Animovies
Ready for this annual collection of international animated shorts?
Each year as part of the Festival of Animated Objects a guest curator contributes to this fascinating and entertaining program of shorts from around the world. Stay tuned for stop-motion, puppetry, and animated objects to celebrate exploration, adventure, and the perseverance of the human spirit.
Head to the Festival of Animated Object’s site to see what’s coming soon!
Animovies 2023
Curated by filmmaker Loretta Simeon, this fascinating and entertaining program of shorts from around the world uses an astonishing array of stop-motion, puppetry, and animated object techniques to explore complex and whimsical themes.
Animovies is supported by CAOS, a non-profit arts organization that amplifies voices through the arts of mask and puppetry, and the Nakoda AV Club, a group of emerging and established storytellers and media artists.
The History of the World in 10.000 Bricks by Matthias Daenschel. The history of humanity is a story of construction and decay, of evolution and revolution.
Spring Roll Dream by Mai Vu. Linh is a Vietnamese mother who lives with her son in America. When her father visits and insists on cooking a traditional Vietnamese meal, Linh is confronted with the past and culture she left behind.
PHILIP by Andre Maat PHILIP tells the story of old coffee machine on its last day before retirement. A bittersweet fable about the rapid life cycle of modern technology.
Len & His Spitfire by Noelle Duddridge As a young child of the 1920’s, Len sustained serious injuries from a dynamite blast cap. As a young adult, despite his disability, he enlisted in the fight against the Germans in World War II. Adventures and near deaths ensue, after he finds himself in the cockpit of a Spitfire.
Rumination by Ashleigh Vaillancourt At night, a woman’s mind wanders as she chops firewood.
Blue Madness by Herber Poll Gutièrrez, Josè Alberto and Susano Ruiz In a city in America, whose name I do not remember and sometimes regret to remember… A policeman stops a citizen. Both are offended, mistreating each other with such intensity that there is only one solution left. The play is a social denunciation. A way of saying that still in the 21st century, some people still discriminate because of the color of their skin. The play is a way of saying that the Cuban national poet Nicolás Guillen became a universal artist when he said: My homeland is so beautiful on the outside and so bitter on the inside.
Red Rider/ Marcach Dearg by Emma and Ivan Fisher-Owen In a futuristic Ireland where corruption and greed have decimated the land, a girl embarks on an adventure to find her grandmother, a wolf seeks vengeance for the murder of his pack and a women searches for redemption. A bilingual Irish/English shadow stop-motion animated film by Beyond the Bark, funded by the Arts Council/ An Chomhairle Ealaíon
The Fable fo the Fox & the Stork by Anna Lee A retelling of Aesop’s Fable of the Fox & the Stork featuring paper puppets and original music.
‘Stan & Sven’ tells the story of two best friends, Stan a robot and Sven a fun loving alien. Sven is on a mission to cheer up his buddy Stan who has been walking around with a frown for far too long. Sven soon realises that this is going to be harder than first thought.
Linh is a Vietnamese mother who lives with her son in America. When her father visits and insists on cooking a traditional Vietnamese meal, Linh is confronted with the past and culture she left behind. Linh is a Vietnamese mother who lives with her son in America. When her father visits and insists on cooking a traditional Vietnamese meal, Linh is confronted with the past and culture she left behind.
A warrior princess of Inderapura has to choose between a kingdom that comes with a strategic marriage or, to follow her heart for a life of adventure with a man who truly understands her. This is a folklore known to many Malaysians which have yet to discover its true ending.
Windchasers – director’s cut screening and Q&A
After Animovies, catch Windchasers: a fun-filled, fantasy puppet adventure that follows whimsical creatures on a distant planet. Ven is bored with his duties as a Herdguider for his flock, but when he and his adorable pet Nunu come across a stranger out in the tall grass, everything changes. With the help of Aria the Windchaser, they’re going to have to act quickly to save their home.
Windchasers is presented by Solaris Productions
Screenplay by Andrew G. Cooper and Anna Cummer
Co-Created by The Calgary Puppeteer Collective
Animovies 2022
Curated by Willard Lefthand, this fascinating and entertaining program of shorts from around the world uses stop-motion, puppetry, and animated objects to celebrate exploration, adventure, and the perseverance of the human spirit.
Strings, A puppet trapped in a kids’ TV show tries to break free from the repeating cycle of an episode, Madeline Shubeck (USA)
Lilly Goes to the Dogs: A giant monster and her friend visits the Victoria Dog Show. Will Lilly take Best in Show?, The Bum Family (Canada)
Light as Paper, A moving story about parents, children, love and loss, told with simple elements, Tanya Khordoc & Barry Weil from Evolve Puppets (NYC, USA)
Planet of the Socks, A mismatched pair of socks outwit a mitten cop in a pirated starship, David Lamarre (Montreal, Canada)
Johnny Crow, A spray-paint animation of a young man’s journey to return to his son through the criminal justice system. Jesse Gouchey, Xstine Cook (Canada)
The Forgotten Floss, Floss has gone ignored for too long – but not anymore, Paul Wong (USA)
Mate: A stray shopping cart searches for purpose and companionship, Rusty Eveland (USA)
Rat Trap, A rat seeks revenge on a murdering homeowner, Nathaniel Aron (USA)
Dream, A young boy chases his dream of skateboarding with the help of others, Tianshu Wei (Shanghai)
To Grandma, The filmmaker brings his now disappeared boyhood village to life with shadow puppets, Yehui Zhao (China)
Idol, A live action puppet film uses the classical Pygmalion story to explore the blurry distinction between the fake and the real when a man falls in love with an idol woman he creates, Kris Fleerackers (Belgium/Canada)
