OIAF 2024: Ottawa’s animated shorts competition proves that animation isn’t just for kids

The Ottawa International Animation Festival highlights animation as a medium of mature and comedic themes with the announcement of its Commissioned, Narrative, Non-Narrative, Student, and Canadian Student competitions.

OTTAWA, 10 July 2024 – The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) announces the final animated short films selected for competition. The Festival received a total of 2308 entries for this year’s edition, representing 93 countries. Sixty-nine submissions were selected for the Animated Shorts Competition, including the Canadian Student category and the previously announced Young Audiences 7+ and Teen Audiences 13+ competitions. The Commissioned, Narrative, Non-Narrative and Student categories will be judged during the Festival by the OIAF Shorts Jury, formed by the expertise of Jonathan Djob Nkondo (France/United Kingdom), Anastasiya Verlinska (Ukraine) and Ivana Volda (Croatia). Winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on September 28 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

“Given the state of the world, it’s no surprise that many of the short films selected for competition are considering the present, the future, and what that means for us as a society,” says OIAF Artistic Director Chris Robinson. “But, we’ve also selected an assortment of lighter and comedic works about male balding, Woody and Buzz in conflict, and a basketball-playing dog having an existential crisis. This crop of films reminds us that animation is not just the domain of children and fluffy entertainment; it continues to be a potent piece of personal and poetic expression.”

The Commissioned category includes:

• AJR ‚Maybe Man‘ (dir. Edoardo Ranaboldo, United States and Croatia)
• Corridor ‚Jump Cut‘ (dir. Winston Hacking, Canada)
• Crumb ‚Crushxd‘ (dirs. Alex Futtersak and Abraham El-Makawy, United States)
• High Street Repeat (dirs. Osbert Parker and Laurie Hill, United Kingdom)
• Hulu ‚Zapped‘ (dir. Simon Wilches Castro, United States)
• Je Pars (I’m Leaving) (dir. Michelle Brand, France and Germany)
• Les Savy Fav ‚Guzzle Blood‘ (dirs. Christy Karacas and Luca Depardon, United States)
• Let U Go (dir. Jean-Baptiste Bertholom, France)
• Pinocchio (dir. Jonny Crickets, United States)

STAMPFER DREAMS – Trailer from Thomas Renoldner on Vimeo.

The Narrative category includes:

• Beautiful Men (dir. Nicolas Keppens, Belgium, France and Netherlands)
• Cipők és paták (Shoes and Hooves) (dir. Viktória Traub, Hungary)
• Circle (dir. Yumi Joung, Republic of Korea)
• Confetti (dir. Amanda Bonaiuto, United States)
• Cuaderno de Nombres (Notebook of Names) (dirs. Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña, Chile)
• Die Falte (The Fold) (dir. Patrick Buhr, Germany)
• I Died in Irpin (dir. Anastasiia Falileieva, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine)
• Innego końca nie będzie (There Will Be No Other End) (dir. Piotr Milczarek, Poland)
• Kawauso (dir. Akihito Izuhara, Japan)
• La Voix des Sirènes (dir. Gianluigi Toccafondo, France and Italy)
• Les Crustasses (dir. Théo Hovnanian, France)
• Les gens dans l’armoire (Society of Clothes) (dir. Dahee Jeong, France, Republic of Korea and Canada)
• Long Distance (dir. Michael Frei, Switzerland)
• Maybe Elephants (dir. Torill Kove, Norway and Canada)
• MIMT (dir. Ted Wiggin, United States)
• Once Upon a Time on Earth (dir. Phil Mulloy, United Kingdom)
• Percebes (dirs. Alexandra Ramires and Laura Gonçalves, Portugal and France)
• Samochód, który wrócił z morza (The Car That Came Back from the Sea) (dir. Jadwiga  Kowalska, Switzerland)
• Silent Panorama (dir. Nicolas Piret, Belgium)
• Stampfer Dreams (dir. Thomas Renoldner, Austria)
• Todos los futuros (dir. Barbara Cerro, France and Argentina)

Trailer: The Fold / Die Falte (2024) from Patrick Buhr on Vimeo.

