A screening of Isabel Herguera’s San Sebastian winner “Sultana’s Dream” will kickstart the inaugural edition of AniMela, India’s first-ever international festival for animation, VFX, Xr, gaming and comics, in Mumbai.
The screening will be followed by a Q&a with Herguera, alongside her Spanish and Indian crew, including Indian animation expert Upamanyu Bhattacharyya. AniMela’s film program includes features “The Peasants,” “Slide,” “Josep,” “Calamity,” “Unicorn Wars,” “Hokkyoku Hyakkaten No – Concierge San,” “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” and shorts under the thematic headings “India Collection,” “Queer Collection” and “Diversity & Identity: Dutch Shorts.”
AniMela’s Knowledge Center hosts workshops, panel discussions and masterclasses with Indian and international stalwarts from the animation, VFX and gaming industries including Annecy Festival director Mickaël Marin, Annecy Film Market director Veronique Encrenaz, VFX Supervisor Srinivas Mohan and filmmaker and educator Nina Sabnani. Highlights include a behind the scenes look at Milind D. Shinde’s “Bandits...
The screening will be followed by a Q&a with Herguera, alongside her Spanish and Indian crew, including Indian animation expert Upamanyu Bhattacharyya. AniMela’s film program includes features “The Peasants,” “Slide,” “Josep,” “Calamity,” “Unicorn Wars,” “Hokkyoku Hyakkaten No – Concierge San,” “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” and shorts under the thematic headings “India Collection,” “Queer Collection” and “Diversity & Identity: Dutch Shorts.”
AniMela’s Knowledge Center hosts workshops, panel discussions and masterclasses with Indian and international stalwarts from the animation, VFX and gaming industries including Annecy Festival director Mickaël Marin, Annecy Film Market director Veronique Encrenaz, VFX Supervisor Srinivas Mohan and filmmaker and educator Nina Sabnani. Highlights include a behind the scenes look at Milind D. Shinde’s “Bandits...
- 1/18/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
High powered global experts will feature at the inaugural edition of AniMela, India’s first-ever international festival for animation, VFX, Xr, gaming and comics (Avgc-xr).
The four-day event is by India’s Aniverse and Visual Arts Foundation (Avaf), which has partnered with the government of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and France’s Annecy International Animation Festival. As revealed by Variety, the festival will take place Jan. 18-21, 2024, in Mumbai. The venue is confirmed as the National Film Development Corporation’s Films Division campus in downtown Mumbai.
AniMela’s knowledge section will feature Luce Grosjean, Rajiv Chilaka (creator of “Chhota Bheem”), Oscar-nominated Australian animator Lachlan Pendragon (“An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It”), Isabel Herguera (director of Spanish-German animation film “Sultana’s Dream”) Mickael Marin (director of Annecy Animation Festival), Veronique Encrenaz (head of Annecy’s market – MIFA) and award-winning Indian animator Upamanyu Bhattacharyya.
The four-day event is by India’s Aniverse and Visual Arts Foundation (Avaf), which has partnered with the government of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and France’s Annecy International Animation Festival. As revealed by Variety, the festival will take place Jan. 18-21, 2024, in Mumbai. The venue is confirmed as the National Film Development Corporation’s Films Division campus in downtown Mumbai.
AniMela’s knowledge section will feature Luce Grosjean, Rajiv Chilaka (creator of “Chhota Bheem”), Oscar-nominated Australian animator Lachlan Pendragon (“An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It”), Isabel Herguera (director of Spanish-German animation film “Sultana’s Dream”) Mickael Marin (director of Annecy Animation Festival), Veronique Encrenaz (head of Annecy’s market – MIFA) and award-winning Indian animator Upamanyu Bhattacharyya.
- 12/1/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
When Hayao Miyazaki’s semi-autobiographical fantasy “The Boy and the Heron” had its international premiere Sept. 7, it wasn’t just the first animated film to open TIFF, or the master director’s first in a decade. It is also part of an unexpected resurgence of animated work at major international festivals.
