The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) has announced the films competing in the Feature Film Category. This year’s OIAF runs September 17-21.
“This year’s feature film competitors,” said Chris Robinson, OIAF artistic director, “are among the most diverse we’ve ever had in competition. Using an array of animation techniques (drawn, paint, puppet), the films address sensitive and mature topics (political oppression, wrongful prosecution, environment, love and loneliness) in highly original, engaging and sometimes hilarious and absurd ways.”
Two animated documentaries highlight the competition: Seth’s Dominion (Luc Chamberlain, Canada) and Truth Has Fallen (Sheila Sofian, USA). Seth’s Dominion is a nostalgic and inspiring look at the life of cartoonist Seth. Truth has Fallen uses both live action and animation to tell the story of three people wrongly accused of murder.
Tante Hilda (Aunt Hilda) from Jacques-Remy Girerd & Benoît Chieux, France, is a complex, challenging, yet fun film geared to both adults and kids. For those who like surreal, dark musicals animated with fruit, there’s Lisa Limone ja Maroc Orange: tormakas armulugu (Lisa Limone and Maroc Orange: a Rapid Love Story) from Mait Laas of Estonia. Rounding out the selections is Até que a Sbórnia nos separe (Until Sbornia do us part) from Otto Guerra & Ennio Torresan Jr., Brazil. Based on the long running musical Tangos & Tragedies, the film examines corporate dominance and environmental issues through the story of Sbornia, an eccentric and poetic country which is introduced to the modern world when a wall collapses.
The OIAF is one of the world’s leading animation events providing screenings, exhibits, workshops and entertainment since 1976. OIAF draws some 28,000 artists, producers, students and animation fans from around the world.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More