A Celebration of Story: Odense Film Festival’s Animation Program

WeAnimate 2024-09-26 | wam#0050

Odense International Film Festival is the oldest film festival in Denmark, and one of the few Oscar-qualifying short film festivals in the Nordics. It is a European Film Award, Robert Award, and an Academy Award qualifying festival, and the annual pitching competition gives significant prizes for new projects. In other words, it’s kind of a big deal.

This year, a record-breaking 4,140 short films were submitted to the festival, and 148 were selected for competition. The competition included short films in the categories of Danish films, international films, documentary films, and, of course, the animation program. The festival also included social and networking events, guest lectures and panels, and cultural experiences like an open-air concert from the Odense Jazz Orchestra. And, once again, ANIS sponsored Animation Day at OFF, with special events that augmented the animation programming and connected the community. 

As a first-time attendee at OFF, and a person accustomed to animation festivals, the experience of animation in the context of a film festival was unique. The festival is deeply integrated into the culture and community of Odense, and the result is an event that is truly special.

The Art of the Short Film

The Odense Film Festival is specifically dedicated to the art of the short film, to celebrate passion and creativity in filmmaking. It seeks to showcase the adventurous and the unexpected, and to provide an escape from the mundane.

As an artistic medium, short films provide fertile ground for experimentation and cross-pollination, allowing filmmakers to try new things and break new ground in a relatively low-risk, low-cost framework.

As an educational experience, short films allow students and novices to create an entire film from start to finish, with their hands on every aspect of the process, practicing and perfecting their skills at every step.

Finally, as a storyteller, short films allow creators to reach audiences and share experiences in a way that is uniquely impactful. The constraints of running time force writers and directors to distill their message down to its most powerful images and most meaningful ideas, creating vivid impressions and strong emotions in the viewer.

Most festivals do not contain both live action and animation under the heading of “short film” and include them in their programming, which makes OFF an unusual experience. Because of the festival’s focus and perspective, it provides an uncommon platform for animation for adults, and for animated techniques and storylines that may be more experimental and challenging.

OFF24 Animation Programming

The animation programming consisted of competition screenings and animation-focused discussions and events, most of it compressed into a single “Animation Day”, although it would have been impossible to see all the competition shorts in that one day.

The Animation Competition

This year, OFF’s animation competition consisted of 29 films in 5 screening programs. Some of the films that particularly stood out to me were:

Freelance

Tumblehead’s Freelance is another funny and playful film from a studio with an immediately recognizable visual style and impeccable comedic timing. This film highlights the challenges of working for clients, in an absurd and whimsical setting.

House Atop the City

House Atop the City is a beautiful Danish film by Oliver Holm Jarnbye. It’s an atmospheric visualization of moods and emotions, with a gentle pace that matches the sometimes tenuous ways that we connect with each other.

The Family Portrait

The Family Portrait is a fascinating stop-motion film from Croatian Lea Vidakovic. The film showcases the moments of disruption and intimacy that happen when an extended family suddenly shares close quarters. Although the film is confined to the interior of the house, we have hints of the outside war and chaos that forces these people together, and the slow shots and evocative poses draw incredible emotion from the scenes of the film.

Kinderfilm

I was pleased to see Kinderfilm in the OFF program this year, since filmmaker Total Refusal is also the guest artist at VAF. Shot entirely within Grand Theft Auto V, this film is surprisingly evocative and moving, juxtaposing feelings of futility and alienation against the most innocent and playful environments in the game.

Nun or Never

I admit that Nun or Never was my favorite film of the festival. Heta Jäälinoja’s delightful film about a nun experiencing temptation was a winner at Annecy, and is a celebration of animation as an art form. The incredibly appealing use of shape and color, the charm of the story, and the masterful sound design make this film just a pleasure to watch.

The winners of the animation competition were:

Electra

with the Børge Ring Award

Electra is a live-action/animation hybrid film by Academy Award nominee Daria Kascheeva from Czechia. This film won the Best International Short Film at 2023 TIFF, and it’s easy to see why. It is uncanny and sometimes disturbing, but absolutely riveting. The performances by lead actresses Zuzana Částková and Marie Verner are just incredible, and the brilliant design creates unforgettable imagery.

