WeAnimate 2024-10-24 | wam#0051

Fredrikstad Animation Festival dates back to 1994, and has become one of the leading animation festivals in the region. It boasts a celebrated Nordic-Baltic film competition, a host of important speakers and industry events, and is a European Animation Awards-qualifying festival.

This year, Fredrikstad Animation Festival has a rich program that aims to inform and entertain, with discussions and masterclasses, exhibitions and retrospectives, and a celebration of the history and future of animation art. For the first time, Fredrikstad will complement its famous Nordic-Baltic Animation Competition program with a Global Animation Competition program, featuring professional animated films from around the world.

Priit & Olga

FAF Features Priit Pärn

This year, Estonian animation legend Priit Pärn is the featured guest at FAF. The festival will recognize his accomplishments in the international animation community, and celebrate his work supporting and educating new Nordic-Baltic filmmakers. As the winner of the first ever FAF Grand Prix Award in 1996, it is fitting and poetic that he will be recognized this year with a FAF Lifetime Achievement Award.

Priit and his creative partner Olga will be featured in the FAF exhibition Between Enigma and Magic, which includes illustrations, concept art, and still frames of some of their most influential films, including Hotel E (1992), Elu ilma Gabriella Ferrita (2008), Tuukrid vihmas (2010), and Lendurid koduteel (2014), along with illustrations for the famous children’s book Gothamites. The artworks reflect the dark humor and surrealist style that makes their films so distinctive, along with additional insights and commentary on the films, artists, and projects.

The festival will also include a live discussion with the Pärns, a film retrospective, a screening of his and Olga’s latest film Luna Rossa, and of course recognition at the award ceremony.

FAF Industry Events

Industry events at this year’s FAF include panel discussions with international producers, film financers, and sales agents, as well as portfolio reviews and presentations of works in progress. This year also includes a Visual Music Symposium, where a panel of artists and researchers present the latest explorations into the world of pictures and sound; and a forum for New Nordic Animation, including Kristel Töldsepp from A. Film about cross-border collaboration, and Anne Poulanne from Audiovisual Producers Finland regarding green and sustainable production.

Also at FAF this year, Sandra Brunkow Simonsen from Viborg Animation Festival will present the establishing of a new Nordic animation festival collaboration network. FAF, VAF, Blon, and Rex have received funding from the EU’s Creative Europe Program to found a new association in which Nordic-Baltic festivals collaborate, cooperate, and build best practices and a digital platform to streamline processes and simplify the challenges of hosting a festival for both festival organizers and for filmmakers. The new network, currently called the Northern Animation Network (NAN), has ambitious goals to expand the reach and raise the profile of Nordic and Baltic animation festivals, and WeAnimate will be featuring a longer article on this association in the coming weeks.

© Eesti Joonisfilm and Miyu Productions

FAF Competition and Screenings

Of course, FAF is most famous for its animated film competition. This year’s Nordic-Baltic Competition includes 16 films ranging from experimental to stop-motion and everything in between, with a focus on impactful storytelling. The new Global Competition includes films from around the world, representing some of the best achievements in international animation from the year. FAF also features a short film Panorama, showcasing some of the most interesting and compelling film submissions that were not accepted for this year’s competition.

Finally, FAF also has a huge number of social and interactive events for animation lovers, including a fantastic closing party with DJ Kanga.

Fredrikstad Animation Festival may be turning 30, but the future has never been brighter for this festival, with a program that is more ambitious and exciting than ever. See you there!

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