Melbourne – MIAF09 – We want your Films!

The Melbourne International Animation Festival (MIAF) is one of the largest animation festivals in the world. It usually screens 350+ films each year in competitive, student, curated & retrospective programs. The festival aims to challenge and inspire audiences with thematic, aesthetic and technical diversity from award winners, outstanding industry veterans and those wonderful newcomers who are exploring their talent on screen for the very first time. MIAF generates a smaller touring festival called the Australian International Animation Festival, is the submissions base for UTS Sydney International Animation Festival, London International Animation Festival and provides specific programming advice to the New Zealand Film Festival. When you submit your film to MIAF, your film is automatically considered for each of these festivals although these other events will send you separate and specific invitations if they wish to screen your film. Entry is free and to be considered eligible, films should have been completed AFTER 1 January 2007.

Submission deadline: 16 January
To read full festival guidelines and download your entry form please visit:
http://www.miaf.net/2009/entries.html

Recollecting Adams

‘Recollecting Adams’ is a 25-part web-based animation series that will conclude in December 2009. A new episode will launch every two weeks. The people of Adams, Massachusetts are gifted storytellers. People in Adams really know its history and love sharing it. They weave their personal family stories into a rich history of immigration, the mills, the Church and more, across several generations.  ‘Recollecting Adams’ is a 2008 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc., (aka Ether-Ore) for its Turbulence web site.

You need Flash 9 to view these animations.

http://transition.turbulence.org/Works/recollecting

Media Mentorship for Women – Call for Applications

Applications for Mentorship Round 2 are open! If you are interested in applying please download the Guidelines and Application form at http://www.nsw.wift.org/MENTOR

The Media Mentorship for Women (MMW) program will establish mentor relationships between industry professionals and women who are seeking to further their careers in key technical areas such as Cinematography, Editing, Sound Design, Music Composition, Directing, Script Writing, Animation, Location Management, Media Law, Interactive Media and other areas in which women are consistently under represented.

APPLY NOW! Deadline: 6 February 2009

ENQUIRIES: If you would like to participate as a Mentor please email Ana Tiwary (MMW Program Director) at mentorship@wiftnsw.org.au

http://www.nsw.wift.org/MENTOR

Women in Film and Television NSW is committed to improving the status of women, both on and off the screen, by supporting and advancing women working in the film, television and related screen industries. We are a
membership based non-profit organisation.

Outcasting is an online moving image gallery

This is a voluntary organisation that offers a platform for practitioners of the moving image. Artists, filmmakers, animators and documentary makers are selected for screenings of their work in bimonthly Seasons and will then be archived on the site. There will also be public screenings, events and some work will be distributed on DVD.

Outcasting is always looking for submissions to screen in the next Season. If you work with moving images and want your work to be considered then do one of the following;

1. Send a URL if your work is online.
2. Send a data DVD with .mov files of your work to Outcasting,
c/o Michael Cousin, 116 Paget Street, Grangetown, Cardiff, United Kingdom. CF11 7LA.
3. Email your work via http://www.pando.com (up to 1GB for free or 3GB for $24.95 a year).

Website: http://www.outcasting.org

Season 6 of Outcasting is scheduled to commence on 1 February – 31 March. All submissions welcome.

Getting Real About Sustainable Screens – GRASS

GRASS is a new initiative aimed at assisting film, TV, animation and digital media production companies, directors and technicians reduce the environmental impact of their businesses.

GRASS is committed to the creation of sustainable industry practices through lobbying government and facilitating education programs. It also provides resources to help film makers reduce their carbon footprints.

GRASS is spear headed by Harriet McKern, General Manager of the Australian Directors Guild, Emma Lawrence, Producer at Caravan Pictures and co-founder of The Rozelle Protocol (http://www.rozelle protocol.com.au protocol.com.au) & Nell Schofield, film reviewer and one of Al Gore’s Climate Project Presenters. 

Website: http://www.grass.org.au
Sponsored by: Australian Directors Guild 

Animata

Source: animata.kibu.hu

Animata is an open source real-time animation software, designed to create animations, interactive background projections for concerts, theatre and dance performances.

Fear(s) of the Dark : give the gift of weirdness

DON’T COME ALONE!

FEAR(S) OF THE DARK is a unique collection of fearful tales by the world’s most cutting-edge, acclaimed graphic artists. Their intertwined stories make up an unprecedented epic where phobias, disgust and nightmares come to life and reveal fear at its most naked and intense.

The concept is simple:six of the world’s best graphic artists (Blutch, Charles Burns, Peirre di Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, Richard McGuire and Marie Caillou) were asked to create a black and white short film based on their own personal nightmares.

The resulting monochromatic quilt shows a vast range of styles and tones. From the comedic, the bloody, the experimental and the downright creepy, all of the films are incredibly imaginative and effective in their own way.

Charles Burns; this graphic novel titan delivers our favorite film of the bunch. A young entymologist finds more comfort in his six-legged friends than the humans in his life, but when he brings a woman home, their companionship might prove to be problematic.

Blutch: His film, a hunter chasing his own particular brand of varmint through the woods is interwoven in small segments, providing a narrative thread to the entire tale.

Pierre di Sciullo: The only animator on this project produces the most abstract entry. Patterns of lines and shapes morph across the screen, narrated with his more politically aware concepts of “fear”.

Mari Caillou: In counterpoint to di Sciullo, Marie’s lighthearted, anime-inspired story follows a young girl haunted by violent hallucinations while asleep and tormented by bullies at school while awake.

Lorenzo Mattoti: Easily the most virtuoso animation talent of the group, Mattoti chronicle’s a monster who is terrorizing a small village, told from the perspective of a former resident of the town.

Richard McGuire: The final segment is a straight-forward haunted house tale, but animated in a fresh, bold and creative style. The story is sparse, but the amazing visual imagery is the real focus.

Purchase from Madman Films>..

Animation Competition through iiNet – deadline 8 Dec

iiNet is hosting an inaugural animation competition with the grand prize being a trip to Annecy, France for the Annecy International Animation Festival in conjunction with the Sydney Festival 09.

The prizes are awesome, the judging panel is full of industry gurus including Brian Green from Pixar and its a great opportunity for Australian animators to have their work shown.

Website:http://www.iinet.net.au/getanimated

Submissions are open now, til the 8th of Dec, 08

Insight SBS Tv: Expressions of Interest

In mid February 09 the Insight program at SBS TV are holding a youth forum for 10 – 25 yos from around the country on the subject of parental separation and divorce. Insight is currently looking for young people who could be interested in taking part.

As part of the program Insight will also be offering participants in the forum the opportunity to tell their story (which could be just a straight snapshot of their family) by way of a video diary, short film clip, animation, or photographic or visual art piece. These pieces / clips should be no more than 3mins in length; Insight will show four of the most engaging & thoughtful of these in the program and use them as a starting point for discussion on the issues or ideas they raise. Submissions that aren’t used in the program can also be put up on their website.

If you are interested in either participating in the forum or submitting some work for the program, please email OPEN CHANNEL at info@openchannel.org.au with your details.

Mary and Max Open Sundance

Congratulations to Melbourne-based director Adam Elliot and producer Melanie Coombes whose feature film MARY AND MAX  has been selected to open the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. This is the first time an Australian film has opened the popular North American festival. Together with Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Barry Humphries and ‘Molly’ Meldrum and Eric Bana lend their vocal talents to this highly anticipated animated film.

http://www.maryandmax.com/