
22. „Fears and Fairies”, reż. Bogusz Żelech, 2021, 5’41
23. „Furia/Fury”, reż. Julia Siuda, 2021, 5’
24. „Choice”, reż. Dudek Pulit, 2020, 4’55”
25. „My unrest” / „Mój niepokój”, reż. Joanna Szlembarska, 2020, 3’29”
26. „Self-Portrait as Felt”, reż. Julia Benedyktowicz, 2021, 7’27”
27. „Opus Magnum”, reż. Aleksander Makowski, 2021, 4’24”
28. „Strach”, reż. Bartosz Zarzycki, 2020, 6’
29. „Bindings" / „PrzywiązAnia”, reż. Anna Jurga, 2019, 5’50”
30. „Dom w skorupce” / „Home in a shell”, reż. Renata Gąsiorowska, 2020, 6'
31. „Insect", reż. Marcin Podolec, 2021, 29’50”
32. „The girl from the porno movie”, reż. Janek Koza, 2020, 4’44”
33. „The bird in a cage” / „Ptaszek w klatce”. reż. Pola Włodarczyk, 2021, 5’12”
34. „Once upon a time in Israel” / „Pewnego razu w Izraelu”, reż. Weronika Szyma, 2021, 10’44”
35. „The Moon” / „Księżyc”, reż. Tomek Popakul, 2020, 12’
36. „0”, reż. Agata Wyrwicka, 2020, 5’
37. „My Lil' Bud (Flower)”, reż. Maksymilian Rzontkowski, 2020, 3’13”
The winners will be announced at the Festival's closing gala on 15 July 2021.
Fingers crossed!
Animator Unselected
The thrill of the selection process is not yet over. As in previous years, our audience will have an opportunity to select films that will get wild card entries to the Festival's official selection.
The online screenings will be held in May (20-21.05) and the viewers will vote for a Polish animated short that will win an opportunity to compete for the Golden Animusz in the ANIMATOR.PL Polish Animated Film Competition.
In June (11-12.06) we will meet online and onsite in Muza Cinema in Poznań, Poland, to select a wild card entrant to compete for the Festival's Grand Prix in the International Short Film Competition.
For more details, please visit our website at animator-festival.com.
14. ANIMATOR takes place in Poznań, Poland, and online from 9 to 15 July 2021.
See you soon!
