The Ottawa International Animation Festival announces the seven feature films in Official Competition at this year’s Festival, including award-winning titles from the international festival circuit.
OTTAWA, 3 July 2024 – The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) unveils the seven animated feature films selected for this year’s Official Competition. This year’s Features Competition includes a strong showing of emerging and established animators from the international festival circuit. The selected films are eligible for the Grand Prize for Feature Animation, which will be determined during the Festival by the animation expertise of Neil Hunter (Canada), Dahee Jeong (South Korea) and Thomas Volda (Croatia).
“It’s remarkable to see how diverse and interesting feature animation has grown, especially with this year’s competition being one of the strongest we’ve had in years,” says OIAF Artistic Director Chris Robinson. “We’ve got a handful of lesser-known gems that are sure to travel the festival circuit (the astonishing Olivia & The Clouds, the mysterious Journey of Shadows, and the hypnotic weirdness of Boys Go to Jupiter) alongside a trip of films that have already been recognized globally (Flow, Sultana’s Dream and Memoir of a Snail).”
The 2024 Features Competition includes:
- Boys Go to Jupiter (dir. Julian Glander, United States)
- El sueño de la Sultana (Sultana’s Dream) (dir. Isabel Herguera, Spain, Germany and India)
- Flow (dir. Gints Zilbalodis, Latvia, Belgium and France)
- Memoir of a Snail (dir. Adam Elliot, Australia)
- Olivia & Las Nubes (Olivia & the Clouds) (dir. Tomás Pichardo Espaillat, Dominican Republic)
- Reise der Schatten (Journey of Shadows) (dir. Yves Netzhammer, Switzerland)
- Sunburnt Unicorn (dir. Nick Johnson, Canada)
The latest animated feature from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Elliot, Memoir of a Snail premiered at Annecy International Animation Film Festival earlier this year. The stop-motion film featuring the voices of Sarah Snook (Succession and The Dressmaker), Kodi Smit-McPhee (ParaNorman and Let Me In) and Magda Szubanski (Happy Feet and Happy Feet Two) won the Cristal Award for a Feature Film.
Zilbalodis’s Flow, which was selected to premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, also had an impressive showing at Annecy International Animation Film Festival and was awarded the Jury Award, the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution, the Audience Award, and the Best Original Music Award for a Feature Film. The feminist sci-fi short story-inspired El sueño de la Sultana (Sultana’s Dream) was recognized at the Festival with the Contrechamp Grand Prix and won the Grand Prix at Animafest Zagreb 2024.
Johnson’s Sunburnt Unicorn, an adventurous coming-of-age tale features the musical score of Yellowknife-born sisters Inuksuk Mackay and Tiffany Ayalik. Known as the throat-singing duo PIQSIQ, the soundtrack for the animated feature developed by the duo is entirely lyric-less.
At the time of their selection for Official Competition, Olivia & Las Nubes (Olivia & the Clouds) will have its World Premiere at Ottawa, while Reise der Schatten (Journey of Shadows) and Boys Go to Jupiter will make their respective Canadian debuts.
About the Ottawa International Animation Festival
The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) is one of the world’s leading animation events providing screenings, exhibits, workshops and entertainment since 1976. Attracting artists, producers, students and animation fans from around the globe, the OIAF brings together art and industry to experience world-class animated works. This year’s OIAF runs from September 25 to September 29. Visit the OIAF website for more information about this year’s events and festival entry process.