“When we started doing [2017’s] ‘Loving Vincent,’ only one adult animated film every five years got any kind of recognition,” says Hugh Welchman, who directed ”Vincent” and “The Peasants,” which premiered Sept. 8 at TIFF, with wife D.K. Welchman. “Now it seems that every year one kind of breaks out.”
Their Oscar-nominated Vincent van Gogh biopic helped inspire this trend, earning $42.2 million worldwide on a $5.5 million budget. “Heron” is already continuing arthouse animation’s successful run, taking in $50.6 million since July in Japan alone. And prominent fests are increasing their support: in 2019, Cannes launched an Animation Day in partnership with the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
“When we started doing [2017’s] ‘Loving Vincent,’ only one adult animated film every five years got any kind of recognition,” says Hugh Welchman, who directed ”Vincent” and “The Peasants,” which premiered Sept. 8 at TIFF, with wife D.K. Welchman. “Now it seems that every year one kind of breaks out.”
Their Oscar-nominated Vincent van Gogh biopic helped inspire this trend, earning $42.2 million worldwide on a $5.5 million budget. “Heron” is already continuing arthouse animation’s successful run, taking in $50.6 million since July in Japan alone. And prominent fests are increasing their support: in 2019, Cannes launched an Animation Day in partnership with the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
- 9/8/2023
- by Gregg Goldstein
- Variety Film + TV
“Bestia” director Hugo Covarrubias and producer Tevo Diaz joined “Coded: The Hidden Love of J.C. Leyendecker” director Ryan White; “Lynching Postcards: Token of a Great Day” director Christine Turner; “The Criminals” director Serhat Karaaslan; and “The Musician” director Reza Riahi and producer Eleanor Coleman for TheWrap’s awards season discussion on some of the short films that made this year’s Oscars shortlist.
Turner’s “Lynching Postcards: Token of a Great Day” looks back at the history of lynching in America through the ways they’ve been documented on souvenir postcards from 1880 to 1968.
Turner described how photographers would take pictures of the lynchings and create postcards of the imagery that people would then send to their friends and family. She says that while the imagery was “graphic,” she tried to focus viewers’ eyes on the amount of people attending the lynchings and the fact that families were there, rather than the lynching itself,...
Turner’s “Lynching Postcards: Token of a Great Day” looks back at the history of lynching in America through the ways they’ve been documented on souvenir postcards from 1880 to 1968.
Turner described how photographers would take pictures of the lynchings and create postcards of the imagery that people would then send to their friends and family. She says that while the imagery was “graphic,” she tried to focus viewers’ eyes on the amount of people attending the lynchings and the fact that families were there, rather than the lynching itself,...
- 1/28/2022
- by Aarohi Sheth
- The Wrap
“Shorts for some time have been the redheaded stepchild and don’t deserve to be. And I think audiences have proved that over the last five years, especially with documentaries, that they’re willing to tune in for nonfiction content in a million different forms,” says director Ryan White. He joined us for our short-film directors panel along with his fellow documentarians Alexandria Jackson (“Sophie and the Baron”) and Christine Turner (“Lynching Postcards”), as well as animated short filmmakers Reza Riahi (“The Musician”) and Mikey Please (“Robin Robin”). All five of them have been shortlisted by the Oscars this year.
Watch our group roundtable discussion above. Click on each name above to watch that person’s individual interview.
Turner sees short films as a way to reach audiences for whom it’s “easier to find 15 minutes, for example, in one’s day-to-day routine than it might be two hours.” The...
Watch our group roundtable discussion above. Click on each name above to watch that person’s individual interview.
Turner sees short films as a way to reach audiences for whom it’s “easier to find 15 minutes, for example, in one’s day-to-day routine than it might be two hours.” The...