Puddle (Vandpyt)

for the Best Danish Animation award

Puddle was the surprise hit of the festival, as first-time Danish filmmaking partners Maria-May Backhaus Brown and Mads Theodor Bonde made a huge impression. This hand-animated 2D film was a labor of love, showcasing the feelings and experiences of children in need of help, with wonderful visual metaphors and a compelling storyline.

Pitch Me Baby

Special call-out to Claudia Munksgaard-Palmqvist, Lana Tankosa Nikolic, and Matilde Digmann for coming in 2nd place in the pitch competition. They won 15,000 DKK to further an animated adaptation of Digmann’s award-winning graphic novel Pseudo.

Animation Discussions and Events

Animation programming at OFF also included Animation Eye Candy, a showcase of films from TAW’s Open Workshop, along with a Q&A from director Pernille Kjær about her film Spring; Björgvin Gudjonsson from Snilld.ai with a discussion and exploration of how AI and image generation contribute to his creative process while making The Lava Trolls; and an exploration and discussion led by the animation team at the National Film School of Denmark on why films like Gravity, Avatar 2, and Jon Favreau’s Lion King are classified as “live action” rather than animation. This topic is especially relevant at a festival like OFF, where both types of films are included in the programming, and where Electra won best animated film.

ANIS also sponsored a wonderful dinner at Odense’s Eydes Gastro Pub, where animation filmmakers, professionals, and festival staff could mingle and break bread together. Hosted by Sara Koppel, the dinner was a great chance for the animation community at OFF to get to know each other better and share a very special evening. 

OFF24 Thoughts and Impressions

On a personal note, I found the animation screenings at OFF24 especially intense. The films overwhelmingly dealt with very dark and heavy subject matter, and watching them back-to-back created some very intense emotions that were hard to shake off. I speculated about what the source of all this intensity might be: could it be that it’s been a hard couple of years, and animators are working through some things? Could it be that the festival itself leans toward programming that is more intense and striking, creating a preference for this type of film? Could it be that when a festival specifically programs for adult audiences, only certain types of animated films are entered at all?

It was also very interesting to watch the Q&A sessions with animated filmmakers and audiences who don’t know animation. It reminded me afresh that most people don’t really understand what an armature is, or what it means to draw frame-by-frame. Because the viewers don’t really know and can’t appreciate technique and skill, they are reacting purely to the story and the visuals, sharing what the film made them feel.

Finally, I loved how absolutely engaged the city and local community were with the festival. Everywhere I went, people reacted to my badge and asked me how I liked the festival, there were about a thousand volunteers everywhere who were delightful and eager to help, and events were well attended by locals and visitors alike. It was lovely to see such a sense of pride and ownership of the festival by the people who live in Odense.

Odense Film Festival for Animation Lovers

Every festival has its own point of view, which creates a unique program every year. While certain films dominate every year’s festival circuit and can be seen everywhere from Cannes to SXSW, each festival also succeeds in curating a program designed to reflect its artistic direction and speaks to its audience. It’s impossible to thoroughly understand a festival’s creative perspective based on one year’s programming, but my impression is that OFF seeks to curate a complex, highly artistic, and thus occasionally challenging program — to bring to this little corner of Denmark the most interesting, creative, and important films of the year. 

This presents an amazing opportunity for both animation audiences and filmmakers alike. It can be difficult for animators creating short films for adults, that deal with difficult subject matter or present challenging stories, to find a platform. At OFF, these types of animated films can be honored and celebrated, although audiences are less likely to directly understand or appreciate the animation skills or techniques involved.

As a celebration of the art of short film, animation lovers at OFF can watch both types of programming and note the features that apply to both live action and animated films. Story development and pacing, shot selection and editing, visual and sound design, are all features of a great film made in any media, and a great animated short can as easily be inspired by the work of Quentin Tarantino as Børge Ring.

The magic of a hybrid festival like this is that it brings together filmmakers and professionals who otherwise may not connect, and the magic of OFF is that it integrates the local community of Odense with the festival, the filmmakers, and the industry in a celebration of short film of all kinds. It’s a fantastic festival for animation and live action film lovers alike.

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