The Non-Narrative category includes:

• Freeride in C (dir. Edmunds Jansons, Latvia)
• Gina Kamentsky’s Pinocchio in 70mm (dir. Gina Kamentsky, United States)
• Glass House (dir. Boris Labbé, France)
• In the Shallows (dir. Arash Akhgari, Canada)
• Larry (dirs. Christopher Rutledge and Takeshi Murata, United States)
• Mémoire entropique (Entropic Memory) (dir. Nicolas Brault, Canada)
• Moral Support (dir. Vuk Jevremovic, Croatia)
• Samaa (dir. Ehsan Gharib, Canada)
• SKRFF (dirs. Corrie Francis Parks and Daniel Nuderscher, Austria)
• you’ve got a friend in me (dir. Peter Millard, United Kingdom)

The Student category includes:

• Bunnyhood (dir. Mansi Maheshwari, United Kingdom)
• Carrotica (dir. Daniel Sterlin-Altman, Germany)
• Keep Out (dir. Tan-Lui Chan, Hong Kong and Czech Republic)
• La meuf de Jay (Jay’s Girl) (dir. Lola Lefèvre, France)
• Martyr’s Guidebook (dir. Maks Rzontkowski, Poland)
• Moving Mountains (dir. Jessica Poon, Germany)
• Ne rompez pas la chaîne du froid ! (Keep Frozen!) (dir. Jeanne Tiessé, France)
• Passing Through (dir. Asia Miller, United States)
• recess (dir. Talos Prophet, United States)
• ヤポラポンキー (Yapolaponky) (dir. Masataka Kihara, Japan)

The Canadian Student category includes:

• 91 Thousand Unrelenting Stitches (dir. Samuel Wasserman, OCAD University)
• A Penny for a Cockroach (dir. Alexandra Ouchev, Concordia University)
• Downfall (dirs. Melanie Francesconi Bruscain, Connor Switzer, Jasper Ashley, Benjamin Hamilton, Christina Kim, Cassidy Cooper, Dana Wong, Yeong Eom, Rylie Prentice, Mahum Farooqui, Shaylee Yu, Marine Arutiunian, Valerie Wei, Treasure Blackstock, Xue Hua Wang, and Zoe Lee, Sheridan College)
• Finding another entrance, trying the same door (dir. Adrienne Scott, University of Toronto)
• Happiness (dir. Nil Yurdakul, Emily Carr University of Art + Design)
• Hardrocks (dirs. Paul-Emile Landez, Félicie Diaz, Juliette Uliana, Lise Caro, Bérangère Géhan, Rubika Montreal)
• Heartland (dir. Helen Peng, Sheridan College)
• Hope in the Tundra (dir. Jesu Medina, Concordia University)
• Lunch Time (dir. Vicky Gao, Concordia University)
• No Plan (dir. Alexanne Dicaire Fry, Concordia University)
• Pursuit of the Odds (dir. A. John Yates and Anika Sorkilmo, Concordia University)
• Rabies (dir. Laurence Thérien, Université du Québec à Montréal)
• Ronny: A Crocumentary (dir. Abbey Collings, Sheridan College)
• Rudy Goes Sightseeing (dir. Sadie Berger, Concordia University)
• Somewhere Real (dir. Kate Solar, NSCAD University)
• The Yearbook (dir. Charlie Galea McClure, Concordia University)
• Valse Périmée (Rotten Waltz) (dir. Émile Désilets, Université du Québec à Montréal)

Animation studio Bento Box returns to present the Bento Box Award for Best Student Animation, including a cash prize of $1000 CAD for the winner. XPPen will be providing an XPPen Magic Drawing Pad to the winner of the XPPen Craft Award Prize for Best Animation Technique.

In recognition of Canadian talent, Canadian animated shorts in the Commissioned, Narrative, Non-Narrative, Young Audiences 7+, and Teen Audiences 13+ categories will be eligible for the 2024 DGC Award for Best Canadian Animation Film. The winner of the award will receive a $1000 CAD cash prize provided by the Directors Guild of Canada.

All winners will receive an award statue designed by Ottawa-based, scrap metal artist, Tick Tock Tom. The statues are working phénakisticopes featuring an animation by New York artist George Griffin.