- 1/24/2022
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
“I was listening to this instrument called the kamancheh that’s the instrument that the musician plays in the film. And when I was listening … I was really drawn by the mysterious and mystical part of this instrument,” says writer-director Reza Riahi about the inspiration for his film “The Musician,” which is on the Oscars shortlist for Best Animated Short. We talked with Riahi as part of our short-film directors panel. Watch our exclusive interview with him above.
“The Musician” is set during the 13th century when Genghis Khan and his Mongol Empire invaded and occupied Persia. Two young lovers are separated during the invasion but are unexpectedly reunited decades later. “Before I finished my study in animation, I first was studying painting in Tehran in Iran,” Riahi explains, “and back then I was really drawn into all the Persian miniatures and all the history about lovers and kings,” which...
“The Musician” is set during the 13th century when Genghis Khan and his Mongol Empire invaded and occupied Persia. Two young lovers are separated during the invasion but are unexpectedly reunited decades later. “Before I finished my study in animation, I first was studying painting in Tehran in Iran,” Riahi explains, “and back then I was really drawn into all the Persian miniatures and all the history about lovers and kings,” which...
- 1/24/2022
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
Five top filmmakers will reveal secrets behind their projects when they join Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with 2022 Academy Awards and guild contenders. Each person from these animated and documentary shorts is now on the Oscar shortlist. They will participate in two video discussions to premiere on Thursday, January 20, at 4:00 p.m. Pt; 7:00 p.m. Et. We’ll have a one-on-one with our senior editor Daniel Montgomery and a roundtable chat with all of the group together.
RSVP today to this specific event by clicking here to book your reservation. Or click here to RSVP for our entire ongoing panel series throughout January and February. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.
This “Meet the Experts” panel welcomes the following 2022 awards contenders:
“Coded:” Ryan White
Synopsis: Follows the illustrator J.C. Leyendecker, whose legacy laid...
RSVP today to this specific event by clicking here to book your reservation. Or click here to RSVP for our entire ongoing panel series throughout January and February. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.
This “Meet the Experts” panel welcomes the following 2022 awards contenders:
“Coded:” Ryan White
Synopsis: Follows the illustrator J.C. Leyendecker, whose legacy laid...
- 1/13/2022
- by Chris Beachum and Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
Persian art and music provide the inspiration for this tale of lost love, rendered in detailed cutout animation and shadow puppetry by Iranian director Reza Riahi that could easily sit alongside the similarly accomplished work of Michel Ocelot and Lotte Reiniger. The film has been recently listed as one of the ten on the Oscar shortlist, from which five will be chosen for the final vote.
Though it is dialogue-free, memories whisper through the story like the wind we see rustling a weeping willow at key moments. The year is 1279, six decades after the Mongol invasion of Persia and a Mongol emperor is enjoying a feast day. Among those in attendance is a blind musician, whose stringed kamancheh provides a melancholy soundtrack for the action, scored with emotion by . Iranian musician Saba Alizadeh. Dangling from the instrument is an earring, which holds a second tale - from years ago,...
Though it is dialogue-free, memories whisper through the story like the wind we see rustling a weeping willow at key moments. The year is 1279, six decades after the Mongol invasion of Persia and a Mongol emperor is enjoying a feast day. Among those in attendance is a blind musician, whose stringed kamancheh provides a melancholy soundtrack for the action, scored with emotion by . Iranian musician Saba Alizadeh. Dangling from the instrument is an earring, which holds a second tale - from years ago,...
- 12/24/2021
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
MTV Documentary Films’ Hogir Hirori’s “Sabaya” and Jessica Kingdon’s “Ascension” will make their streaming debut on Paramount Plus today as the MTV ramps up its awards campaign for both.
Both feature docs are in the running for an Oscar nomination and will become available to stream today at 10 a.m. Pt on the ViacomCBS service formerly known as CBS All Access. The service is the streaming home for other MTV projects, including the Emmy-award winning doc “76 Days,” about Wuhan, China, on lockdown just after the Covid-19 pandemic first hit.
