LatAm boom! It is the motto of Animac, the International Animated Film Festival of Catalonia that is held in person in Lleida from February 23 to 26, an edition dedicated to the creativity of Latin America, its diversity and its denunciation to give a voice to those who do not have it in political conflicts or indigenous stories.
With the projections of a selection of 288 films (7 feature films, 4 medium films and 277 short films), the majority at the La Llotja theater, the exhibition, which includes conferences, workshops, exhibitions, can be seen online from March 3 to 12 at through the Filmin platform
Carolina López, director of Animac, has advanced this Tuesday, that in this year's edition there are many feature films. “It is an extraordinary vintage, we are very happy to have Marcel the Shell with Shoes On on the program, an American film directed by Dean Fleischer-Camp that is nominated for an Oscar, the only one from an independent production company, we love animation independent," he said. The film delves into the life of a young, small and chatty one-eyed snail who can walk, talk and comment on the wonderful world around him.
It has also highlighted Interdit aux chiens et aux Italiens, by French director Alain Ughetto, "a stop-motion feature film, which tells the story of three generations, the first emigrant from Italy to France, with such an ancient and fashionable technique".
It is a film that Carolina López especially likes "because it shows the story and how it is done, because at a given moment the animator's hand appears and you see how he touches the dolls, the dimension of the dolls and the animator talks." It is the first person story of her family. Daloga the grandson of the grandfather who emigrated, a very funny story.
Perlims (Brazil) by Alé Abreu and La otra forma (Colombia) by Diego Felipe Guzmán, are some of the feature films mentioned by the director for whom the participation in the festival is also interesting, of Olivier Catherin and Omar Santos producer and director, respectively, from the film Los Santos, based on the cases of abuse of adolescents committed against the Peruvian society Sodalicio.
An Ostrich Told Me the world is fake and I think I Believe it (An ostrich told me that the world is fake and I think I believed it) directed by the Oscar-nominated Australian student, Lachlan Pendragon, is another of the festival's proposals which this year reaches its twenty-seventh edition.
As in every festival, Animac awards outstanding figures from the world of animation. This year the Honorary Award is for the Romanian Anca Damian (Romania, 1962) who will receive the award at the opening of the Show. Her work The Island (Romania) will be screened , 2021), a musical story about the myth of Robinson Crusoe in reverse.
The Animation Master award goes to Argentine director, animator and illustrator Juan Pablo Zaramella (Argentina, 1972), one of the most internationally renowned stop-motion artists and winner of the Guinness Record for the most awarded animated short with 324 awards: Luminaris (Argentina, 2011) and cartoonist Pilarín Bayés will receive the 2023 Career Award
For boys and girls, Pequeño Animac has programmed 48 films from 18 nationalities in five sessions. This year, in addition to the Animac online from March 3 to 12, it will be connected live from the Lira de Tremp on the 22nd, with the aim of bringing Animac to students outside of Lleida.
