Following its market premiere at the European Film Market (EFM) on February 17, the CG-animated adaptation Dragonkeeper will bow on the festival circuit as the opening film of Spain’s 27th Malaga Film Festival (March 1-10, festivaldemalaga.com) in its Official Selection. Based on the award-winning novels by Australian author Carole Wilkinson, the film tells the story of an orphan girl named Ping and her relationship with the two last dragons in ancient China.
Dragonkeeper is a Spanish-Chinese co-production directed by Salvador Simó (Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles) and Jianping Li, a leading figure in Chinese animation as dean of the Animation School at Beijing Film Academy, Secretary General of the Animation Arts Committee and China Animation Association, and President of the Beijing Film Animation Association. The film is written by Wilkinson, Pablo Castrillo, Ignacio Ferreras, Rosanna Checcchini and Wang Xianping. The film’s composer is Arturo Cardelús.
The English-language voice cast stars Bill Nighy, Bill Bailey, Anthony Howell and Mayalinee Griffiths.
Due for theatrical release in April 2024 in the U.S., Canada, Spain and Brazil, The film is produced by Guardián de Dragones AIE and China Film Animation Ltd, in collaboration with Atresmedia Cine and Movistar Plus+. It is supported by Creative Europe MEDIA and the Film and Audiovisual Arts Institute (ICAA). British agency SC Films International is handling international sales, presenting the project at EFM. The film will open in Spanish cinemas on April 19 through A Contracorriente Films.
Following an exceptional 2023 edition with over 100 countries represented and a record-setting attendance of nearly 16,000 badge holders, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival has announced the new programming additions for 2024. The festival and MIFA Market will run June 9-15 (annecyfestival.com).
- This year’s focus territory is Portugal, which celebrated 100 years of Portuguese animation in 2023. Seven programs will be presented by experts, including film director and Monstra animation festival head Fernando Galrito.
- A dedicated track for Choreographies: Animation and Dance will explore the different ways artistic movement has inspired animation filmmakers.
- The Official Selection will have a new section devoted to feature films for all ages: Annecy Presents is a non-competitive section that will allow festival-goers, especially youngsters, to discover a wide range of films of all genres from around the world, highlighting a greater diversity of global production.
- The out-of-competition Screening Events will continue to present unique, exclusive screenings and content from major studios and eagerly-awaited productions (completed or not). In order to support its expansion, the Festival will be operating in four more theaters and will introduce additional morning screenings at 8:30 a.m.
- Following the launch of MIFA Campus last year, 2024 will expand the market with the XR & Games Area, which will be located at the Chambre de Métiers et de l’Artisanat near to the Impérial Palace.
The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror presented the 51st Saturn Awards (saturnawards.org) in Burbank on Feb. 4, honoring genre storytelling achievements across film and TV as well as crafts including animation and visual effects. Special honorees this year included Christopher Nolan (Visionary Award, presented by Emily Blunt), Seth macFarlane (Robert Forster Artist’s Award, presented by William Shatner) and Star Wars maestro Dave Filoni (George Pal Memorial Award, presented by Ming-Na Wen). The animation and VFX winners are:
- Best Animated Film: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
- Best Film Visual / Special Effects: Avatar: The Way of Water
- Best Science Fiction Film
- Best Film Direction (James Cameron)
- Best Film Screenwriting (James CAmeron, Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver)
- Best Animated Series or Special: Star Wars: The Bad Batch
Following the success of its debut last year, Belfast’s RENDR festival (rendrfestival.com) returns to the city next month with an extraordinary line-up of creative talent from the global animation industry. The two-day creativity and technology festival, supported by Northern Ireland Screen, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Studio Ulster, Ulster University, Ulster Screen Academy and Belfast City Council, takes place from February 29 – March 1 at Portview Trade Centre in East Belfast.
Over 30 speakers will deliver keynote talks across two evenings alongside live and interactive demonstrations of new technology, digital art and gaming experiences. For the first time, RENDR will also offer live virtual access to the event from anywhere in the world.
