CARDIFF ANIMATION FESTIVAL | PREVIEW
The world of animation is a big and wide one, with a large variety of stories to tell across various media – be it stop-motion, claymation, hand-drawn, watercolours, or CGI – and the assumption from some that it’s “for kids” is bound to be smashed at the Cardiff Animation Festival.
It’s an ideal time for such a festival, as the last few months have seen some excellent animated films being released on these shores. Wes Anderson’s second animated film, Isle of Dogs and Aardman Animations’ latest, Early Man have both been released recently to critical acclaim, whilst still to come there is the Oscar-nominated The Breadwinner, based on the best-seller by Deborah Ellis about a young girl in Afghanistan.
All three are getting showings at Cardiff Animation Festival, but it’s not just about the big hitters here. There are 99 animated shorts to view, plus an exhibition of the models used to make Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires, an upcoming animated film made by Bridgend-based Animortal Studios.
Cardiff Animation Festival is also the launching pad for Anim18, which is a year-long celebration of animated film that will take place at a number of venues across the UK and will be led by Film Hub Wales, whose responsibility it is to engage and encourage audiences in Wales to interact with British, independent, and international cinema, which will include workshops, singalongs and scratch’n’sniff screenings all over the country. On the basis of Cardiff Animation Festival, they’ve made a great start! FEDOR TOT
Cardiff Animation Festival runs until Sun 22 Apr. Info: www.chapter.org