Australian International Animation Festival 2016

The Australian International Animation Festival 2016 featured a celebrated collection of the world’s finest animation for its 13th Anniversary. This internationally renowned event featured over 120 prestigious films selected from more than 4,000 submissions from all around the world. The range of styles, genres and techniques is testament to the vibrancy and relevance of creative animation. The International Competition programs were made up of an eclectic mix of films and offered audiences a complete, up-to-date snapshot of the international creative animation scene. In addition to these were programs was a special presentation by Lindsay Adams, Supervisor at Iloura, on the Oscar-nominated visual effects work on Mad Max: Fury Road. Lindsay graduated from CSU in 2000 and has since won international acclaim working for the biggest visual effects houses in the industry with an impressive body of work includes Lord of the Rings, Avengers, 300 and Harry Potter to name a few. Mimi Leung is a freelance illustrator and animator who presented A Look Inside High Impact Animation. She wrote and recorded her own album so as to have easy access to music to teach herself how to make music videos and she has a natural talent for incorporating her illustration work into her quirky, high energy animated films. Mimi travelled to AIAF to discuss her animating process and rapidly evolving styles and influences. Malcolm Turner chaired a lively and diverse Q&A panel on Arguing the Australian Animation Perspective. The pulse of the Australian animation ecosystem was discussed with films, funding, schools and the challenges involved in carving out a career in animation in Australia will be but a few of the topics tackled by a panel of visiting filmmakers and related industry professionals. Furthermore, there were special children’s shows, public seminars, and a broad representation of national filmmakers introducing the Australian Showcase. As co-director, producer and editor for the event, I organised the venue, technical duties and marketing for the three-day event. The festival premiered on Friday 13th May to Sunday 15th May, 2016 at the Forum 6 Cinema, Wagga Wagga. The success of the event secured Wagga playing host to AIAF in 2016. This event also toured in a compact format to other major cities funded by other promoters.