Joining the festival from the world of animation and VFX are:
- Academy Award-winning ILM senior animation supervisor Hal Hickel (Toy Story, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Pirates of The Caribbean 1-3, Iron Man, Rango, Pacific Rim, Warcraft, Rogue One, The Mandalorian)
- Sony Pictures Imageworks FX & look of picture supervisor Pawel Grochola (Edge of Tomorrow, The Mitchells vs. The Machines, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse)
- Pixar digital artist Dylan Sission, a key contributor to the development of RenderMan who will share his 25 years’ experience in animation and VFX including 2023’s Elemental
- Axis Studios head of character Amy Ash (League of Legends, Magic: The Gathering
- Aardman director/lead character animator Suzy Fagan Parr (Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget)
The 5th Cardiff Animation Festival (CAF, cardiffanimation.com), taking place April 25-28 at Chapter with online events continuing to May 12, will screen 96 short films made in 23 countries around the world, as well as three major animated feature films.
The short film selection will screen in nine programs: Peas in a Pod (films about friendship and relationships), Slice of Life (films that offer glimpses of day-to-day life), Home Grown (films made in Wales or by Welsh filmmakers), Pick ‘n Mix (an eclectic grab-bag of shorts), Love at First Bite (films about love and romance), Eat Your Words (speechless films) and Midnight Feast (films for audiences age 18+), family-friendly shorts and the CAF launch party. The full selection of short films can be found here.
Feature film screenings include Spanish-French non-dialog tragicomedy and Academy Award nominee Robot Dreams, which follows the friendship between a dog and a robot; Chicken for Linda!, a French-Italian film about the precarious joys of childhood; and Kensuke’s Kingdom, a U.K. adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s children’s book of the same name, featuring the voices of Sally Hawkins, Cillian Murphy and Ken Watanabe and made in part in Wales. A Q&A with directors Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry, art director Mike Shorten and head of compositing Neil Martin will follow the screening.
Other highlights include masterclasses, the annual Cardiff Animation Nights launch party at The Underdog bar, One Bum Cinema Club, Industry Day on April 25, a Drawing & Walking Tour led by Cardiff-trained animator and illustrator Briar White, an animation exhibition curated by and held at Cardiff Umbrella, Quick Draw, a 48-hour animation challenge where all films created within 48 hours will be shown as part of the festival, as well as relaxed and baby-friendly screenings.
Cartoon NEXT (cartoon-media.eu/next) has confirmed 12 talks by animation experts in keynotes and case studies presented over three days of trend-watching in Marseille, France, from April 9-11. Topics and speakers include:
- What Next for Epic Games with Ben Minall, Unreal Engine Business Director, Media & Entertainment (U.K.)
- What Next for Studio Meala with Stephen Fagan, Co-Founder, Producer & Creator, and Shane Perez, Head of Development (Irealand)
- What’s New and Happening in the World of Publishing with Bob Higgins, President, Trustbridge Entertainment (U.S.)
- How to Nurture & Mentor the Next, New Talents in Africa with Sébastien Onomo, President & Producer, Special Touch Studios, and Ariane Suveg, Producer & Founder, Celestine Blue (France)
The VIEW Conference (viewconference.it) dedicated to animation, VFX and games has announced its official 2024 dates for October 14-18. The English-language event will once again be held in picturesque Turin, Italy. In addition to its core focus, the Conference also delves into topics such as storytelling, virtual production, computer graphics, interactive/immersive media, VR/AR/MR and the metaverse, AI, real-time rendering and more.
Registration is now open for the 2024 edition with a 20% Early Bird discount. For a sample of what’s in store, explore the VIEW Conference On-Demand Archive to discover hours of video sessions from previous events available to On-Demand ticket holders.
New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) will present Signe Baumane’s feature animated dive into romance, motherhood and patriarchy My Love Affair with Marriage as part of the Science in Motion Screening Series in partnership with BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), “a collection of groundbreaking contemporary films that delve into science and technology in the modern world.” The series includes filmmaker Q&As following each screening, and Baumane will be on hand for the screening on Tuesday, February 20 at 7 p.m. Tickets here.
The lineup will also present the animated documentary short Chilly & Milly by William D. Caballero, which explores the director’s father’s chronic health problems as a diabetic with kidney failure, and his mother’s role as his caretaker. This film will screen in a double-header with Elizabeth Ramjit’s live-action, firsthand account of flash floods in Trinidad & Tobago, Over-Flow, on Tuesday, March 12 at 7 p.m. Tickets here.
