From the comprehensive Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival (台北金馬影展) to the theme-specific Chiayi City International Art Documentary Film Festival (嘉義國際藝術紀錄片影展), Taiwan enjoys a plethora of film festivals — all, that is, except animation. But now, after years of cinematic neglect, the Taichung International Animation Festival (台中國際動畫影展) fills the void with a festival that includes 155 animated works from 24 countries.
Festival director Chen Yi-ching (陳怡菁) says the primary goal is to establish a regular platform for Taiwanese animators and to facilitate exchanges with industry professionals from other countries.
“It will help push Taiwanese animators and their work onto the international stage,” Chen says.
Photo courtesy of Taichung International Animation Festival
The festival, which is under the auspices of Taichung City Government, includes a competition for Taiwanese productions. Forty-three animated shorts, 80 percent of which were made by non-professionals, were nominated from 379 entries to compete for the top cash prize of NT$500,000, Chen says that although Taiwan has no shortage of creative filmmakers, it lacks a market for commercially produced animated movies.
Co-productions are a viable way to produce feature-length films. One section of the festival will introduce participants to the collaborative programs at Korea National University of Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts and Communication University of China. The programs allow students to gain first-hand experience with international co-productions. Hopefully, universities in Taiwan can soon join the network, Chen says.
The Best of Best section, which features award-winning shorts from Annecy Animation Film Festival, Ottawa International Animation Festival and the Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival, might also boost international exchanges.
Photo courtesy of Taichung International Animation Festival
Chen says her personal favorites include Konstantin Bronzit’s 2D work We Can’t Live Without Cosmos.
The poetic Man on the Chair by South Korean director Jeong Da-hee ponders on the meaning of human existence.
Those interested in auteur-driven animation might also want to check out works by the two directors in focus: Theodore Ushev from Bulgaria and Norway’s Torill Kove. Ushev, in particular, is known for his unique aesthetic, which is inspired by the Russian constructivist art movement.
Tower Bawher, for example, is filled with visual references to the constructivists such as Dziga Vertov, Liubov Popova and Aleksandr Rodchenko. His Annecy-winning Gloria Victoria, on the other hand, takes elements from surrealism and cubism to explore the relationship between art and war.
Among other recommended films, My Mommy is in America and She Met Buffalo Bill follows a boy coping with his mother’s death in a small French town. Seth’s Dominion is an animated documentary about Canadian cartoonist Gregory Gallant. From South Korea, The Road Called Life is adapted from three Korean literary works that explore humanity.
The festival will close with April and the Extraordinary World, a 2D arthouse movie that won top feature film at this year’s Annecy. Christian Desmares, one of the directors, will attend the event.
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