Australian International Animation Festival 2018

The Australian International Animation Festival 2018 featured a celebrated collection of the world’s finest animation for its 15th 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 Daniel Agdag, ‘Secrets of the Lost Property Office’. His 2017 short film was awarded 2 Dendy’s at the Sydney Film Festival, received a Special Jury Mention at MIFF, won the AACTA Award for best animation, and was shortlisted for an Academy Award in 2018. The stop-motion film was crafted entirely by hand and shot over a 12-month period in his Melbourne studio. Aside from filmmaking Daniel has a fine art practice and has exhibited throughout Australia, Hong Kong and New York, with sculptures held in numerous collections. AIAF Co-Director Malcolm Turner showed samples from his journey into places like Kosovo, Galacia and a vault of old pre-independence Polish animation in his ‘Annual Showbag’. He also presented ‘Chinese Animation - The New Generation’. Animation - like everything else - is powering ahead in modern China. A new generation of Chinese animators, empowered with the latest animating tools and rapidly expanding educational opportunities are carving out a diverse and unique body of work. The presentation introduced rising stars and showcased a collection of outstanding original short films. Annie Murray presented ‘Fresh Eyes on Estonia’ after venturing to Tallinn and touring Nukufilm Studio, interviewing Priit and Olga Parn, Chintis Lungren, Priit Tender, Mati Kutt and Rihi Unt. Bonding with the new generation of post-independence Estonian animators, her mission was to curate a program of exemplary new works. Furthermore, there was a special children’s show, 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 18th May to Sunday 20th May, 2018 at the Forum 6 Cinema, Wagga Wagga. The success of the event secured Wagga playing host to AIAF in 2019.