Sheila Nevins, a documentary powerhouse that now heads MTV Documentary Films, executive produced “Sabaya” and “Ascension.” She acquired “Sabaya” after the doc’s Sundance Film Festival premiere in January and “Ascension” following the film’s Tribeca Film Festival premiere in June.
Hirori’s “Sabaya,” which won the Sundance directing award in the World Cinema Documentary category, is about...
Both feature docs are in the running for an Oscar nomination and will become available to stream today at 10 a.m. Pt on the ViacomCBS service formerly known as CBS All Access. The service is the streaming home for other MTV projects, including the Emmy-award winning doc “76 Days,” about Wuhan, China, on lockdown just after the Covid-19 pandemic first hit.
Sheila Nevins, a documentary powerhouse that now heads MTV Documentary Films, executive produced “Sabaya” and “Ascension.” She acquired “Sabaya” after the doc’s Sundance Film Festival premiere in January and “Ascension” following the film’s Tribeca Film Festival premiere in June.
Hirori’s “Sabaya,” which won the Sundance directing award in the World Cinema Documentary category, is about...
- 11/15/2021
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
The 2021 Palm Springs International ShortFest announced its juried award winners on Sunday night. Awards and cash prizes worth $25,000 including five Academy Award qualifying awards were presented to the winners selected from the 295 shorts films featured in the official selection.
The winners of the following awards may be eligible to submit their shorts to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar consideration. Synopses are courtesy of the festival.
Greater Palm Springs Cvb Best of the Festival Award
Winner: “Unforgivable” (El Salvador), Directed by Marlén Viñayo. A ruthless hitman for the 18th Street gang serves his sentence inside an evangelical Salvadoran prison, where he is guilty not only of his crimes, but of an unforgivable sin under God and gang: being gay.
Special Mention: “Palma” (France), Directed by Alexe Poukine. Jeanne is taking her 6-year-old daughter away for the weekend to Majorca. While everything is going down the drain,...
The winners of the following awards may be eligible to submit their shorts to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar consideration. Synopses are courtesy of the festival.
Greater Palm Springs Cvb Best of the Festival Award
Winner: “Unforgivable” (El Salvador), Directed by Marlén Viñayo. A ruthless hitman for the 18th Street gang serves his sentence inside an evangelical Salvadoran prison, where he is guilty not only of his crimes, but of an unforgivable sin under God and gang: being gay.
Special Mention: “Palma” (France), Directed by Alexe Poukine. Jeanne is taking her 6-year-old daughter away for the weekend to Majorca. While everything is going down the drain,...
- 6/28/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Chicago – Going both ways … in-person screenings in New York City and virtual/online for at-home enjoyment proved a success for the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. The 20th Fest announced their Jury Competition Award Winners on June 17th, with honorees that included Games and Podcasts for the first time.
The top prizes went to “The Novice,” directed by Lauren Hadaway (Best U.S. Narrative), “Brighton 4th,” directed by Levan Koguashivili (Best International Narrative) and “Ascension,” Directed by Jessica Kingdon (Best Documentary).
Best U.S. Narrative Feature for 2021 is ‘The Novice,’ directed by Lauren Hadaway
Photo credit: Tribeca Film Festival
Awards were distributed in the following feature film competition categories – U.S. Narrative, International Narrative, Documentary, New Narrative Director, and the Nora Ephron Prize, honoring a woman writer or director. Awards were also given in the short film categories – Narrative, Documentary, Student Visionary and Animation. New Directors were also honored with Narrative Awards,...
The top prizes went to “The Novice,” directed by Lauren Hadaway (Best U.S. Narrative), “Brighton 4th,” directed by Levan Koguashivili (Best International Narrative) and “Ascension,” Directed by Jessica Kingdon (Best Documentary).
Best U.S. Narrative Feature for 2021 is ‘The Novice,’ directed by Lauren Hadaway
Photo credit: Tribeca Film Festival
Awards were distributed in the following feature film competition categories – U.S. Narrative, International Narrative, Documentary, New Narrative Director, and the Nora Ephron Prize, honoring a woman writer or director. Awards were also given in the short film categories – Narrative, Documentary, Student Visionary and Animation. New Directors were also honored with Narrative Awards,...
