Wales has always had a knack for animation, from the 1980s delights of SuperTed through to last year’s excellent Kensuke’s Kingdom, in which local company Bumpybox played a crucial hand. And a wealth of new domestic talent in the animation sector is celebrated in this tour of nine short animated films that will bring the efforts of emerging Welsh (or Wales-based) filmmakers to the fore.
The subject matter covered is vast, from a potential demonic possession in Nia Alavezos’ Passenger to climate change in Gerald Conn’s Inner Polar Bear. Stopmotion love story Falling For Greta, from Gustavo Arteaga, nestles alongside the trials and tribulations of The Robin And The Wren, as they battle winter in Lea Sautin’s film.
Sara Schiavone’s Slowly Waking blends poetry with imagery in the shadow of COVID lockdowns, and Llecu Non’s autobiographical film Painkiller details her struggles with migraine attacks via a collection of animation techniques. James Morris and Maria Tilt’s short Ghosts takes on the ramifications of grief and loss, but also hope, whereas Molly Allen’s lighter Sun Worshippers envisages a battle between the sun and moon over who should provide daytime.
Eirinn Henley’s Criminally Cute rounds out the bunch, as a small dog realises the crimes it can commit thanks to its surface level loveable appearance. Plenty to be seeing for a more adult animation audience, therefore, as it goes around Wales: witness some filmmaking talent that may be making even bigger brushstrokes (or CGI mouse clicks) in the future.
Cardiff Animation Festival, Maesteg Town Hall, Sat 1 Feb; Yr Egin, Carmarthen, Thurs 6; Pontio, Bangor, Thurs 13; Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, Sat 1 Mar; Newbridge Memo, Sat 10 May.
Info: here
words KEIRON SELF
