Gorillaz and Elliot Brown in the Music Video & Advertising Competition at Anim'est 2011

At the 2011 Anim’est International Animation Film festival, 25 international titles are competing for the Best Music Video Award. The race for Best Advertisement Video looks just as close, with 27 commercials for the Jury to thoroughly review.

This year, just like back in 2010 when the competition had music videos made for bands like Massive Attack or The Editors, the Anim’est audience will get to watch, in a cinema or during the special screening at Control Club, material from important names off the music scene. On Melancholy Hill is the second video coming off the Plastic beach album by Gorillaz. The video is directed by Jamie Hewlett- Zombie Flesh Eaters and Pete Candeland from Passion Pictures, a renowned production company that has recently gained bragging rights after winning an Oscar for Best Animation Short Film for the film The Lost Thing.

And And by Matsumoto, directed by Mirai Mizue, presented in this year’s short film competition next to Tatamp, The Music Scene, by Blockhead (dir. Anthony Francisco Schepperd), or Flush, by Losers (dir. Tom Werber) are just a few of the titles in the Music Video Competition. 

Romania is being represented by Anton Octavian, one of the regulars in the Anim’est competition, director of The Ship, for the British band The Mantra ATSMM, and Delirium Tremens, for Elliot Brown, directed by Dan Vezenţan, a retro-decadent video in which labels sing, bottles and glasses dance, and the drinks fuel the party goers with enthusiasm.

There is important Romanian presence in the Advertising competition as well. Out of the 27 selected commercials, 6 are Romanian productions: The Evolution by animator Dan Munteanu ( Monoplan), Ghost Island Trailer, by Ciprian Chivari, also in the 2010 short film competition with Al nouălea limb, Faringosept – The music class, Mărgăritar – Bas-relief brown sugar and Star – Microwave Popcorn, three commercials popular to the audience, made by Andrei Brovcenco, co-owner of the Bucharest based 3D animation studio Framebreed, and the promotional video for the 2011 NexT International Film festival, with animation made by Matei Branea, a regular in the competition for Advertising Video and one of the Jury members at the 2008 Anim’est.

This year’s Jury members for the Music Video & Advertising section are Tobias Gundorff Boesen, last year’s winner of Best Music Video for Out Of The Forrest – The National Slow Show; Hypno (Bogdan Moldoveanu), one of the most active and appreciated directors for commercials in Romania, and the man behind the official Anim’est promos from 2008 and up to now, and Dj Vasile (Lucian Stan) one of the artists who set the basis of electronic music in Romania, founding member of the band Shukar Collective, a revolutionary project which explores the traditional rhythms of the bear tamers through modern digital sampling techniques.

On top of the theatre screenings, separated in two slots, the titles selected for the Music Video & Advertising competition will be screened Thursday, October 13th, at the festival’s official club, Control. The marathon-screening will be followed by concerts and an after party. Tickets are 25 lei and they allow access to screenings, concerts and the party.

The Festival Pass, the 10 screenings Tickets and the Individual Tickets for the Opening and Closing Galas at Anim’est 2011 are up for sale in the Ticketfan network- online, on the www.ticketfan.ro website, in Flanco stores around the country and at the Anthony Frost English Bookshop in Bucharest. Until September 15th, the Anim’est Festival Pass can be purchased at the special price of 110 lei.