- 6/20/2021
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Conceived in 2019 and fielding its first call for projects at last year’s edition, Annecy’s Festival Residency program bore fruit this year, shepherding three projects to pitch sessions at the festival’s MIFA market. They benefitted from nearly six months of professional mentorship and institutional support.
“For some time, festival director Mickaël Marin and I wanted to turn Annecy into a creative outpost, a place where people could actually work on their projects as well,” MIFA head of projects Géraldine Baché tells Variety.
“We reached out to filmmakers and producers to ask where we could offer the most help,” Baché continues. “Quickly enough we oriented this residence around graphic development, because that was the overwhelming response.”
“Often when filmmakers start a project, they are expected to advance too quickly, without the necessary time for reflection and experimentation. They have to rush into production because time is money, so we...
“For some time, festival director Mickaël Marin and I wanted to turn Annecy into a creative outpost, a place where people could actually work on their projects as well,” MIFA head of projects Géraldine Baché tells Variety.
“We reached out to filmmakers and producers to ask where we could offer the most help,” Baché continues. “Quickly enough we oriented this residence around graphic development, because that was the overwhelming response.”
“Often when filmmakers start a project, they are expected to advance too quickly, without the necessary time for reflection and experimentation. They have to rush into production because time is money, so we...
- 6/19/2021
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
The 2021 Tribeca Festival, presented by AT&T, has today unveiled its short film lineup, which includes 46 films from 20 countries worldwide, 70 percent of which are world premieres. The short films will be presented in eight programs: two documentaries, two narratives, two hybrids (including both narrative and documentary), one animation, and one New York shorts program. Additionally, the festival will feature a special curated out-of-competition Juneteenth program and a live performance by Blondie, following the screening of the short film “Blondie: Vivir En La Habana.”
As the festival announced late last month, this year’s event will “transform prominent locations into an expansive 12-day multi-screen outdoor celebration” held June 9 to 20, and is believed to be first major North American film festival to mount such an in-person event. Director Jon M. Chu’s long-awaited “In the Heights,” adapted from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, will open the 20th anniversary edition of Tribeca...
As the festival announced late last month, this year’s event will “transform prominent locations into an expansive 12-day multi-screen outdoor celebration” held June 9 to 20, and is believed to be first major North American film festival to mount such an in-person event. Director Jon M. Chu’s long-awaited “In the Heights,” adapted from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, will open the 20th anniversary edition of Tribeca...
- 4/22/2021
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
The 2021 Tribeca Festival, which announced its full lineup earlier this week, has unveiled a selection of 46 short films from 20 countries in narrative, documentary and animation.
Blondie will perform live following the North American Premiere of Blondie: Vivir En La Habana about the rock band’s first time performance in Havana, Cuba in 2019.
The Festival will run June 9-20 with live in-person events at outdoor venues across New York City’s five boroughs. Many of the films will be available for U.S. audiences to view online the day after they premiere in person through the Tribeca at Home virtual hub.
The 2020 Shorts Programs will also be screened at the 2021 Festival with 64 films in ten programs. Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind will perform after a screening of Rhythm of Life.
“As we curated these in-person programs, we thought a great deal about the challenges of the past year and what...
Blondie will perform live following the North American Premiere of Blondie: Vivir En La Habana about the rock band’s first time performance in Havana, Cuba in 2019.
The Festival will run June 9-20 with live in-person events at outdoor venues across New York City’s five boroughs. Many of the films will be available for U.S. audiences to view online the day after they premiere in person through the Tribeca at Home virtual hub.
The 2020 Shorts Programs will also be screened at the 2021 Festival with 64 films in ten programs. Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind will perform after a screening of Rhythm of Life.
“As we curated these in-person programs, we thought a great deal about the challenges of the past year and what...
- 4/22/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.