Balkanimation premieres and award winning films at Anim’est 2011

Even if the battle for the Anim’est Trophy for a film out of the Short Film Competition is getting more serious ever than ever, and the Competition for features is extremely intriguing and diverse, the other competition sections in the festival aren’t any less strong, proof that the sixth edition of the Anim’est International Film Festival is going to be quite the memorable one.

Competing for the Best Film Award in the Balkanimation section, offered by Canyon, are 11 short films coming from Croatia, Greece, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, or Turkey.

This year, Romania is yet again present in the competition for the best Balkan short films, with Scream, from animator Sebastian Cosor, a brand-new MediaPro Magic production. Sebastian Cosor has also created visual effects and animation sequences for video games, commercial film productions, and also feature and short films like Fire & Ice-The Dragon Chronicles or Contra Timp/ Against Time.

The Magnifier (dir. Orkan Bayram, Turkey, 2009) closes in on a magnifying glass trying to enjoy a sunny day in the park, being clueless to its physical features and the striking effect they can have on those around it when it interacts with the Sun’s rays. The moments spent out in the park become increasingly unbearable, until, finally, it learns to accept its nature and starts enjoying life.

Inspired by the poem “The Lighthouse Keeper Loves Birds Too Much” by Jacques Prevert, The Lighthouse (dir. Velislava Orlinova Gospodinova, Bulgaria, 2009) is a film about the absurdity and cruelty that life can bring upon us at times - a story about decisions and consequences, love, suffering and death. The short film went on an impressive international journey, being screened, with critical and all over general acclaim, at no less than 70 festivals around the world, taking home various prizes from important genre events like the Balkanima International Animation Film Festival in Belgrade or Animazing International Animation Film Festival in Hollywood.

It’s director’s Ivan Ramadan’s third time being featured in the festival’s program, with the third title of his career: Kiyamet (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2011). The film’s world premiere took place during the Sarajevo International Film Festival in 2011. His debut, Tolerantia, won Best Short Film at the !4th edition of the Sarajevo Festival, being also the first 3d animation film produced in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and last year, his second short film,  Wondermilk, also competed in the Balkanimation section at the Bucharest animation festival.

Hansel and Gretel: the true story (dir. Goce Cvetanovski, Macedonia, 2009) is the dark and mesmerizing version of the famous story by The Brothers Grimm. The animation debut of director Goce Cvetanovski, considered one of the more representative directors of the new Macedonian wave, had its world premiere during the Anima Mundi Film Festival in Sao Paolo (Brazil), and was also chosen at other prestigious international genre festivals like Cartoon Club Rimini, the Fantasy Film Festival in Lund (Sweden) or the Balkanima International Animation Film Festival in Belgrade, where it was given the  ASIFA diploma.

The list with the films in the Balkanimation section can be found here.

The winners of the Student Film Competition, Balkanimation, as well as the Romanian Film competition will be decided by a jury composed of the winner of 2010 Anim'est Award for Best Romanian Film, director Cecilia Felmeri, canadian animator Steven Woloshen and Polish critic, film historian and animator, Marcin Gizycki.